I’ve been attending the WEA Creative Writing Class at Heart in Headingley for quite a few years now and it’s fair to say it has been a great source of inspiration for me as far as my writing goes.
Whilst always thinking I’d like to write I had never got around to it. Nerves were jangling at my first session expecting to be amongst long standing authors and poets. I just didn’t know whether the work I would come up with would be any good. Whilst I’m not going to make any claims for the quality of my work, I do know I was immediately put at ease and my work was valued by the tutor and my fellow students.
The atmosphere was and still is supportive and encouraging. I have learnt a lot about different genre of prose and poetry and have had a go at everything. This has helped to keep my brain ticking over. The lessons are always interesting and stimulating.
The class has taken me and the group to places I never expected to go to. E.g. Reading our work at the Ilkley and Headingley Literature Festivals, reading at poetry open-mics and even having some poems/stories in anthologies. The class has given me a wonderful new interest, my only regret I didn’t start writing years ago.
Malcolm Henshall
April 2020