Writers and poets will have the chance to be inspired at a free workshop by Dunedin author Michelle Elvy.

The workshop is organised by the Dan Davin Literary Foundation at the Invercargill Public Library from 10am to noon on Saturday. 

The Dunedin-based author has written books including the everrumble, the other side of better,  and a poetry collection Motion Sickness.

Foundation chairwoman Sandra B’Divine  said the event was free to make it accessible for anyone who wanted to upskill their writing. 

“There’s a niche need for published authors to come down to share their skills with others and inspire others.”

Funding for the workshop came from an Invercargill City Council Creative Communities grant.  

Ms Elvy was a very good communicator, Ms B'Divine said.

She had given the keynote lecture at last year’s awards.

“She really impressed us on her knowledge, on her sophistication of reaching the audience and so we've brought her back this year for the workshop.”

Originally from Chesapeake Bay in the United States, Ms Elvy arrived in New Zealand in 2008 aboard her sailboat where she had lived for 20 years.

She has also helped edit anthologies, including Ko Aotearoa Tātou/ We Are New Zealand and A Kind of Shelter: Whakaruru-taha 

Ms Elvy said the workshop would help people write about the world around them.

“We’ll start with our most immediate surrounds and move outwards.”

It was appropriate to consider the many states and moods of the nearby sea.

“We'll consider the human-nature intersection, and how something as large as the ocean, or the sky, can evoke something beyond words.”

The foundation’s annual awards will be held on Friday night  at the Kelvin Hotel and Ms Elvy is one of the judges.

New Zealand poet laureate Robert Sullivan, of Oamaru, will give the keynote lecture.

More than 200 poems and stories were received for the awards and 147 were accepted for judging.