UNESCO to launch multilingual creative writing workshops in Nottingham

In collaboration with the School of Cultures, Languages and Area studies, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature has launched multilingual creative workshops for young people aged 16-24.

When and where are the workshops?

The workshops will run once a week from the 23rd of June to the 14th of July 2022, from 18:30-20:00.

The primary aim of the workshops are to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity in Nottingham through creative writing, with workshops exploring themes such as identity and cultural heritage. The workshops are free to attend and allow participants to explore their languages in an informal, fun setting.

Creativity is a great way to bypass language barriers and become a form of self-expression. It’s great to see Nottingham City celebrating differences and giving those who speak other languages a chance to explore their creativity in relation to their heritage.

The work produced in the workshops will be collated and printed in a zine put together with print, design and creative workshop Dizzy Ink.

Workshop schedule

Over the course of four weeks, four workshops will be held with different themes being explored each week. The workshops will take place at Nonsuch studios, 92 Lower Parliament St, Nottingham, NG1 1EH.

Workshop 1, 23rd June Which languages?

Bring along your ‘favourite’ word in whichever language you choose! Using this, we will explore script, sound, and meaning with an opportunity to discuss it and explain why this is your favourite word – maybe you like the sound of it; the feeling of saying the word; maybe it is ‘untranslatable’ into English, or perhaps you like it because it embodies a certain feeling or emotion.

Workshop 2, 30th June Wordiest

Working with chalk pens, we are going to build something (!) that showcases all the languages spoken/written/understood in the group whilst exploring your interests in creativity in one or in all of your languages! Poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction: it’s all up for playing with!

Workshop 3, 7th July What is it? (1)

Is there an object in your household that has captured your imagination from the moment you saw or held it? In this workshop, we will think about how and when we came to know it, what it means to you and to others, how it came to be etc. We will think about the relationship the artefact has with you and your family and we will build up vocabulary to talk about it creatively, taking notes, drawing, and sketching, if you’d like.

Workshop 4, 14th July What is it? (2)

The second ‘What is it?’ session will follow on from Workshop 3, looking at objects that mean something to us and building up vocabulary in different languages to talk about it creatively.

You can sign up for the workshops here.