Sophie Buchaillard is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and counsellor whose work centres on creativity as a tool for connection, resilience, and change. She designs and leads creative circles that weave together writing, making, and ecological practices, offering participants grounding in their local environment and a space to reimagine personal and collective narratives.

CREATIVE CIRCLES

Sophie Buchaillard is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and counsellor whose work centres on creativity as a tool for connection, resilience, and change. She designs and leads creative circles that weave together writing, making, and ecological practices, offering participants grounding in their local environment and a space to reimagine personal and collective narratives.

Her facilitation is rooted in a belief in the power of collaborative storytelling—to rewrite limiting scripts, strengthen communities, and nurture a more sustainable relationship with nature. From documenting the journey of food from seed to table, to guiding freeform poetry, painting, zine-making or clay work, Sophie’s practice embraces creativity as a holistic well-being tool.

Alongside her community work, Sophie collaborates with artists and activists through conversations and co-created projects that place care, imagination, and belonging at their centre.

She is also available for commissions.

To find out more, please sign up for the newsletter in the footer below.

NOTE

The Penarth Library creative writing workshops are taking a break in 2026.

Thank you for all the participants over the past few years. See you again soon.

I remain available for commissions.

  • Sophie' classes are a warm and encouraging environment in which she provides the knowledge and skillset to thrive in creative writing. I highly recommend her classes for anyone whether they be toying with the idea of writing or fully published.

    Anna Skibniewski-Ball, workshop participant

  • Working with an author like Sophie has been invaluable, bringing professional insight, encouragement, and a fresh energy that has inspired new and returning library users alike.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

  • Since 2023, the Creative Writing Classes in Penarth have transformed the library into a vibrant hub of storytelling, connection, and creativity.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

  • The participants get to write, explore, be expressive, share and create. Sophie guides, encourages, teaches which leaves them eager for more.

    Rhodri Matthews, Senior Librarian

  • These sessions go beyond writing—they empower individuals, support wellbeing, and foster inclusion. Led by Sophie, participants find their voices, share their experiences, and build confidence, creating a ripple effect that strengthens our wider community.

    Jordan Forse, Libraries and Cultural Services Manager

  • I would go to anything Sophie hosts.

    She held space for me, and encouraged me to write what I wanted. She receives everyone warmly. Thank you Sophie! You helped me more than you realise.

    Nicky Nichelle, MA student

  • I’ve met and made friends with people from my community through the love of learning

    Personally, it’s given me the space to not only develop my creative writing skills, but I’ve met and made friends with people from my community through the love of learning who are from all walks of life. Our tutor’s expertise and creative delivery of workshops is impressive and engaging. It shows the value of funding quality teaching and explains why the course is so popular.

    Each workshop has positively stretched me and made me a better writer for it.

    Harriet Bradshaw, workshop participant

Past partnerships

 A few examples of past partnerships:

  • In 2024, I partnered with the MakerSpace and Penarth Library to deliver writing workshops inviting women to explore their experience of the menopause in an inclusive space; with Creative Cardiff to deliver a Travel Writing Masterclass looking at reinventing the genre for the 21st century; with Reclaim the Frame and Chapter Arts Centre to explore the impact of climate change on small communities, through shared conversations and writing prompts, in response to a viewing of the film Banel & Adama by director Ramata-Toulaye Sy.

  • In 2023, I partnered with Literature Wales and Penarth Library Makerspace to deliver a series of workshops on Writing Parenthood, and give new parents the tools to co-produce a collection of zines (DIY magazines) in which participants collated their individual and collective responses in images and words (Based on an original idea by Harriet Bradshaw); with Reclaim the Frame and Chapter Arts Centre to explore cultural identity/ dual heritage / multi-identities / language and what happens when we reconnect to a past heritage, through shared conversations and writing prompts, in response to a viewing of the film Past Lives by Celine Song; and with the National Museum Wales (Cardiff) and Cardiff University’s research group Image Works, to deliver a workshop on imagined and introspective travels, in response to the exhibition Sea Horizon/Môrwelion by the artist Gary Fabian Miller.