Floral Civilians

Phil Olsen in a blue blazer with workshop participants sitting around a table. In the bottom left there is a Floral Civilians logo and a Lottery Community Funded logo.
Phil Olsen with creative writing workshop participants at District House, New Brighton, on Wed 23 Oct 2024.

Creative Writing Workshops

In October and November 2024, Phil ran creative writing workshops at District House — Jayne Casey’s new venue on Victoria Road in New Brighton — as part of the Floral Civilians project. He collaborated with artist Colette Whittington who ran zine-making workshops alongside. These workshops have been made possible with funding from the Community Lottery Fund.

Three further Floral Civilians creative writing workshops took place in April, May and June 2025. These were free to attend and open to all.

Keep an eye on Phil’s Workshops page for future creative writing workshops.

Floral Civilians creative writing poster with white text on a dark background that reads 28 June 2025. A small inset photo shows a group of women writing in notepads around a table.
Poster for the 28 June 2025 workshop.
  • Saturday 28 June 2025 (1 – 3pm) at District House, 112 Victoria Road, New Brighton
  • Saturday  24 May 2025 (1 – 3pm) at District House, 112 Victoria Road, New Brighton
  • Saturday 12 May 2025 (1 – 3pm) at District House, 112 Victoria Road, New Brighton
  • Friday 1 November 2024 (2 – 4:30pm) at District House, 112 Victoria Road, New Brighton. This was a joint creative writing and zine making workshop, in collaboration with artist and print-maker, Colette Whittington
  • Wednesday 23 October 2024 (6:30 – 8:30pm) at District House, 112 Victoria Road, New Brighton

Zines

As well as running free zine-making workshops as part of the Floral Civilians project, artist Colette Whittington is also producing zines to promote the activities. Edition Two of the zine features Phil Olsen’s short story, ‘Do Not Point at the Sun’, which is set in New Brighton.

Floral Civilians zine Edition Two. Orange and yellow lettering on a white background.
Floral Civilians Edition Two zine produced by artist Colette Whittington and distributed around New Brighton, Merseyside.
Editions One and Two of the Floral Civilians zine, designed and produced by Colette Whittington.
Floral Civilians zine promotion with pink text that reads 'Featuring a pull-out short story by Phil Olsen in the centre fold'
The 8-page zines are made using a single sheet of A3 paper. When folded out, there is a poster on the reverse.

Feedback from workshop participants

“10/10 – very informative. Phil is so friendly and welcoming. Really enjoyed this.”

“Really enjoyed it. Very easy to understand. And enjoyed writing and sharing.”

“I really enjoyed this short course. It stimulated my thought processes.”

(Comments from Floral Civilians Feedback Forms, completed after the Saturday 28 June 2025 workshop).

About the project

What is the aim of the Floral Civilians project?

Our core aim is to improve the planting in the 24 brick containers in New Brighton’s streets. We’d love to expand our work across town, turning unused spaces into vibrant growing areas and improving existing plantings. Along the way, we’re hosting fun, creative workshops to bring people together and spark new ideas for our local community.

This year, we’ve collaborated with other local groups including New Brighton in Bloom, Friends of the Marine Lake, Friends of the Gorse Park, and Charlotte’s Brightside to win Gold in this year’s New Brighton in Bloom Competition. We have been given an award for the Best Small Coastal Town in the North West along with Crosby in Bloom.

Find out more by following Friends of Victoria Quarter New Brighton on Instagram.

Place writing exercise

There is a ‘New Brightons of the World’ sign down on the front that lists the distances to other New Brightons… from as far away as New Zealand (11,724 miles away) to as nearby as Flintshire in Wales (just 18 miles away). Without knowing what you might find in all of those other New Brightons, think about what could (more than likely) only be here in this New Brighton. What are some of the distinctive landmarks? If you had a pen pal in the New Brighton in State Beach California or Ocean Shores Australia, what would you tell them about this New Brighton?

'New Brightons of the World' sign
'New Brightons of the World' sign.