Off the Rails Writing Group, with Rebecca Sharp

Mondays 6-9pm: 20 Jan, 3 Feb, 17 Feb, 3 Mar, 17 Mar.
Block ONE: 5 fortnightly sessions
Ages 18+
£160 per block ( = 5 fortnightly sessions, equates to £32 per session)

The Writing Group returns for its second full year! In 2024 we ran for 3 Blocks through the year (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Oct-Nov), and we plan to do the same in 2025. Some folk attended all through the year, some came for one Block, and some came in and out – this is all welcome! All we ask is that you commit to one full Block at a time (5 sessions). Newcomers are welcome, there’s no need to have attended before. In the past, we’ve been fully subscribed, so we recommend securing your place sooner rather than later! There are currently 3 places available for Block One.
All styles of writing are supported – we cover various forms of poetry, prose (fiction and creative non-fiction), writing for performance, visual and interdisciplinary work. Each session comprises a core taught component, writing time, individual guidance and feedback, and group reflection.
The group supports casual and more focused writers/artists alike. ‘Non-writers’ are very welcome: we have several visual artists, for example, developing their work in words. And those newer to creative practice are very welcome, looking for structure and motivation, and to be part of a group.
“As a visual artist I arrived at Rebecca’s class with very little confidence in anything I ever wrote. From the very start I felt a sense of freedom and excitement about ways of finding my writing voice thanks to the dynamic and experimental approaches which Rebecca fosters in her own work and highlights through the work of others. The fortnightly classes and the supportive peer group have helped to ignite new ways of working, weaving into, between and through my making practice as an artist.” Susie – artist, Perth. 2024 & 2025 cohort
No Block is the same – full details will be provided when you book, and sessions might change in response to what comes up in the group once we get started. The outline for Block One is:
Unlikely Subjects
The Poetics of Space (after Gaston Bachelard)
Constellations: world-building in poetry and prose
Myth & the Mundane
Spring Equinox: light and dark, mirrors; two sides to every story…

BOOK NOW FOR BLOCK ONE (£160): email Rebecca Sharp on info@rebeccajoysharp.com
You will be sent instructions for payment and other information.
Full payment is required in advance (no later than 10 Jan): in one instalment of £160, or two
instalments of £80.
Cost covers: venue and facilities, taught material and bespoke exercises, individual guidance and
feedback, some structured group exercises, preparation of handouts and materials.

About Rebecca

Rebecca Sharp is a writer working in poetry, performance and playwriting, interdisciplinary and collaborative practice. Her latest poetry collection Long Field Loop (Tapsalteerie 2024) was longlisted for Scottish Poetry Book of the Year in the Saltire Awards. In 2022-2024 she was the inaugural Artist in Residence with the Centre for Energy Ethics (University of St Andrews), funded by Creative Scotland and the CEE, during which time she researched and wrote Long Field Loop. Her previous
collection Rough Currency (Tapsalteerie 2021) received an Art of Energy Award and a Literature Matters Award from the Royal Society of Literature. Other projects have been Finalists in the Brush & Lyre Prize for Multimedia Poetry, and the Scottish Arts Trust’s Scottish Landscape Awards. She recently co-edited the anthology How Do We Talk About Knives: Contemporary Writers in Scotland on Names, Language and Identity (Matecznik Press 2023). She is currently working on a new poetry
text for performance and publication, expected in 2025.
Her current teaching includes the University of Dundee (Writing the Environment, and Writing Poetry), and other workshops and participatory projects with a range of creative and cultural organisations – though much of her independent teaching is now channelled into Off the Rails Writing Group.
Across over twenty years of professional practice, her experience also includes directing, editing, publishing, creative project design and management. Numerous publications can be found on her website, as well as a range of interdisciplinary projects including visual art installation and exhibitions, film, digital and sound collaborations. Her work for performance has been produced at the Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh), HERE Arts Center (NYC), the Arches Theatre and Oran Mor (Glasgow), Hidden Door Festival (Leith), Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Edinburgh), The Lemon Tree (Aberdeen), The Bluecoat and METAL (Liverpool).
She co-runs Platform Poetry events in Fife, currently at the Larick Centre in Tayport (details in her website).
www.rebeccajoysharp.com