The Art of Wintering for Writers, a workshop with Anne Tannam

Course Summary

For everything there is a season, but too often, when it comes to our writing life, we try and power through difficult periods, often mistaking the essential season of winter as writers block, procrastination or sheer laziness. If this sounds like you, then it’s time to discover the art of wintering, which invites us make the most of fallow or difficult writing periods in the knowledge that spring will come, as it always does, when the time and conditions are right.

Inspired by the New York Times bestseller ‘Wintering, The power of rest and retreat in difficult times’, by Katherine May, this workshop will give you the space, resources and tools needed to align your creative energies to the natural cycle of a healthy, productive and joyful writing life.

There will be a one hour break for lunch.

Course Outline

Course Outline:

• The cyclical nature of the creative process: identify which season you’re currently experiencing in your creative life
• Preparing for wintering: identifying the signs (energy and productivity levels, stuckness or lack of motivation) and planning ahead
• Wintering’s essential tasks: – hunker down and embrace the winter, conserve energy, manage your resources wisely, know when to rest, change pace and when to push through
• Fighting the winter? Learn strategies to stay resilient, hopeful and ready to make the most of spring when it arrives

It is recommended that participants bring a notebook. Slides are available after the workshop.

Course Outcomes

Participants will come away from this workshop with a deeper understanding of how to make the most of winter when it arrives into their writing lives, and will leave with a toolkit of tips and strategies to sustain their creative practice through difficult times.

Anne Tannam is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) who helps writers to design and sustain flourishing writing practices. She regularly runs workshops and clinics online and across the country. For more on Anne’s coaching, visit www.creativecoaching.ie.

Anne has published four poetry collections, the latest ‘dismantle’ (Salmon Poetry, 2024) was published with the support of a Literature Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland. She was Poetry Ireland’s Poet in Residence from May 2023 to May 2025. For more on Anne’s poetry, visit www.annetannampoetry.ie.