This is a special, SURREAL edition of the All Day Sesh!

Surrealism is the most dramatic and thrilling of the modernist cultural movements of the 20s and 30s. It is best known for its dream-like visual artworks, but it’s writings are also magnificent, marked by strange juxtapositions, tangential ramblings, partial or broken meanings and oblique allusions to political or emotional states.

To work in the surrealist mode is to dream big, to unearth the most exciting and hidden elements of the unconscious, to access hitherto latent parts of what feels like a foreign part of the psyché.

For this special edition of the All Day Sesh! will be looking at parts of the surrealist manifesto by Andre Breton, some poems by Paul Eluard, some surrealist prose fiction, and examples of surrealism in contemporary writing. You will also have the opportunity to try surrealist writing for yourself!

“Surrealism is destructive” said Salvador Dali, “but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.”

Come and join us and experience the mesmerising power of surrealist writing, first hand. Produce your own surrealist work. Take a leap into the unknown. Emerge changed and fascinate!

***NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. ALL WILL BE REVEALED***

This event includes:

1 x two-hour workshop (on SURREALISM IN LITERATURE)

1 x free book

1 x free breakfast

1 x free tea or coffee

3 x 40-minute writing sessions (with breaks in between)

1 x free early evening drink

1 x bunch of new writing buddies!

As always, this is a group for writers and non-writers, alike. No experience necessary. If you're already writing a novel - great! If you've never written anything in your life - that's also great!

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Meet us at 10:45am at Finch's Pub in Old Street for a free breakfast.

When we've had our breakfast and we're sipping tea or coffee, we’ll have a 2 hour workshop on SURREALISM IN LITERATURE.

At 1:30pm, we’ll sit down and have 3 x 40-minute writing sessions, using the Pomodorro technique (this means you'll get a 15-minute break between each stint of writing, and a chance to relax and confer with others, or whatever it is you feel like doing).

*Note: there may be a tiny bit of background noise, but we’ll provide earplugs for you. Please bring your own headphones, if you’d prefer to use these.

To finish the day off, we'll go together for a FREE, early-evening drink in a bar (also very nearby).

You'll be more than welcome to have the one drink, or to sit and have another couple with the crew, for as long as people want to stay.

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This is a full day event (11am — 6pm, approx.)

15 people, max.

You will never have to read your work in front of the group!

***PLEASE NOTE: there is officially a no refund policy for this event. However, if you cancel a number of days in advance and we're able to refill your space, we will indeed refund you. Similarly, moving a cancelled RSVP over to a future event is contingent upon being able to refill the space that you vacate.