​It can sometimes be very hard to write freely, without judging yourself in the process – whether you are working on essays, exploring creative writing or crafting thought leadership pieces. Now more than ever, it’s important to show compassion to yourself whilst crafting your work, especially whilst writing about personal experiences.

​Join writer and poet, Annie Hayter, in a workshop that will explore different ways to gently break free of this cycle of judgement, offering you a supportive space in which to try out reflections and exercises to unlock your imagination, and to nurture yourself in the process of writing.

​This workshop is open to people of all levels of experience with writing and is aimed at anyone who is interested in making time for self-compassion, as well as play and experimentation through words. At the end of our workshop, there will be an opportunity to share extracts of some of the work created, if any participants feel comfortable to.

​About the facilitator:

​Annie Hayter was born in a paddling-pool beneath a waning moon, and they have been terrible at swimming ever since. They studied English at the University of Oxford, and won BBC PROMS Young Poet. A runner up for Times Young Poet of The Year, they came third in the Cúirt New Writing Prize for Poetry, and have been shortlisted for The White Review’s Poet’s Prize, Young People’s Laureate for London, Desperate Literature Prize, Bridport Prize, amongst others. They’ve published work in The Big Issue, the Rialto, MAGMA, The London Magazine, TimeOut, etc. They've performed across the UK, including at the Forward Prizes, Southbank Centre and on Radio 3. They’ve facilitated workshops with organisations like the National Youth Orchestra, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Prince's Teaching Institute, University of Kent, and the Barbican.

​This event is only available to participants of Friends Who Write Season 2, if you'd like to join, register for FWW first at https://t2.world/fww