Start Date
Tuesday 22 July & Wednesday 23 July 2025, 11am - 4pm
Overview
This 2-day workshop will be all about creating flash fiction and short stories using prompts and writing exercises while working within restrictions. LiverpOulipo will take inspiration from the 1960s French ‘Oulipo’ movement, where writers and artists applied lots of constrained writing techniques upon themselves. Perhaps the most famous example would be Georges Perec’s 300-page novel, ‘A Void’ (1969), in which he avoided using the letter ‘e’.
We won’t be focusing on any theory or the history of the Oulipo movement, however; this will be all about diving into fun exercises and challenges – borrowing Oulipians’ ideas and prompts, rules and restrictions, to create our own stories, conjured from unusual places.
No more staring at a blank page! (you’ll be too busy cutting holes in it.) No more writer’s block! (unless it’s a picture of a tower block or a block of cheese that you’ve been given as a prompt).
This aims to get participants to solve problems creatively and to show how placing restrictions on what and how we write can be liberating and give our writing focus and direction. It will also enable writers to tap into unusual sources of inspiration.
For fans of Exquisite Corpse / Consequences type games, or those who enjoy the wordplay in Richard Osman’s House of Games. For writers who want to spark a bunch of new ideas. For people who want to write, but don’t know where to start. While creative writing tips and techniques will be shared over the two days, the emphasis will be on discovering your own writing skills, through challenges, practice and experimentation.
Syllabus
Day 1:
• 11am–12pm – Session 1: Introduction to Oulipo & examples of writing constraints
• 12pm–1pm – Session 2: Prompts & writing challenges
• 1pm–2pm – Lunch Break
• 2pm–3pm – Session 3: Taking inspiration from unusual places & gathering material
• 3pm–4pm – Session 4: Writing challenges & time to write
Day 2:
• 11am–12pm – Session 5: Only half the story (newspaper redacting exercise)
• 12pm–1pm – Session 6: More writing challenges
• 1pm–2pm – Lunch Break
• 2pm–3pm – Session 7: Time to write (& edit)
• 3pm–4pm – Session 8: Sharing and group feedback
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier if courses are over- or under-subscribed. In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Course Lecturer: Phil Olsen
Phil Olsen is a short story writer with a Creative Writing MA from the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing. In 2023 he ran a Canning Dock flash fiction competition with Writing on the Wall and National Museums Liverpool, delivering workshops across Merseyside libraries. He has also run workshops for Toxteth’s FireFit Youth Hub, the L20 Hub at Netherton Library, and the Community Lottery-Funded Floral Civilians project in New Brighton. Winner of the University of Liverpool’s Short Story Competition in 2022, Phil has previously won the Northern Short Story Festival Flash Fiction Slam, as well as WoWFest and Book Week Scotland flash fiction competitions. His short fiction has been published by Ad Hoc Fiction, Cōnfingō, The Liminal Residency, Storgy and Strix. He was commissioned by the Science Museum as a writer for ‘Science Fictions: Journey Through Objects with Bedwyr Williams’ and by Manchester’s Victoria Baths for its ‘Re/Place(s) Weekend of Words.’ Phil’s editorial roles have included Fiction Editor at Sabotage Reviews and Contributing Editor at Vestal Review.
Courses fees: Full fee £140
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