I was undeterred by any inference that Hort Kornberger’s workshop ‘Breaking Writer’s Block’ was intended for beginners. After writing in many genres for more than thirty years, I still feel that I am ‘at the beginning’ with each new line. But in the weeks preceding the workshop, family dramas had turned my solitary lifestyle inside out, sweeping away ‘established’ writing habits. Would I ever complete the manuscript which I’d been working on since 2009. I wondered? After this workshop, I felt able to develop new work patterns and creative practices, and three months later, am delighted to say that I’ve have finished it.Horst has the gift of guidance and is a generous teacher: through a series of deceptively pleasant and spontaneous composition exercises, he led me back to that original dreaming place within, which is never lost (even though the way there may seem ‘blocked’ or forgotten). I reconnected, also, with the ‘experienced’ writer in myself: like calls to like, and as Horst replied to everyone’s questions and offered us all insights, I recognised wisdom which had been gleaned through a lifetime’s creativity. He showed each of us how much we already know and long to express, reviving our deep confidence and creative urge. I found Horst’s workshop methods freeing, but also practical. It is the balance between both which is so fertile. I came away with renewed intentions to prioritise time for writing, reminded of the need for disciplined writing practice (not unlike maintaining a meditation or fitness routine, because motivation in middle age comes from a different place than the enthusiastic rush of younger days) and recommitted to living in ways which encourage imagination – regardless of the challenges!
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Annamaria Weldon