On Friday 30th January, a Year 9 English class attended a Creative Writing Workshop led by a project called Fighting Words at the Skainos Centre in Belfast. The workshop was led by several local writers including Glenn Patterson (patron of Fighting Words Belfast), Tim Loane and a number of writers from the Seamus Heaney Centre.
The girls were encouraged to write their own stories, inspired by role-playing followed by group and individual advice from a writing mentor. During this process they also took part in the making of a promotional video for the project. The whole experience was very enjoyable and thousands of words flowed. A few were read out for everyone to enjoy and some continued writing their stories long after the workshop had ended.
Over the past five years, The Irish Times has published an annual Fighting Words supplement showcasing the work of young writers, and this year, we are delighted that the Belfast entry is a story by Katie W 9H.
An insight into the experience and the views of the participants from Bloomfield can be seen on the promotional video which was used recently to launch Fighting Words Belfast.
