Some ideas for icebreakers - suitable for writing workshops and dinner parties alike.
Truth and Lies
Each person introduces themselves to the group, and includes three 'facts' about themselves, two of which must be true, and one a lie. This gets people thinking creatively, and can be a good lead into talking about creating characters or writing poetry - apparently the Estonian word for poet - luuletaja - also means liar*! And as Kenneth Koch shows in Wishes, Lies and Dreams (his book about teaching schoolchildren to write poetry) lies can make fantastic poems.
Alliterative Introductions
Each person introduces themselves to the group using three words that alliterate with their name. Tricky if you're called Xander - until you realise you can also use words beginning with z!
Rhyming Introductions
Self explanatory really: 'I'm Sally and I never shilly-shally'. It can be varied by requiring the rhyming word to be something you've bought at a market, or describing where you live, or similar.
Being Elizabeth Bennet...
Each participant tells the group which character in literature they would like to be, and why.
A variation could be to choose a character they particularly dislike; another could be to choose a book they would like to live or take a holiday in. I'd like to have a holiday in Anna Karenina or Through the Looking Glass, but I'd rather live in Cider with Rosie!
If I Were...
an animal, a piece of furniture, a board game, or an abstract concept... what would I be? And why? An almost unlimited set of variations on this one.
*According to Sally Laird (The Observer, 1990), quoted in The Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations, edited by Dennis Driscoll, Bloodaxe, 2006.
Wishes, Lies and Dreams, Kenneth Koch, Harper Perennial, 1999.
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