Storytelling Workshops

Whisper to Roar

Finding the courage to express what we feel is not always easy. Through guided sentence prompts, character analysis and personal storytelling exploring our shadow and light, we examine vulnerable experiences, reframe fear as strength and unleash the power to tell our stories in front of others.

Reasons to Stay

Men account for a disproportionate share of suicide deaths. Through literary quotations, group discussions and poetry, we reflect on what keeps men going when life feels heaviest. Each man writes a letter for the Reasons to Stay project to offer another man hope and faith.

When Love Breaks Us

In a world where gender differences are used to divide us, heartbreak offers shared ground for connection. We explore rejection, loss and the emotional wounds that shape future relationships. We deepen our understanding of how we experience pain to become more compassionate.

Villains in Writing

Women are quick to cast men as villains, but a hero is only a hero if faced with a mighty villain. Through fiction, fairy tales, songs and journalism, we investigate how words, perspective and motivation shape a villain and learn to create stronger, more complex antagonists.

Open Water

Through Caleb Azumah Nelson’s award-winning novel, we discover what makes a book unique and improve our own reading and writing skills. We learn how ordinary details, silence, metaphor, culture and rhythm communicate emotions characters cannot express aloud.

Before It’s Too Late

The pressure on men to succeed, provide and fulfil roles leaves little room to consider their own needs, intuition and dreams. We remember the people, opportunities and things we lost, and the worries that consume us, to reveal what we would change if we had just one day to live.

“Carole’s approach gives even the most experienced writers cause to reflect and consider how they could better develop their own voice…”

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“Carole’s approach gives even the most experienced writers cause to reflect and consider how they could better develop their own voice, process and creative thinking.

As an editor, I’d like to see more authors internalise and practise what she teaches and brings to the group, especially if their goal is publication.

She brings fresh perspective to her workshop’s themes, breathing liveliness and new insight into the writing process.

She creates a positive, demanding and fun atmosphere, managing to stretch a richly populated space of established and up-and-coming writers from backgrounds as diverse as their styles and goals — all without pretence or arrogance.”

“Carole has a commanding presence and she leads workshops with integrity, both for the participants and the craft. Her passion for stories obvious and I always walk away from her sessions with new ideas.”

“One of my favourite sessions with Carole was about villains. It really opened my eyes. Instead of just calling them mean, scary, or evil…”

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“One of my favourite sessions with Carole was about villains. It really opened my eyes. Instead of just calling them mean, scary, or evil, I learned to actually give them real characteristics, origin stories, and feelings, which made my writing so much deeper overall. I also noticed how uncomfortable it was to look at villains as humans, and how I can be a villain for other people. I always enjoy Carole’s sessions. They’re super dynamic and we get to write a lot, so I’m already looking forward to the next one!”