Workshops

Sophie Buchaillard is a practice-based educator and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy who believes in the power of writing to heal and bring communities together.

Sophie has collaborated with a broad spectrum of partners to deliver inclusive workshops on the themes of community building, inclusion, creative growth, well-being, trauma-recovery and sustainable living.

Currently, she runs a monthly workshop in Penarth Library (see calendar) and bespoke, themed, workshops on aspects of writing.

To hear more, please sign up for the newsletter in the footer below.

  • I love to collaborate with artists and organisations, to develop creative responses centred around the role creative writing can play in reframing perspectives, healing trauma and bringing communities together.

    Sophie Buchaillard

  • Working with an author like Sophie has been invaluable, bringing professional insight, encouragement, and a fresh energy that has inspired new and returning library users alike.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

  • Since 2023, the Creative Writing Classes in Penarth have transformed the library into a vibrant hub of storytelling, connection, and creativity.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

  • The participants get to write, explore, be expressive, share and create. Sophie guides, encourages, teaches which leaves them eager for more.

    Rhodri Matthews, Senior Librarian

  • These sessions go beyond writing—they empower individuals, support wellbeing, and foster inclusion. Led by Sophie, participants find their voices, share their experiences, and build confidence, creating a ripple effect that strengthens our wider community.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

Passed partnerships

Get in touch and look at  Literature Wales Inspiring Communities Fund if you need help with funding your idea.

 A few examples of past partnerships:

  • In 2024, I partnered with the MakerSpace and Penarth Library to deliver writing workshops inviting women to explore their experience of the menopause in an inclusive space; with Creative Cardiff to deliver a Travel Writing Masterclass looking at reinventing the genre for the 21st century; with Reclaim the Frame and Chapter Arts Centre to explore the impact of climate change on small communities, through shared conversations and writing prompts, in response to a viewing of the film Banel & Adama by director Ramata-Toulaye Sy.

  • In 2023, I partnered with Literature Wales and Penarth Library Makerspace to deliver a series of workshops on Writing Parenthood, and give new parents the tools to co-produce a collection of zines (DIY magazines) in which participants collated their individual and collective responses in images and words (Based on an original idea by Harriet Bradshaw); with Reclaim the Frame and Chapter Arts Centre to explore cultural identity/ dual heritage / multi-identities / language and what happens when we reconnect to a past heritage, through shared conversations and writing prompts, in response to a viewing of the film Past Lives by Celine Song; and with the National Museum Wales (Cardiff) and Cardiff University’s research group Image Works, to deliver a workshop on imagined and introspective travels, in response to the exhibition Sea Horizon/Môrwelion by the artist Gary Fabian Miller.