Contributor(s): Jonathan Gibbs | In this creative writing workshop we will be looking at the impulse to write, when they are so many reasons and excuses not to, in the hope that exposing the foundations of the creative act can inform the writer's practice in the here and now. But though in part we'll be looking at our personal histories of writing, the exercises will be geared towards producing new work, with a deeper understanding of what our goals actually are. Jonathan Gibbs's novel, Randall, or The Painted Grape, about the London art world and the Young British Artists, is published by Galley Beggar Press. His short fiction has been published in Lighthouse, The Best British Short Stories 2014 and The South Circular and by The White Review (where his story The Story I'm Thinking Of was shortlisted for the 2013 White Review Prize). He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where he was awarded a Malcolm Bradbury memorial bursary, and has written on books for the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, the TLS and elsewhere. He writes the Independent's weekly Friday Book Design Blog and tweets at @Tiny_Camels. This event forms part of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2015, taking place from Monday 23 - Saturday 28 February 2015, with the theme 'Foundations'.