Before this week's Celebration of Literature, Music students were exposed to a taste of the festival in a workshop with Dr Andrea Baldwin. A clinical psychologist, Andrea has PhDs in Psychology and Creative Writing, and a Masters in Drama.

Andrea has travelled the globe and draws on her worldly experiences to write songs, poetry, personal essays, drama, fictions and a memoir. Having worked with children and young people for much of her career in arts and health, Andrea is passionate about helping them to express themselves and reaching others through words and music.

In the workshop with Andrea, students identified their strengths and harnessed their skills as either a ‘wordy’ or a ‘muso’, or a bit of both. During their session, the group worked at creating the basis for three songs and in doing so, developed a growing appreciation for the synergy of words and music.

The critical message heard through the session was that each of the students are individuals, whatever they write is fine and they are to be proud of, and confident in what they create because it is theirs.

The students are thankful for the opportunity to have an established singer-songwriter work with them, someone who knows exactly what they experience when taking their own creative journey.

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