Pamela Petro is an artist, writer, and educator. She’s the author of four books of literary non-fiction, an artist’s book, and a graphic script, and has widely exhibited her photography. She teaches creative writing on Lesley University’s MFA Program and at Smith College and is Director of the Dylan Thomas Summer School in Creative Writing at the University of Wales, Trinity St David, where she is also a Fellow. Pamela’s latest book, The Long Field - Wales and the Presence of Absence, A Memoir, was published by Little Toller Books in September 2021.
www.pamelapetro.com
Hiraeth and Home: A Creative Non-fiction Exploration of Longing and Discovery
Fri 27 May 2022 - Sun 29 May 2022
Tutors
/ Pamela Petro & Kumari Tilakawardane
Course Fee
/
From
£250 - £350 per person
Genre
/ Non-Fiction
On this weekend course, we’ll explore the subject of home, and the Welsh concept of hiraeth, the longing for an ideal home, or the keen awareness of not feeling at home in time, place, or even yourself—through creative non-fiction. Both tutors have written passionately about home and hiraeth. Kumari, a young Welsh-Sri Lankan writer, has explored being in-between homes, and Pamela, an American who feels most at home in Wales, has recently explored the subject in her new book The Long Field.
Writers of essays and memoirs use the same craft tools as fiction writers, including description, scene and dialogue, reflection, summary, and exposition to tell a gripping story. We’ll explore these techniques and use them to tell our stories and to describe what home means to us: whether a place, feeling, a person, a season. Using short successful readings from non-fiction writing about home, prompts and tasks will be offered to spark ideas for new work.
Tutors
Pamela Petro
Kumari Tilakawardane
Kumari Tilakawardane is constantly writing – whether in her day job as a digital content and PR specialist or in the rest of her time as a writer of everything else. After graduating from Queen Mary, University of London and King’s College London, Kumari has spent her time writing on pretty much everything – identity, sports, film, food, travel, tech, politics and culture for publications including Wales Arts Review, Off Assignment, Wales Online, Vulture Hound, Virgin Limited Edition and more. In addition to working on scripts, a novel, and an essay collection, Kumari owns a small baking business. www.kumariwrites.com