Rhome Creative Workshops

"Diana V. Almeida's" @ricardoramos_photo (Left)

"Lesley Saunders" (right)

Writing the Heart_My Body, the World - Writing Workshop
Diana V. Almeida

Keywords
Corporeality, ecocriticism, water, belonging, healing

Abstract
Misconceptions about the body mark western philosophy, wrought by dualistic tensions between mind and matter. The Cartesian tradition defines the body as a mechanical object fitting into the category of stuff, an onus requiring to be transcended for the intellect to rule. However, lately the body has been reconceptualized as a bridge between biology, culture, politics, and ecology, situating us in a complex matrix of belonging.

Some feminist scholars (Rosi Braidotti), ecological activists (Vandana Shiva), and scientists (António Damásio) call for a reconfiguration of the concept of the body, enlarging its scope. Furthermore, somatic psychotherapists (Peter Levine) and physicians (Gabor Maté) propose a healing approach through our bodily memory registers.

Considering that our bodies are mostly water, I invite the participants in this workshop to establish a dialogue between their own bodies and an enlarged water world. A few breathing and mindfulness exercises will guide us to fully honor our living presence. Then, Astrida Neimanis’ words on our oceanic body, along with some verses and a couple of
photographs from (Con)Fluir o Mar / (Con)Join the Sea will set us on our writing journey. All will be encouraged to write in their mother tongue (closest to the heart), and we will practice deep listening while sharing our texts.

Biographical note

MA and PhD in American Literature and Culture, FLUL, where she was Invited Assistant Professor (2007-2020), teaching Literature, Contemporary Art, Visual Culture. Post-doctoral project in Photography, Gender and Museum Studies. In 2013, co-edited with Sandra M. Gilbert Feminisms Today and Tomorrow, and edited Women and the Arts: Dialogues in Female Creativity.

Published poems and photographs in Cosmos e Casas (2021); reflections and exercises for inner coherence in O Compasso do Amor: Guia para Alinhamento Interior
(2025); poems in The Least Gesture (2026).

Studied aromatherapy, psychotherapy, energy healing, and Kundalini Yoga. Works as a freelance writer, translator, photographer, healer, and cultural mediator.

PHOTO
Mil Cravos (Casa Jardim da Estrela — Um Teatro em Cada Bairro, April 2024) was her last solo photograph exhibition, celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution.

WRITING
Writing the Heart (2014-) offers a transdisciplinary, mindful, embodied approach to creativity.

‘And a door opened’ - Creative Writing Workshop,

Lesley Saunders

Keywords
Creative writing, Shared reading, Doorways and thresholds, Sanctuaries and
displacements

Abstract
Lesley Saunders, poet and teacher, will lead a workshop for any delegates who would like to respond creatively to the general theme of the conference, however they wish to interpret it. Lesley will provide some source material for participants to read together, and the group will reflect on the image – actual and/or metaphorical – of doors and passageways, as ways of getting from here to there, from home to elsewhere, and / or back home from wherever we may have travelled, or been exiled, to.
After the group reading session, participants will have time to make notes and rough drafts of a piece of writing, in whatever style they choose. The only requirement is that the first and / or last line of each piece of work must contain the phrase ‘And a door opened’. If time permits, the group will come together to share their thoughts and – though only if
they so wish – their work-in-progress. Lesley will then lead the group in a brief closing activity to acknowledge everyone’s creative homecoming and / or flight.
 

Numbers

Places are limited to 12 participants
 

Timing

The workshop will take place in the afternoon and last for two hours.
 

Biographical note

Lesley Saunders has worked all her life in education, as teacher, researcher, policy adviser and independent consultant. She is also a published poet; her most recent poetry collections are This Thing of Blood & Love (Two Rivers Press, 2022) and, with artist Rebecca Swainston, Days of Wonder (Hippocrates Press, 2021), a record of the first year of the Covid pandemic. Her translations – including the poem that won the 2016 Stephen Spender award – of Maria Teresa Horta’s poetry were published as Point of Honour (Two Rivers Press, 2019). Lesley is an experienced editor and reviewer, and a popular leader of creative writing workshops, particularly for adults whose writing is mainly for academic purposes or who are not used to writing for themselves.