The Cemetery is Alive

They say that it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination. Mostly, I think I agree – after all, you don’t want to miss something brilliant or beautiful or life-changing because you’re concentrating on looking at something far off. Life is not a horizon. And I think that noticing the small things is where great ideas come from – what often sets great writing apart from something that’s just good is contained in the small details. The specific ones. Those small pauses to take a breath and look at something that wasn’t in our eye-line. It’s a good thing I like journeys because Monday’s was a real standout. But let’s not get bogged down in splitting Ubers and rain and delayed trains.

Because the real news – the exciting stuff – happened at Sheffield’s General Cemetery. When I was commissioned to write a book for young people set there (which is going really, really well) we agreed that it’d be a missed opportunity if we didn’t run some workshops along with it. It’s a cool thing writing about cemeteries anyway and to offer people the opportunity to write alongside me sounded like the coolest idea. I say, really often now, that getting to hear other people’s stories, and how they feel and what they think about things is my favourite part of the job.

Laura and me, post-workshop.

Monday we started – with a group from Freeman College in Sheffield. And it was everything we’d hoped it would be. Full of life (I know, I know), full of excitement about ideas and the enthusiasm for have every possibility only a thought away was electric. I also read an extract from the book to the people I’d hope would want to read it when it’s published. It went well. They liked it. They laughed in the places I’d hoped they’d laugh and they held their breath at the points where I’d hoped there’d be tension.And that made me incredibly happy.

And that’s just the start of it. I’ll let you know what else is on but a date for your calendars…

  • Friday, 29 October 2021
  • 2:00 pm  4:00 pm

We’ve all heard ghost stories… Its time for you to make them up!

Join Nik Perring, author and Sheffield Libraries’ Writer In Residence, for a fun and, possibly, spooky writing workshop at The Samuel Worth Chapel, Sheffield General Cemetery.

Nik has been commissioned by the Parks for People Project at Sheffield General Cemetery to write a children’s book about the Cemetery! He wants to show you how you can make up your own stories and poems there too.

Everyone’s welcome, even if you have never written a fictional word in your life! Nik will show you how to find the best ideas and he’ll help you make them into amazing, terrifying, brilliant stories or poems you’ll be dying to write.

Tickets are free but places are limited! CLICK TO BOOK.

7+

Research

I’m writing this book in a different way to pretty much everything else I’ve published. The cemetery has such a rich history of stories, and it’s such a stunning place, that I want to incorporate real things in the fiction. That means not making everything up. And that means plenty of research. And that doesn’t mean replicating things or people and shoving them in a narrative. It means spending time reading their stories, being inspired by them as well as spending time just being on site and soaking everything up – atmosphere, location, where the characters go. I’ve loved in and I think I’ve uncovered some gems. And it’s so cool to be excited about writing and knowing it’s good.

Here with Rosetta Ryan, who’s pretty important in this story…
What some research looks like

Published by

nikperring

Nik Perring is a short story writer, author, teacher of writing, and editor from the UK. His stories have been published widely all over the world. His books include the widely celebrated Not So Perfect (Roastbooks 2010), A Book of Beautiful Words; and Beautiful Trees; and he co-wrote Freaks!(TFP/HarperCollins, 2012).

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