Creative Writing: Creative Writing Through Visual Art
At a Glance
- Classroom course at CGLAS Kennington
- Wednesdays 18:30 - 20:30
- 8 weeks
- 11 October – 6 December 2023 (no class 25 October)
- Tutor: Astrid Alben and Kathryn Maris
- Fees from £168 to £200
THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL
Creative Writing Through Visual Art is a creative writing course for visual artists and art enthusiasts, who want to combine visual and written elements to produce works of art or responses to works of art.
Led by the poets Astrid Alben and Kathryn Maris, who also holds the position of Royal Literary Fund Fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School, we will be introduced to ways in which literary techniques can be connected to art, either as a maker or a viewer.
While most traditional creative writing workshops a structured by genre, such as fiction, poetry, playwriting and creative nonfiction, this course uses a more fluid approach to incorporate other creative disciplines, such as visual art and even philosophy, memoir and literary criticism.
The course is aimed at artists, art enthusiasts and writers hoping to innovate their practice. In these eight workshops, you will be introduced to literary techniques with affinities to art making and art writing. Among the topics we will explore are collage, fragmentation, notebook-scavenging, erasure, flash fiction, concrete poetry and lyric essays.
By the end of the course, you will have learned new techniques, developed confidence in your writing, and acquired a portfolio of new written material. All you need for class each week is a pen, a notebook and your imagination.
The course is suitable for all levels of writers, artists and creative people. Some knowledge of art and literature is recommended.
Classroom Course
This course will be taught face-to-face in the classrooms at the City and Guilds of London Art School, which is located in Kennington.
Founded in 1854, the City and Guilds of London Art School has a long historical association with Imperial College, through both institutions' links with the City and Guilds Institute. For the Art School this link continued until 1971, when it became an independent charitable trust. For Imperial College, the association with the City and Guilds Institute, also known as City and Guilds College, continued until 2001 when the City and Guilds College became one of the constituent institutions that formed Imperial College as we know it today.
The City and Guilds of London Art School is located very near Kennington Underground Station (map), in a row of beautiful late-eighteenth century Georgian town houses.
Class Recordings
These classes are not recorded
Attendance Certificate
Successful completion of this course leads to the award of an Imperial College/CGLAS attendance certificate
Terms and conditions apply to all enrolments to this course. Please read them before enrolment
Course Information
Course Programme
Course Programme (subject to possible modification)
The course will be structured as a workshop in which participants will establish, with tutor support, their own individual pathway, exploring ideas with other participants and sharing work as it is produced.
The workship will be organised to be a supportive environment, where participants can feel comfortable exploring and sharing their ideas with others in the group.
Your Tutors
Astrid Alben is a poet, editor and translator. She is the author of three poetry collections, Ai! Ai! Pianissimo, Plainspeak and Little Dead Rabbit, which is also published in Dutch by PoëzieCentrum.
Her translation of Anne Vegter’s Island glacier mountain won an English PEN Translates Award in 2022. She has worked with BBC Radio and Wellcome Collection, and with performance and animation.
Astrid was awarded a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in 2014 for her work across the arts and sciences with PARS, an arts and sciences initiative she founded in 2002.
She is currently working on a lyrical essay and the international editor for Prototype Publishing.
Kathryn Maris is the author of three poetry collections. Her most recent was The House With Only An Attic And A Basement (Penguin 2018), a portion of which won the Ivan Juritz Prize for creative experiment.
She has won a Pushcart Prize and an Academy of American Poets award, and her poems have appeared in The Guardian, The Spectator, The Financial Times, Granta, Best British Poetry and the Forward Prize Book of Poetry. She has also written essays and book reviews for The Times Literary Supplement, The New Statesman and many literary magazines.
A highly experienced teacher, she has taught creative writing at Boston University, Kingston University, Morley College, the Poetry School and residential Arvon courses. Until recently she was a Writing Fellow at City & Guilds of London Art School.
Course Fees and Rate Categories
| Weeks | Standard Rate | Internal Rate | Associate Rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | £200 |
£168 | £168 | ||
| All fee rates quoted are for the whole course. Part-payments are not possible. | |||||
Rate Categories and Discounts
Standard Rate
- Available to all except those who fall under the Internal Rate or Associate Rate category, respectively.
Internal Rate
- Current Imperial College students and staff (incl. Imperial NHS Trust, Imperial Innovations, ancillary & service staff employed on long-term contracts at Imperial College by third-party contractors)
- People enrolling under our Friends & Family scheme
- Alumni of Imperial College and predecessor colleges and institutes
- City & Guilds College Association members
- City and Guilds of London Art School staff, students and alumni
- Students, staff and alumni of the Royal College of Art and Royal College of Music
- Students, staff and Governors of Woodhouse College and the IC Mathematics School
Associate Rate
- Austrian Cultural Forum staff
- Co-operative College members
- Francis Crick Institute staff, researchers and students
- Friends and Patrons of the English Chamber Orchestra
- Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
- Friends of Leighton House/ Sambourne House
- Friends of the Royal College of Music
- Harrods staff
- Historic Royal Palaces staff
- Lycee Charles de Gaulle staff
- Members of the Friends of Imperial College
- Members of the Kennel Club
- Members of the London Zoological Society
- Members of the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI)
- Members of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
- National Health Service (NHS) employees
- Natural History Museum staff
- Residents of postcodes SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 and W8
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council staff
- Royal College of Art and Royal College of Music tutors and other staff
- Royal Geographical Society staff
- Science Museum staff
- Staff of Exhibition Road Cultural Group (Discover South Kensington) organisations
- Students (non-Imperial College)
- Teachers and other staff of UK schools
- Tutors and other staff of institution members of the Association of Colleges
- Tutors and other staff of other universities and higher education institutions
- Victoria and Albert Museum staff
Proof of status might be requested at the first session. Please bring proof of status with you for the first class of your course.
Late enrolment
It is possible to enrol on many of our adult education courses after the course has already started. For non-language courses this is subject entirely to agreement by the tutor. For language courses it is subject to agreement by the language coordinator conducting level assessment. If you want to join a course late do bear in mind there might be work you will need to catch up on, particularly in language courses.
Friends and Family Scheme
This course is eligible for the allowing Imperial College students and staff to share their discount with their friends and family.
Term Dates 2023-24
| Weeks | Autumn term | Spring term | Summer term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Wednesdays 11 October – 6 December 2023 (no class on 25 October)* | n/a | n/a | ||
| *This is a 1-term course | |||||
Enrolment Process
Web enrolment starts 1 August 2023
Enrolment and payment run through the Imperial College eStore. When enrolling:
- Do check on the drop down menu above called "Course Fees and Rate Categories" to see if you are eligible for a discounted rate and also do make sure you select that rate when enrolling on the eStore
- If you are a first-time eStore user you will need to create an account before enrolling. You can do this by entering an email address and password. This account can then be used for any future enrolments via the eStore.
When you have enrolled you will be sent the following email notifications:
| What is sent | When is it sent | What does it contain |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Payment confirmation | Is sent instantaneously following submission of your online application |
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| 2. Enrolment confirmation | Is sent within 10 working days. Please treat your payment confirmation as confirmation that your applicant details and payment have been received |
|
| 3. Programme information | Is usually sent on Friday late afternoon the week before term starts |
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| If you need further help with the above information please ring 020 7594 8756 | ||
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about the content or teaching of this course please contact the Programme Manager for Adult Education, Dr Michael Paraskos, at m.paraskos@imperial.ac.uk
If you have any questions about your enrolment or payment processes please contact the Programme Administrator, Christian Jacobi, at eveningclass@imperial.ac.uk