FA courses in Cardiff

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Marilia Savvides founded The Plot Agency in 2024. She began her career in publishing at Peters Fraser and Dunlop, where she spent eight years, first as International Rights Agent, and later as Literary Agent, building her own list of authors. In 2019, she joined 42MP, where she worked as Literary Agent for four years, helping to launch and set up the Book Division. She is particularly interested in fiction that is beautifully written and cleverly constructed, but still accessible to a wide readership. She is often drawn to darker tales that weave together excellent characters and an impossible-to-put-down story, from immersive book club novels with a splash of suspense, crime and thrillers, accessible horror, and speculative, genre-bending or dystopian stories. She also adores smart, witty contemporary rom-com in the style of Emily Henry. In the thriller, crime and mystery space she is interested in most areas, except military thrillers and organised crime/ mafia / mob stories. Big hooks and clever set ups are a big bonus! She adores Karin Slaughter (especially her standalone novels) and Gillian Flynn. In the book club / reading group space, she’s particularly drawn to fiction in the vein of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng, and absolutely fell in love with Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll, both for the incredible voice, and the exquisite use of structure and time. Complicated family dynamics, empathetic and smart approaches to controversial issues, stand out protagonists (like Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry or Bernadette in Where D’You Go Bernadette), long buried secrets, complicity, the road to justice, and impossible decisions, are all themes she finds herself drawn to. In the horror space, she’s a sucker for amazing female-centric stories in the vein of Yellowjackets, and the kind of contemporary, accessible horror that Stephen King always nails. She wants to get lost in a world that feels within reach of ours. In the speculative and dystopian spaces, she’s interested in genius ideas that set up big questions or reflect the most broken (and sometimes hidden) parts of society. She loves Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, and also adored The Leftovers, Station Eleven, Wanderers, and The Power. The what-ifs of life and fiction fascinate her. In the grounded sci-fi space, she’d love to find a smart, immersive, and accessible story like The Martian. She doesn’t represent fantasy or romantasy. In regards to sci-fi, unless it’s very grounded and has crossover potential to a mainstream audience, it’s not for her. In the romance space, she’s particularly drawn to smart, complex and witty characters, where the chemistry is jumping off the page. She loves contemporary settings and all the tropes, though the voice and characters must come first to make the reading experience fully immersive. She wants to be cackling, and rooting for the characters with all her heart. She is very hands-on editorially, and loves working with her authors to shape their manuscripts, and brainstorm ideas. The best part of the job is discovering debut authors, and helping them find a home for their books. Marilia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single Word document.  (In addition to the paid sessions, Marilia is kindly offering one free session for low income/underrepresented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 20th May 2025 at 12 noon UK BST

Become a META-Health professional with our 6 months intensive training! Do you want to learn the scientific background of body-mind-interactions and how to integrate this knowledge in your practical work with your clients? This course contains both self-study and live training in online classes and covers the META-Health Level 1 and 2 material. It will take 6 months including 24 live sessions, 2 hours each, mainly in a weekly rhythm. You will get preparatory videos, reading material and tasks that help to understand and integrate the content, while the group sessions focus on demonstrations, discusion of the material, and practical exercises for you. All the time, our trainers and tutors will support you and we’ll be a learning family with an active chatgroup. Altogether you should reckon approximately 5 hours per week.

Transform stress into strength with this 4-week course, enhancing resilience, emotional skills, and effective communication for professionals.

Tea 'N Chat free event - Talk with LINETTE MANUEL about 3D Fashion printing.

2-part workshop for parents hosted by Rachel Wright, Founder of Born at the Right Time and author of 'The Skies I'm Under'.

Personal development groups for practitioners with Bárbara Godoy A playground for therapists to expand our perception to metaphor, as a way to connect directly with the experience of the other, guided by folklore and fairytales. "Supportive, thought-provoking, emancipating, grounding" Tuesday Evenings Group 6 pm to 7.15 pm  (UK Time) Friday Lunchtime Group 12.30 pm to 1.45 pm (UK time) Spring Term Phase One - 2025 22 and 29 April 6, 13, 20 and 27 May 3, 10, 17 and 24 June Autumn Term Phase Two - 2025 23 and 30 September 7, 14, 21 and 28 October 4, 11, 18 and 25 November Winter Term Phase Three - 2026 20 and 27 January 3, 10, 17 and 24 February 3, 10, 17 and 24 March Winter Term Phase One - 2025 24 and 31 January 7, 14, 21, 28 February 7, 14, 21 and 28 March Spring Term Phase Two - 2025 25 April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 May 6, 13, 20 and 27 June Autumn Term Phase Three - 2025 26 September 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 October 7, 14, 21 and 28 November Venue: Online (Zoom) Fee: £350 per term or £900 the whole year Bárbara Godoy M.A., Adv. Dip. Exi. Psy. Existential Psychotherapist Group Leader, Counsellour, Lecturer and Supervisor, MBACP & UKCP accredited, SEA Professional Member, Director of Therapy Harley StreetBárbara’s academic contributions in London since 2008 include lecturing and researching on the theory and practice of Phenomenological Existential Therapy on Doctorate, MA and professional courses at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology, Regent’s University and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling directed by Emmy van Deurzen. Bárbara has facilitated and designed therapeutic Group Work since 1997. She brought her earliest workshop: “Experiences” to large groups in The Netherlands, Italy, France, UK and Argentina. These awareness-intensive processes are a legacy of the human potential movement (HPM) of the 1960s, with techniques such as AUM Meditation Marathons, Psychodrama, Bioenergetics and Primal Feelings work. Organized by:

Learners will develop knowledge from the FD&FA foundation BS 5839-1 module and/or industry experience and apply this to the installation of FD&FA systems.

The two-day Adult MHFAider® courses are tailored around supporting adults, and can be attended by anyone from age 16 upwards. A lot of the education settings we work with have now trained a number of Adult MHFAider®’s to support their colleagues as part of their whole-school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing.

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Siân Ellis-Martin joined Blake Friedmann in 2018 and is building a list of fiction and non-fiction at the agency.  With regards to fiction, Siân is looking for commercial, upmarket and accessible literary novels. She always wants to be completely absorbed by the world of the novel, to jump into the character’s life and be swept into the narrative as if she’s been there all along. She’s drawn in by compelling characters and relationships, and loves stories with a mystery or question at the heart of them. She’s open to these ideas being explored in a variety of ways, but at the moment, she’d particularly like to find an epic love story, a fun, queer rom-com with an unusual setting or pitch, and/or a sweeping family saga. Siân leans more towards contemporary settings but does enjoy a historical backdrop too. In non-fiction, she’s looking for narrative non-fiction, history from different perspectives and books that make complicated ideas around things like politics and literature more accessible. Her favourite type of non-fiction book is the one that makes you interested in something or someone you’d never thought you would be. Siân would also love to find cookery and food books too, particularly cuisines that are less visible in the book world, or budget cooking. She’s not currently taking on YA, children’s, fantasy or science fiction projects. Siân would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 - 2 page synopsis and the first three chapters (or 5,000 words, whichever is shorter) of your manuscript in a single word document.  (In addition to the paid sessions, Siân is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. Submission Deadline: Thursday 29th May 2025 at 12 noon UK BST

Wednesday 4 June, 10am - 12.30pm Do you want to create sensory backpacks for families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), but don’t know where to start? About this training In the UK, 11% of children are disabled and in England, 18.4% have special educational needs. Adding non-disabled siblings to these numbers increases this potential audience to a fifth of children in the UK. This simple fact is a powerful advocacy tool to make a business case for SEND inclusion in your museum. One way to support SEND families during a visit is to create a sensory backpack. These resources don’t cost a lot to create, and they can make a powerful difference to a SEND family’s visit. Their economic impact, promoting a longer dwell time and potentially greater spend in the museum, pays back an initial investment quickly. In this session, SEND in Museums Consultant Sam Bowen will guide you through how to create a sensory backpack, drawing on her own professional museum learning knowledge and lived experience as a parent of a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). During this virtual training event, we will: · Understand the barriers SEND families face when visiting museums, · Explore examples of best practice in museums for creating sensory backpacks, · Share top tips on how to create backpacks that are bespoke for your setting. Take a look at the full schedule. This training event will be delivered virtually over two and a half hours (with a short break). Who should attend? This training is aimed at staff at museums, art galleries and heritage sites who are interested in making their organisations more welcoming to families with SEND.