Tangling with Tigers and Tulips in New Zealand

By Robyn Hunt

Come Tangle with Tigers and Tulips is a highly successful creative writers' workshop for women with disabilities.

The community based workshop is becoming a regular feature of the Wellington Arts scene and will take place for the third time during August.

Run over several Saturdays it provides an opportunity to come together for women who want to stimulate creativity and write in a supportive atmosphere.

While New Zealand has its fair share of writers and artists with disability, this is the first writing group established specifically for women with disability to explore their writing and simply to have fun.

Those who have attended previous workshops have included experienced writers such as Leigh Montford, a performance poet who is establishing herself on the international circuit, and women for whom creative writing is a new adventure.

Tutor Trish Harris is a professional award winning writer, who has explored her own disability through writing. She says 'The really exciting thing is that all the women who have done the workshop have been surprised at their own ability to be creative and write, and their enjoyment and pleasure at hearing other people's work.

'One participant said, and it had a ring of truth for me, was that she could concentrate on her writing and didn't have to worry about other people's attitudes to her disability.'

'I set it up because I had so much enjoyment out of the writing process myself on the course I took at Whitireia Polytech, and I wanted to share it with women with disability.'

'I'm really keen to see, and continue to explore how writing, disability and creativity fit together,' she added.

More than a dozen women have tangled with tigers and tulips so far, including follow up sessions, and Trish says she and co-tutor Jamie Bull hope to take the workshop around smaller centres and towns in the future.

The workshop is run independently. Women pay a small amount and grants cover the rest of the costs.