Feedback from July 2025 workshop
“Thank you so much for a wonderful experience. Phil, your creativity was infectious and inspiring. I have come away with a wealth of knowledge. Crafting my stories and drawings into beautiful nonsensical art.
Many thanks and eternal gratitude.”
– Michelle
~
“I just wanted to say thank you very much for the LiverpOulipo course this week. I enjoyed it, though I found aspects of it challenging (in a positive way).
It left me feeling inspired and motivated (which was the main reason I attended). I thought it was a really good mix of different exercises and the opportunity to ask questions and hear about your writing experiences.
I was a bit worried I’d get fidgety, or lose concentration, as I’m not used to sitting still all day, or classroom type environments, but I was captivated!
I liked your relaxed delivery style and the pace of the course worked well. The group was great too, everyone was supportive and encouraging. I was quite apprehensive and anxious about attending, but you and the group quickly put me at ease.”
– Caroline
Summer School
‘LiverpOulipo’ was a two-day workshop in July 2025, forming part of the University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education Summer School, which had the theme of ‘Storycraft’.
The three-week Summer School took place at the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS) on campus from Mon 14 July – Fri 1 August 2025. ‘LiverpOulipo – word play by the rules’ took place in the middle week, on Tue 22 & Wed 23 July 2025 (11am – 4pm).
Workshop details
Please note that the information below is from the 2025 LiverpOulipo workshop, and some of the details may change for future editions.
Phil’s two-day LiverpOulipo Summer School will be all about wordplay and writing exercises inspired by the Oulipians.
Participants will need to find creative solutions as various rules and restrictions are imposed on their writing. Georges Perec wrote a 300-page novel (A Void, 1969) without using the letter E.
Jonathan Safran Foer’s ‘Tree of Codes’ (2010) was created by cutting holes out of pages from Bruno Schulz’s ‘The Street of Crocodiles’ to leave a new, much shorter story.
The Storycraft Summer School runs for three weeks, from Mon 14 July – Fri 1 August 2025. ‘LiverpOulipo – word play by the rules’ runs on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 July 2025 (11am – 4pm).
This 2-day workshop will be all about creating flash fiction and short stories using prompts and writing exercises while working within restrictions. LiverpOulipo will take inspiration from the 1960s French ‘Oulipo’ movement, where writers and artists applied lots of constrained writing techniques upon themselves. Perhaps the most famous example would be Georges Perec’s 300-page novel, ‘A Void’ (1969), in which he avoided using the letter ‘e’.
We won’t be focusing on any theory or the history of the Oulipo movement, however; this will be all about diving into fun exercises and challenges – borrowing Oulipians’ ideas and prompts, rules and restrictions, to create our own stories, conjured from unusual places.
No more staring at a blank page! (you’ll be too busy cutting holes in it.) No more writer’s block! (unless it’s a picture of a tower block or a block of cheese that you’ve been given as a prompt).
This aims to get participants to solve problems creatively and to show how placing restrictions on what and how we write can be liberating and give our writing focus and direction. It will also enable writers to tap into unusual sources of inspiration.
For fans of Exquisite Corpse / Consequences type games, or those who enjoy the wordplay in Richard Osman’s House of Games. For writers who want to spark a bunch of new ideas. For people who want to write, but don’t know where to start. While creative writing tips and techniques will be shared over the two days, the emphasis will be on discovering your own writing skills, through challenges, practice and experimentation.
Day 1:
• 11am–12pm – Session 1: Introduction to Oulipo & examples of writing constraints
• 12pm–1pm – Session 2: Prompts & writing challenges
• 1pm–2pm – Lunch Break
• 2pm–3pm – Session 3: Taking inspiration from unusual places & gathering material
• 3pm–4pm – Session 4: Writing challenges & time to write
Day 2:
• 11am–12pm – Session 5: Only half the story (newspaper redacting exercise)
• 12pm–1pm – Session 6: More writing challenges
• 1pm–2pm – Lunch Break
• 2pm–3pm – Session 7: Time to write (& edit)
• 3pm–4pm – Session 8: Sharing and group feedback
Phil Olsen is a short story writer with a Creative Writing MA from the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing. In 2023 he ran a Canning Dock flash fiction competition with Writing on the Wall and National Museums Liverpool, delivering workshops across Merseyside libraries. He has also run workshops for Toxteth’s FireFit Youth Hub, the L20 Hub at Netherton Library, and the Community Lottery-Funded Floral Civilians project in New Brighton. Winner of the University of Liverpool’s Short Story Competition in 2022, Phil has previously won the Northern Short Story Festival Flash Fiction Slam, as well as WoWFest and Book Week Scotland flash fiction competitions. His short fiction has been published by Ad Hoc Fiction, Cōnfingō, The Liminal Residency, Storgy and Strix. He was commissioned by the Science Museum as a writer for ‘Science Fictions: Journey Through Objects with Bedwyr Williams’ and by Manchester’s Victoria Baths for its ‘Re/Place(s) Weekend of Words.’ Phil’s editorial roles have included Fiction Editor at Sabotage Reviews and Contributing Editor at Vestal Review.
Courses fees: Full fee £140.
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier if courses are over- or under-subscribed. In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Enrol via the University of Liverpool Continuing Education website.
Visit the University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education web pages for upcoming Creative Writing courses.