Next Event – an online reading with Moira Forsyth
Wednesday 15th October, 7-8pm, free. Full details and how to book via Eventbrite here.
Overview
LETTING GO is a programme of creative writing activities for older people, developed and delivered by Autumn Voices, and supported by the Creative Scotland Open Fund for Organisations.
Activities will be facilitated by four Online Writers-in-Residence (OWRs). Working consecutively, each OWR will present four online sessions – a reading or presentation for an audience of up to 100, and three writing workshops, for a cohort of up to twelve. We will publish an anthology featuring a new piece of writing commissioned from each OWR, and texts submitted by workshop participants. The anthology will be published online and in print, as a free newspaper. The project concludes in June 2026 with a public, hybrid Round Table event in Stirling, with the four OWRs and other speakers reflecting on the project, and considering more broadly the issue of older people’s creativity.
Theme
The theme of ‘Letting Go’ is taken from the book Autumn Voices by Robin Lloyd-Jones.
Much of our younger lives is about acquiring – acquiring partners, children, a good job, a house, material things. There comes a period in our lives when the scales tip and much of life becomes about letting go – downsizing, coming to terms with loss, letting go of what you can’t change and of unrealistic hopes and plans; and letting go of grudges and hatreds because it’s now or never. In letting go we help those old doors to close and the new ones to open.
As Robin outlines, while ageing involves loss, it also brings opportunities to let go of what we don’t need, whether that’s material belongings or emotional baggage, and to discover what in life is truly essential.
Sessions
Our first Online Writer-in-Residence is the Highlands-based author Moira Forsyth. A novelist who has also published short stories and poetry, her first novels, Waiting for Lindsay and David’s Sisters, were published by Hodder (Sceptre), and are now available as e-books. As Publisher at Sandstone Press for more than 20 years, she selected, commissioned and edited both fiction and non-fiction; many of these books won or were listed for major literary awards.
As well as writing for the AV website, Moira will give an online reading on Wednesday 15th October (7-8pm), and offer a series of three online workshops on Wednesdays 22nd and 29th October, and 5th November (10.30am-12 noon).
Of the workshops, Moira writes, ’Under the broad titles Leaving, Opening the Door and Reflections, the three workshops will allow writers to produce short pieces on a range of topics. During the sessions we’ll work on using our own and other people’s experiences to write memoir or fiction; developing notes and brief paragraphs into longer, more substantial short stories or memoir; and finally how best to rewrite and edit our own work. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.’
If you’d like to take part in the workshops (which are free), please e-mail projects@autumnvoices.co.uk with your name, postal address and an indication of your writing experience. (The sessions are aimed at all levels of experience – but it will help Moira to know something of how much or how little experience you have.)
We would ask you to commit to attending all three workshops. We are limiting the number of participants to 12, to ensure the best experience for all involved.
As the funding for this project comes from Creative Scotland, the sessions are for people living in Scotland.
Online Content Co-ordinator
We’re pleased that Mark Cunningham is joining us as Online Content Co-ordinator, to work on different aspects of the project – promoting and helping run the events, and preparing material for publication online and in print.
At the Scottish Writers Centre, Mark leads the coordination of hybrid events, supporting event guests and audiences. As a facilitator for Radiophrenia he has run community workshops with a focus on working with attendees aged 65+, using recording equipment and technology to boost confidence and encourage lifelong learning. As Communications Co-ordinator at Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust, he promoted events and projects across various digital channels.
Image credit: ‘The Jump’ by Louise Humphrey
