As well as writing, I also teach students of all ages – primary school through to adults – through workshops, lessons, and visits.
Sam ran a fantastic, slightly spooky, creative workshop for us during October half term. She has a natural way of pulling ideas out of even the most shy of children. It was joyous to hear the group sharing their story ideas with Sam. We can’t wait to welcome her back!
Natasha Radford, owner of Chicken and Frog Bookshop, Brentwood
Creative writing workshops
I run creative writing workshops for a wide range of clients and ages. Most recently, these have included:
- Stories from the Deep – a ghost-story workshop held at the National Maritime Museum in London, based on the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition
- Spooky Stories workshop for children at the Museum of Oxford
- Stories After Dark creative writing workshop for adults at the Museum of Oxford
- Figurehead Storytelling at the Cutty Sark – a workshop giving the history and stories behind some of the collection of figureheads at the Cutty Sark in London, including creating a figurehead and writing its story.
- Oxford Playhouse – performed a tale (outside in a themed tent!) from the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights on behalf of the Oxford Playhouse to celebrate the turning-on of the Christmas Lights Oxford. I was trained by actor and director Polly Tisdall in her storytelling course at the Oxford Playhouse.
Find your voice in one of my creative writing workshops! Tailored to suit your preferences and interests, these sessions will help to free your imagination so writing becomes more of a pleasure than a pain. You can choose a session to cover a specific genre or I could focus on a particular aspect of the writing process, such as character, plot, and setting. It’s entirely up to you!
In person or online, I can deliver sessions to inspire you or your students. All you need is some paper and pens (and an internet connection and screen, if we’re communicating virtually).
Creative writing lessons
These are similar to workshops but, instead of one session, there will normally be a series (usually at least six) with a final objective at the end. This could be anything – eg an anthology of poems or (non) fiction, to a single story for each student. I have a ready-made introductory course called Writing for Beginners which I can follow, or I can tailor this to address different genres. For example:
- Writing for Children for Beginners
- Writing to Scare
- Writing Comedy
The choice is yours, and I am happy to design a course to suit your needs. As with the workshops, these can be done in person or online.
Virtual visits
In addition to physical visits I can also do a virtual visit to your school or place of work. We can connect via Zoom, Google Classroom or any other online meeting place and I can give a talk and take Qs & As from the audience. I am used to working in this way from teaching online during the Pandemic, and I am still doing virtual storytelling at the moment! Talks could include topics such as:
- Becoming a writer
- The Haunting of Lindy Pennyworth – from idea to publication
- Ghosts and the Gothic – why are we soon keen to be scared?
This option is especially helpful for overseas groups and schools, so do please reach out!
Literature lessons
In addition to creative writing, I also teach literature. I’ve taught several GCSE exam board syllabuses and have also been a marker for coursework and exam papers during the 2020 Lockdown.
I am happy and confident teaching across a range of texts but my specialisms include Victorian literature, Gothic literature and children’s literature (for which I have an MA).
My aim is always to demystify literature for my students. Often they come to my classes with a fear and dislike of texts and end up enjoying and understanding them instead. Literature needn’t be ‘difficult’ if we approach it in the right way!
Fees
I am currently in the process of pricing my services so please feel free to get in touch. Email me at: sampopeoxford@gmail.com and we can sort something out.
Sam Pope 