Phil Olsen

I had a great class last year and am sharing a few of their kind comments here.

To find out more or to book, visit the Continuing Education website:

www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...

(Linktree link in bio: linktr.ee/liverpolsen ) 3/3

The emphasis of this short course will be on working within restrictions to bring about creative solutions and original story ideas.

Each week, we will look at universal story elements (character, dialogue, structure etc), while also responding to prompts and writing exercises. 2/3

White text on a green background. The University of Liverpool crest is in the top left and ‘Continuing Education’ is in the top right. In the centre is a graphic of a pair of shorts which contains the words ‘Flash Fiction’ on the waist band and ‘Short Shorts and Restrictive Briefs’ on the legs.

Feedback from 2025 course students. Green text on a pale grey background.

Feedback from 2025 course students. Green text on a pale grey background.

Flyer for ‘Short courses and lectures: For the sheer enjoyment of learning’ featuring a mural of a Liver Bird on the side of a building.

Back for a second year! I’m teaching an 8-week Flash Fiction course, ‘Short Shorts and Restrictive Briefs’, as part of University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education programme. Taking place on Tuesday evenings (6-8pm), the course will run from 3 Feb - 31 March 2026 (with a 1-week gap, half-way) 1/3

This is a comic pate drawn in the soft pencil style of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs Basically the story is this: - Keir Starmer in dressing gown presses face up to window, excited that it is snowing - He runs outside, builds a snowman - It comes to life, taps on his window - He invites it in, gives it clothes (yellow trouser, green jacket, flat cap) and we realise (face close up) it looks like Nigel Farage - Snowman takes him outside, launches off the ground - They fly over the landscape, we see a town below - A man ziptying a St George’s Flag to a lamp post waves at them as they pass - As in the original, they head for the sea - we see a light by the coast - Instead of Brighton pier as in the original, it is an Asylum Detention Center - They land, we see people queuing behind a fence - Snowman Farage points excitedly at a large bin marked VALUABLES - Snowman Farage pulls a child's E-scooter out of the bin, he and Starmer look excited - They take off again and go back to Keir’s home - Farage resumes his place in the garden, Starmer walks back inside to go back to bed - The next day Snowman Farage has melted, leaving only his clothes and the scooter - now with a bow and label attached to show it is a Christmas gift. [ends]

My full page comic for the @prospectmagazine.co.uk Christmas issue. With sincere apologies.

Happy birthday, Nick!

A watercolour nightsky with floating objects and people amongst the starts. Objects include coffee pots, egg timers, clocks and pieces of paper. One person is writing with pen and another is typing on a laptop. White and yellow text overlays the image and reads: 'The Short Story Challenge - January 23 - NYCMIDNIGHT.COM'

Up for a writing challenge? Join me in the 20th annual Short Story Challenge by @nycmidnight.bsky.social on 23rd January 2026! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/ssc

A screenshot of a University of Liverpool webpage with the crest and logo in white on a dark blue strip. Text reads ‘Graphic Novels - Thinking Inside the Box(es)’ and there is a photograph of a box of coloured pencils.

After looking at some examples of visual narratives, you’ll get to draw some panels of your own.

Part of Continuing Education’s CE Saturday at University of Liverpool.

Sat 8 Nov 2025 at the VG&M (10:30am - 3:30pm)

Find out more and book online: bit.ly/4mG1ZXX

(website & Linktree in bio)

Two boxes with black frames on a white background. The first box has an orange tint and the words ‘Graphic Novels’ in black capital letters. The second box has the text ‘Thinking Inside the Box(es)’

‘Graphic Novels – Thinking Inside the Box(es)’

I’m teaming up with illustrator and designer, Chris Rodenhurst, to deliver a one-day workshop on graphic novels…

A screenshot of a University of Liverpool web page advertising ‘A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words - writing short stories inspired by art’

I’m running a new creative writing evening course as part of University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education programme. 6 Tuesday evenings (6-8pm) from 30 Sept - 4 Nov 2025.

Find out more and book online: bit.ly/4oAciyC

(website & Linktree in bio)

A dark green background with a black painting in a yellow frame. Text on the painting reads ‘A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words’ in vertical lettering and the number ‘1000’ is picked out in mint green from the letter I and 3 letter Os

‘A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words – Writing short stories inspired by art’

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what might those thousand words be? Fancy writing a 1,000-word piece of flash fiction inspired by artworks and visual prompts?

LiverpOulipo - Phil Olsen ‘LiverpOulipo – word play by the rules’ is a Liverpool take on the French literary movement, Oulipo. Summer School ‘LiverpOulipo’ … Continue reading LiverpOulipo

Tuesday 22 & Wednesday 23 July 2025 (11am - 4pm, both days) on campus at the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS).

Find out more at polsen.co.uk/liverpoulipo or book via linktr.ee/liverpolsen 3/3

LiverpOulipo will feature prompts, puns and writing exercises. Imposed restrictions will mean you won’t be able to write whatever you like, but hopefully you will like whatever you write. 2/3

The word ‘LiverpOulipo’ is written twice on a diagonal angle over a pink and blue background. One is the right way up and the other is upside down. ‘Liverp’ is in black text and ‘Oulipo’ is in white. Smaller text in the bottom right hand corner reads ‘word play by the rules’

A screenshot of a workshop description for ‘LiverpOulipo - word play by the rules’ with an image of a yellow pencil on a notepad next to a screwed up ball of paper. Black logos for University of Liverpool and Continuing Education sit on a yellow background.

White text on a dark grey background advertises course dates (Tue 22 & Wed 23 July 2025) and 3 accompanying photographs show the venue of the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS) - a modern black-clad block with large, spaced apart windows.

LiverpOulipo { word [ play } by the rules ]

Next week, I’m running a 2-day creative writing workshop as part of University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education department’s Summer School.

LiverpOulipo will feature prompts, puns and writing exercises. 1/3

Dear frengers local and from afar...

Thank you for celebrating our 30 year anniversary with us in our home country. These two shows were so very special to us.

We hope to see some of you out there for our upcoming shows this year: bnds.us/atglm3

🔍 Masculinity, Capitalism and Violence: Supporting Boys and Young Men to Navigate Toxic Narratives

Don’t miss our next Eleanor Rathbone Social Justice Public Lecture!

💬 Speaker: Dr Laura Zahra McDonald, Founding Director of ConnectFutures

🗓️ Weds 11 June | 5.30PM
🎟️ Free: bit.ly/masculinity-...

Don't miss Episode 1 of "A Small, Good Thing"!
Listen here www.spreaker.com/episode/cat-... or on all major podcasting platforms.

Submissions are open! Please send your novel, novella, short story collection or memoir to CONDUIT BOOKS via our website below. Subs close May 31st 2025. Looking forward to reading. Please RT to spread the word. www.conduitbooks.co.uk

"A Small, Good Thing" is the new podcast about short fiction, in which I get to discuss the short story form with writers, academics, publishers, and short story enthusiasts. Episode one coming up... stay tuned!

Print for sale of a comic by Stephen Collins. Script as follows: Scene is a British WOODLAND by a RIVER. A NATURALIST is stood next to a cage, and TV NEWS REPORTERS are filming him and the cage. 1 NATURALIST: And now It is my great honour 2 NATURALIST: to reintroduce the first wild beaver back into Britain 3 [Cut to the BEAVER’S CAGE. Its door is open and the Beaver is leaned nonchalantly up against the opening, smoking a cigarette.] 4 BEAVER: Well, well, well. 5 BEAVER: Look who's come crawling back. 6 BEAVER: Got a rubbish ecosystem have ya? 7 BEAVER: Not happy with the *critical anti-flood infrastructure* engineered by the flippin *badgers*? 8 BEAVER: I almost didn't recognise you without one of my ancestors on your head… 9 BEAVER: First you wipe us out… now you ask us to come back and build dams for free… You actually expect me to be *pleased* don’t ya? NATURALIST: I'm so sorry I…I… 10 BEAVER: “Ooh la la, the Brits have come crawling back…” Do I look like *Michel flippin’ Barnier*? 11 NATURALIST: I-if there’s some kind of… *remuneration* we could offer I-I’m sure… 12 BEAVER [throwing cigarette to the ground]: Unlimited pond weed, two tickets to Abba Voyage. NATURALIST: Done. [ends]

Beaver's Return
- A new ltd edition print in my shop at www.stephencollinsillustration.com/shop/

Day 2 of #SLSA2025 began with a powerful plenary: Liverpool and the Legacies of Hillsborough — held poignantly a day after the disaster’s 36th anniversary.

Voices from law, academia, activism & the arts shared moving reflections on the long fight for justice.

🔗 liverpool.ac.uk/law/slsa-2025/

Funded Floral Civilians Creative Writing Workshop Join us for an informal session of prompts and writing exercises designed to help participants craft short pieces of fiction.

Book a free place on Eventbrite:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/funded-flo...

I’m running a free creative writing workshop in New Brighton today (1-3pm at District House, 112 Victoria Road). Come along for tips, prompts and writing exercises for crafting flash fiction & short stories. Floral. This workshop has been made possible with funding from the Community Lottery Fund.

We’re incredibly proud to be leading on the brand-new Centre for People’s Justice. 🙌

Pioneering a new approach to research, the Centre aims to foster hope and inspire confidence in a future where people feel more connected to the laws and legal processes that shape their lives. ✨

LAUNCHED| @liverpooluni.bsky.social will lead an innovative new research centre aimed at responding to the public’s need and desire for fairer, safer and more inclusive societies.

Read more 👉 news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/04/10/g...

@livunihss.bsky.social

Finale Day.

film still #66
Adam with balloons.
#severance

Gene Hackman: the star of every scene he was in From The Conversation to The Royal Tenenbaums, the actor rode America’s new wave to become the gold standard for characterful acting with heft

Some thoughts on the late Gene Hackman: www.theguardian.com/film/2025/fe...

All the journals and literary magazines in Europe we've been able to find on bluesky are here.

Tell us who we've missed
go.bsky.app/ARSnhzo

Art and culture people, I co-founded a website in 2011 called The Double Negative. We're still here! Here's what we've been up to lately, including essays, reviews and the latest listings. Would love you to have a read and say hi. www.thedoublenegative.co.uk

while also responding to prompts and writing exercises.

To find out more or to book, visit the Continuing Education website:

www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...

(Linktree link in bio: linktr.ee/liverpolsen )

The emphasis of this short course will be on working within restrictions to bring about creative solutions and original story ideas. No more staring at a blank page!

Each week, we will look at universal story elements (character, dialogue, structure etc),