John Brewster
Telephone:
01333 730004Email:
info@www.writingvoices.comWebsite:
www.writingvoices.comBRAW network:
noLL funded:
yesBiography:
I am a poet, writer, musician and artist. I am Scottish, born in the Kingdom of Fife in 1957. For as long as I can remember, I have tried to write, draw and sing my way through life. It feels that my every instinct from the beginning has been to try and make the experience or event before me more creative, more meaningful, more real.
I write poetry and fiction in English and Scots, and my poetry has been favourably reviewed by such distinguished poets as George Bruce and William Neill. Through the years I have been a creative writing tutor, performer, editor, translator and pamphlet publisher. I am a qualified teacher in Religious and Moral Education and English, with a First in Divinity from St Andrews University.
About writer's work:
I am employed by Fife Council as a creative writing tutor. I teach creative writing courses for adults at schools in Fife and run classes and workshops in creative writing for children. I also teach creative writing courses in liaison with Fife Council’s Community Services, working with organisations such as Adult Basic Education in Fife and the mental health initiative ENeRGI.
I have edited, published and promoted booklets for the groups I have taught, recent examples being Story To Tell for the ENeRGI group in St Monans, and Local Produce for the Madras College group in St Andrews.
What fascinates me is going beyond the usual conventions in writing; deconstructing the assumptions that inhibit people from expressing themselves. Everyone has a creative way in and a creative way out. My approach is to explore these entrance and exit points; understanding what moves us and moves through us. I am interested in crossover techniques in self-expression; employing my skills as a writer, teacher and musician to develop innovative projects that produce fresh uses of word and sound. Ideas that interest me include the relationship between our words and our ways of doing, feeling and thinking; words as verbal music; how our choice of words shapes the sound and colour of our writing as much as the form and meaning; and the writing process as a self-expedition.
About writer's events and projects:
I was recently funded by Fife Council for my poetry and music project The Spiritual Recluse and the Bebop Prism, performing work from this project at the Pittenweem Arts Festival. I have read at Scottish Poetry Library events, arts festivals, university recitals and public library readings.
In 2008, I organised a poetry competition in St Monans that involved people from all age groups. I edited and printed three hundred copies of a booklet featuring the winning and commended poems, which led to a reading event and exhibition being held at St Monans Primary School. This project raised £650 towards the rebuilding of the vandalised Nursery School in St Monans.
I was Chair of the Fife Writers Group in the 1980s. During that time, we published the magazine Scrievins and individual poetry collections, held readings, exhibited group work in local libraries and worked in liaison with the Arts in Fife, the WEA and other community arts organisations. In the 1980s and 1990s, I edited the magazines Scrievins and Scots Glasnost.
I am Chair and Events Organiser of the St Monans Community Arts Festival 2009, a new initiative supported by the St Monans community and Fife Council.
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
9-12, Teens, Adults
