Published author visits prize-winning writers’ group
01/07/08
Author Mark Thomson, the Bard Fae the Building Site, will be visiting Aberdeen’s Portal Community Centre tomorrow, Wednesday 2 July.
He will be performing for the Portal Creative Writers group, which won the SQA Adult Learning Award in May. The performance is their prize.
Members of the Portal Creative Writers group are themselves published authors. In April their book AB24 Poems from a Postcode was released.
The book features poems and stories about the life experiences of the Portal Creative Writers Group and the individual challenges they faced at different times of their lives. The participants’ ages range from twenty years to seventy-seven years old.
Over the past year-and-a-half the group has been provided with a tutor from the Workers Educational Association (WEA) by co-ordinator Alison Morrison. The group has also been supported by WhiteSpace arts co-ordinators – Elspeth Winram and Margaret Stewart.
The learning opportunities provided to the group and the new skills participants gained have impacted on their families and the wider community. Now group members have more confidence, increased self-esteem and are an inspiration to their families, friends, and others in the Tillydrone community.
the group intends to undertake an SQA qualification in Communication at Portal Community Centre. Some are considering working as self- employed authors in arts and media communications.
Two people from the group are also doing ECDL – European Computer Driving Licence an internationally recognised qualification. Some have already attended digital photography classes.
If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.
