Seven writers set out early this month to write the sacred at The Fes Sacred Music Festival. By the time we began our workshops we were eleven, joined by three local writers, including Moroccan screen writer Si Mohamed Abarda and a young family member of one of our attendees. What does it mean to ‘write the sacred’ we asked ourselves as we made our daily rounds of morning workshops, afternoon, early evening, mid eve and late night concerts.
Is a sacred song or story necessarily connected to religion, the holy, a divine faith, or can it mean sacred to self , a precious story, one we revere or hold close to the heart. As we watched and listened to Sufi singers and dancers, African desert storytellers, an Algerian big band, musicians and dancers from Andalusia, grand divas of the Arabian nights, and many more, our hearts and minds filled with music, spilling words onto the page that were surprising and transforming.
One of our party decided not to write but instead to sing, another determined to change the place she wrote; from one of darkness to one of light. Others confronted and overcame fear: of the blank page, of trusting their writing, of getting lost in the medina (the labyrinth of narrow lane ways in the old city we negotiated each night to find our way home). I’m happy to report that we didn’t lose anyone, and instead found a great amount of talent just waiting for an outlet. and find it we did at the Festival Fringe in the pOp Up Gallery in the souk, set up by Jess Stephens from a arts local organisation called Culture Vultures.There we gave an impromptu performance of poems and prose pieces for the entertainment of locals and passers-by. One way to overcome your fear of writing is to one day write and the next day to read your work in public!
Read some of the writing here. Pics of our Sacred Song, Sacred Story retreat will be up next week.
In the meantime think about which are the stories that are sacred to you? Are they known tales, already told? How might you adapt them to the story you want to tell, or do you have a sacred story secretly tucked away just waiting for the right music, the right conditions, the right atmosphere to be told?
Here’s what some of our Fes writers said:
Elizabeth Vongsaravanh, poet, Laos.
“My second retreat with Jan, this time in Morocco with my 14 year old daughter who also joined the workshops -a completely unknown place for us where I wouldn’t have thought of visiting if it wasn’t for this opportunity, Sacred Song, Sacred Story.
I arrived, again–as ‘usual’ thinking I will not be able to write anything, the soul of my pen had ran dry and my imagination is in a rut. Jan didn’t think so. Her meditations took me back to my sacred place and filled some pages with words that were stuck inside that pen.
I loved her idea of structure- and her method helped me at first to put my book of poetry together, and again, I was able to see clearly the way I’m structuring the story am currently working on.
Anna Vongsaravanh 14, student, Laos.
“I’ve learned that everybody is inspired by something different, they notice different details of the same image, so everyone has a different story to tell. Some people walking and looking let the images go away, they forget about them. But the people I’ve met in Fes in the workshop, they kept every detail of what tehy’ve seen and heard, tinking of them as a movement of a picture in a still frame, or a song, sang out loud! I really liked the time I’ve spent with Jan and the writers and now I know more about how to express the world around me.”
Inkala Gisela Bleyer, translator, poet, Germany.
“Even though I have resisted writing for a long time and apart from journaling here and there on travels or in challenging phases of my life, I have not written more than contributing a chapter to a book that has not been published yet. Yet I felt a strong call to join Jan for her writer’s retreat during the World Festival of Sacred Music in Fez, Morocco this June (2013). It has been a very inspiring experience and Jan’s way of coaching and encouraging even a beginner like me is wonderful!
The chosen location was superb, the overall programme beyond the writing workshop time very well organised and orchestrated. I highly recommend these Writer’s journeys workshops to everyone interested in writing – whether experienced or beginner. They definitely can open inner doorways to more creative expression.”
Christine Colton, photographer, arts worker, Darwin.
As a confessed non writer at the workshop, in the company of so many serious and professional authors, I was probably a little daunted at the outset. As one who has a great love of words I took on the challenge, in spite of the potential conflict of interest with my love of music and its wordless yet potent ability to touch one’s emotions and physicality, to communicate, inspire, transport and delight. I was intrigued by the idea of responding to the sacred music festival, but am not sure that I succeeded in the task – I found myself writing about the past, and my daily experiences and using the music more as an escape from the rigours of writing and presentng my thoughts. I found Jan’s extremely flexible and laconic style of leading the workshops completely wonderful to work with. I learned such a lot from my fellow participants, about life, writing, Morocco and Sufism and the exotic erotic…I thank them all most sincerely for their company and generosity and tolerance of my efforts.
Claine Keily, poet, teacher of English Literature, Darwin.
I attended the Sacred Song, Sacred Story writing retreat in Fes and participated in the creative writing workshop run by Jan Cornall. She is a sensitive, well informed and respectful teacher, who was a lot of fun work with. I was surrounded by a variety of seasoned writers who I grew to admire. We went on tours of ruined gardens together, and put on an impromptu poetry reading at a pop-up gallery in the Medina. I enjoyed the retreat greatly and I recommend it to all.
Writer’s Journey adventures booking now!
Nov 24 -30 : Mekong Meditations, Luang Prabang Laos. Find yourself in writer’s heaven.
Jan 9-21, 2014: Moroccan Caravan. Fez, Tissardmine, Erg Chebbi, Marrakech – a 12 day desert journey.
Feb 2014, Temple Writing In Burma – Green tea and Buddha’s in a brave new land.
March 8-15, 2014. Breakthrough Writing in Fiji – Eat, Snorkle, Write, in Fiji’s hidden paradise.
