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THE FOUNDATION FOR CREATIVE WRITING COURSES 2012

CONTENTS
Welcome What do we do? What happens on an Arvon writing course Arvons work with schools and communities How you can support Arvons work Arvon centres 2012 Course programme Course fee & grants for writers Competition Terms & conditions Booking form 4 6 7 8 10 12 24 134 138 144 148

WELCOME

Ruth Borthwick, Chief Executive At Arvon we believe that anyone can be a writer. Thats why we encourage many different kinds of people from young people to aspiring and professional writers to come to our unique writing houses. We have a grant scheme to enable you to attend if price is a barrier that would prevent you visiting us. Over the next five years we will be running many more bespoke courses to welcome young and disadvantaged people to Arvon. As well as this, in 2012 Arvon will be on the road to three English cities with our Urban Arvon nonresidential courses, and we will be pushing forward to create a new opportunity for writers at The Hurst, our Shropshire property, due to start in 2014. In 2012 we present 99 writing courses open to all. This year we are proud of our brand new courses: Creative Writing and Translation with Michael Henry Heim and Sasha Dugdale; Online Writing with Sarah Salway and Jon Reed; and Text and Image with Graham Rawle and Margaret Huber. And at Totleigh Barton, in our newly refurbished 15th century barn, we offer daily yoga as a stimulus to writing on retreat. We have brought together some mouth-watering teaching partnerships including world-class poets Mark Doty and Leontia Flynn; edgy childrens writers Malorie Blackman and Melvin Burgess; historical fiction rising stars Maria McCann and Chris Wakling, with Sarah Waters as very special guest; and Arvons extraordinary co-founder, the evergreen John Moat with prize-winning novelist Lindsay Clarke. Our programme also features: leading poet Don Paterson; top playwright Simon Stephens; Gruffalo mother Julia Donaldson; poets laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Liz Lochhead; award-winning novelist Tahmima Anam; Smack the Ponys Sally Phillips; and Arvon stalwarts Mark Haddon and Jo Shapcott. We have been working successfully with writers for over forty years come and find out why. Wed love to see you at Arvon this year.

WHAT DO WE DO?
Arvon is a charity that works to ensure anyone can benefit from the transformative power of writing. We offer life-changing creative experiences to anyone who writes, from beginners to published writers, from school age upwards and from all backgrounds. We run a vibrant annual programme of weekly residential courses at our secluded rural centres, tutored by leading writers in genres from poetry to fiction to scriptwriting. About a third of our courses are dedicated weeks with groups from a wide range of schools, youth and community groups and arts organisations, many from the most disadvantaged communities in the UK. Our courses pluck you from your everyday life and place you gently in one of our four writers houses, insulated from the busy outside world of email, internet and mobile phones. Whichever house you choose in Devon, Inverness-shire, Shropshire or West Yorkshire we will give you the freedom of time and space to write, supported by expert practical tuition and the encouragement of a community of writers. Arvon is for everyone, including those who cannot afford the fees. Our grants scheme offers awards to cover some or all of the fee and around a quarter of all course participants receive some support. Find out how to apply on page 133.
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WHAT HAppENS ON AN ARVON WRITING COURSE?

Our residential writing courses run from Monday afternoon to Saturday morning. Each course is tutored by two professional writers plus a guest who visits mid-week to talk about their work and answer your questions. Typically, in the mornings, the tutors lead group workshops to help you explore specific aspects of writing, while in the afternoons you are free to do your own work. You will also get the chance to have at least two invaluable one-to-one tutorials, one with each tutor, to look at your writing in depth. During your stay, you will live in one of our historic houses, writing, eating and living together with a group of up to fifteen other writers. You will cook for each other once, and immerse yourselves in the written word. This short time will seem much longer, and with no distractions you can dedicate yourself only to your writing. To get the most out of your course, we strongly recommend that before you arrive you familiarise yourself with some of your tutors work it will make the world of difference. You will also be encouraged to offer and receive feedback with your fellow students throughout the week and to share your writing with the rest of the group at the Friday night reading.

ARVONS WORK WITH SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

We are constantly looking for ways to open up our inspiring writing experiences to all. We create courses for young people and disadvantaged adult groups, and provide grants for adults to attend our advertised courses.
pARTNERSHIpS WITH SCHOOLS

pARTNERSHIpS WITH COMMUNITy AND ARTS ORGANISATIONS

Arvon also works with other arts organisations, disadvantaged groups and charities to enable their members to engage with writing. For some, it is a chance to develop their skills, for others a means of empowerment and self-expression. For many it is life-changing. In 2011 over ten groups participated in a residential writing week. Recent groups have included the Romany Theatre Company, Vita Nova Theatre Company, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Foyle Young Poets and Freedom from Torture. If you want to find out more about bringing a school group to Arvon or working in partnership, please contact Leanne Griffin on 0207 324 2554 or email leanne.griffin@arvonfoundation.org The experience that you were responsible for providing for us last year was nothing short of amazing. Every now and then, something happens in teaching that makes you think this is a special moment. That week was packed full of those moments... for those young people for whom it was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. Krys Kotylo, Teacher,
Carlton Community College, Barnsley

To ensure that all schools have the opportunity to experience an amazing Arvon course, we run dedicated weeks at our centres throughout the year. In 2012, over 30 schools from both the state and independent sectors will visit our centres for writing weeks, transforming students creativity and confidence with the written word. School courses follow the same format as our adult weeks, with the same high standard of tutors, but tailored to suit each group. We also run some longer-term schools projects, with links to our online writing platform. A remarkable experience that should be made available to all young people. Exceptional. The work they have completed will have a direct effect on their writing skills they have excelled far beyond their expectations. Debra Hudson, Head of English, Walker
Technology College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
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HOW yOU CAN SUppORT OUR WORK

Arvon relies on the generosity of individuals, companies, trusts and foundations to ensure that our inspirational weeks remain open to all, regardless of ability to pay, and that we can continue to offer life-changing experiences to under-18s and those from disadvantaged groups. Become a member: join Arvon Friends Benefits of membership include early access to our annual course brochure and booking opportunities one month before everyone else. Membership starts at 30 per year. Join online by Direct Debit, use the booking form at the back of this brochure or email friends@arvonfoundation.org with your details and well send you a form. Become an Arvon Angel Arvon Angels give in excess of 500 per year and enjoy a close relationship with us. Angels benefit from invitations to exclusive Arvon social events with guests from the literary world. To make a significant donation towards our charitable work and benefit by becoming an Angel, please call Emma Johnson on 020 7324 2558 or email development@arvonfoundation.org Legacies By leaving a legacy to Arvon you can ensure that we continue our life-changing work - a fitting tribute to your generosity and support. If you would like to know
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more about drawing up a will to leave Arvon a legacy or about adding a codocil to an existing will, please call Emma Johnson on 020 7324 2558 or email development@arvonfoundation.org Make a donation Your donations are vital in ensuring our transformational work continues. You can make a one-off donation, or a longer-term gift by Direct Debit. Use the booking form at the back of this brochure to make your donation by cheque or credit card, or donate via our website. Sponsorship by companies We are interested in building strong, sustainable relationships with companies and their employees and clients. We can offer opportunities to give something back to the community, or to sponsor Arvons courses, website, brochure and high-profile events including The Arvon International Poetry Competition. Trusts and foundations Arvon is proud to acknowledge its many successful partnerships with trusts and foundations, which support everything from our mentoring scheme to our grant scheme and our work with young people. We are always interested in building new partnerships. To discuss how you could support Arvon, please contact the Development Team on 020 7324 2558 or development@arvonfoundation.org
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ARVON CENTRES

OUR CENTRES: ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

Each of our centres is an historic country house, set in a different part of the British countryside. Each is remote and peaceful but with a distinct character, from the gentle hills of Devon and Shropshire, to the rugged Yorkshire Pennines or the moorland slopes of the Scottish Highlands. They are perfect places to get away from everyday distractions and concentrate on imagination and words. Please note: this means there is no internet or television, and only limited mobile signal. Previous participants talk fondly about the uniquely collective, creative spirit of our courses, and the chemistry of living and working with people from all walks of life. ACCOMMODATION Centre accommodation varies, but all of our writers houses have a mix of single and shared bedrooms. Most bathrooms are shared. Each centre has a living room and well-stocked library plus many other quiet spaces and, of course, wonderful landscapes to help you escape and focus on your writing. Standards are deliberately simple but comfortable and clean; our centres feel like houses rather than hotels and you are encouraged to make them your home for the duration of the course.
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Courses do not rely on the use of a computer and it is worth noting that the computer facilities vary widely from centre to centre. There is no IT support available at the centres, but centre staff will do their best to fix any problems as soon as possible. You are encouraged to bring a laptop. Most centres are equipped with facilities for disabled writers. FOOD Throughout your course all your food and drink is provided, except for alcohol which you can buy locally. The Centre Directors will be your hosts and you will find they create a relaxed, friendly and informal atmosphere, where everyone helps themselves to lunch and breakfast and each night a different team of students take their turn to cook the evening meal. (Dont worry the recipes and ingredients are provided and theres lots of help at hand.) This is a joyous and important part of the Arvon experience the preparing and sharing of food and much more. Not so much a course, more of a life experience. Unforgettable. Course participant For details on course fees, grants, and how to book, see pages 132-134.
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THE HURST The John Osborne Arvon Centre, Shropshire

When playwright John Osborne lived at The Hurst, he declared that he had the best view in England. Now part of the Arvon family, The Hurst remains an inspirational place to come and write. Surrounded by Housmans blue remembered hills, and featuring three 18th-century buildings, thirty acres of lush woodland and a spring-fed lake, The Hurst is the perfect place to lose yourself in words. The centre has 10 single rooms and three shared rooms. There are five computers and three printers. The Hurst has hearing induction loops in all public meeting places. The main work/living space is fully accessible and has a lift, and a mobility scooter is available. The centre can accommodate a personal assistant. There are rail connections to London, Wales, the North, and South-West England from Craven Arms station, eight miles away. Centre Directors Peter Salmon and Kerry Watson Administrator Dan Pavitt The Hurst, Clunton, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 0JA Telephone 01588 640 658 Fax 01588 640 509 Email thehurst@arvonfoundation.org

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LUMB BANK The Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, West Yorkshire

Lumb Bank is an 18th-century mill-owners house which stands in 20 acres of steep woodland. The house once belonged to Ted Hughes and is set in a striking Pennine landscape of woods and rivers, fine stone houses and weavers cottages, packhorse trails and ruins of old mills. It is half a mile from the historic village of Heptonstall and two miles from Hebden Bridge. There are 14 single rooms and one shared room. The centre has four computers and a printer. Lumb Bank is at the foot of a steep private lane and cars must be parked at the top of this hill, approximately 10 minutes walk away. Hebden Bridge rail station is on the Leeds to Manchester Victoria railway line (each two and a half hours from London) and 10 minutes by taxi from Lumb Bank. Centre Directors Liz Flanagan and Rebecca Evans Administrator Ilona Jones Centre Assistant Rachel Connor Bookkeeper Jean Warburton Lumb Bank, Heptonstall, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire HX7 6DF Telephone / Fax 01422 843 714 Email lumbbank@arvonfoundation.org
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MONIACK MHOR Inverness-shire

Moniack Mhor is close to some of Scotlands most iconic landmarks, lying three miles from Loch Ness and overlooking the mountains of Strathfarrar and Ben Wyvis. The house and cottage are surrounded by fields of Highland cattle and sheep, with forest walks less than a mile away. The house, a cosy converted steading, has 10 single rooms and two shared rooms. There is an induction loop and the main work/living space is wheelchair accessible. The cottage has one shared room for students and four computers and printers. In addition to a large fiction library, the cottage also boasts the northern-most branch of the Scottish Poetry Library. Moniack is 14 miles from Inverness, which has a mainline rail station, bus station, and airport with links to many British airports, including Gatwick and Luton. Centre Director Rachel Humphries Programming Director Cynthia Rogerson Administrator Lyndy Batty Centre Assistant Samantha Tucker Moniack Mhor, Teavarran, Kiltarlity, Beauly Inverness-shire IV4 7HT Telephone 01463 741 675 Email moniackmhor@arvonfoundation.org
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TOTLEIGH BARTON Devon

Totleigh Barton is a thatched, pre-Domesday manor house, surrounded by farmland in one of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of Devon, two miles from the village of Sheepwash. It has rights of way across surrounding countryside with access to the nearby River Torridge. Totleigh Barton has 10 single and three shared rooms. There are four computers and one printer available in the house. The centre has a hearing induction loop and the main work/living space is fully accessible. The centre can accommodate a personal assistant. The nearest railway station is Exeter St. Davids, which is just over an hours drive from Totleigh. We can arrange for course participants to share a taxi to and from the station if you contact us in advance. Centre Directors Claire Berliner and Oliver Meek Administrator Stephanie Wardle Totleigh Barton, Sheepwash, Beaworthy, Devon EX21 5NS Telephone 01409 231 338 Email totleighbarton@arvonfoundation.org

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COURSES

Arvon Tutors Past and Present. Clockwise From Far Left: Will Self, Hilary Mantel, Lemn Sissay, Rommi Smith, John Hegley, Romesh Gunesekera

Photographs taken at Lumb Bank by Claire McNamee

COURSE LIST
STARTING TO WRITE
Starting to Write Apr 9-14 Starting to Write Apr 23-28 Starting to Write May 7-12 Starting to Write May 21-26 Starting to Write Jun 11-16 Starting to Write Jun 18-23
Starting to Write poetry Jun 25-30 Starting to Write a Novel Jul 9-14
27 28 34 38 46 51 54 58 64 65 84 90 99

Work in progress: Fiction Jul 9-14 60

poetry Aug 6-11 poetry Aug 13-18 Fiction and poetry Aug 20-25 poetry Aug 27 - Sep 1 poetry Sep 10-15 poetry Sep 17-22 poetry Oct 29 - Nov 3 poetry Nov 5-10 poetry Nov 12-17
Starting to Write poetry Dec 3-8

73 78 83 88 95 97

Writing for young people Aug 6-11 75 Writing for young Adults Aug 20-25 82 Writing for Children Oct 22-27
113

Fiction Jul 16-21 Short Story Jul 30 - Aug 4

Work in progress: Fiction Aug 6-11

63 71 74 77 79 83

Short Story Aug 13-18 Novel Writing Aug 13-18 Fiction and poetry Aug 20-25 Fiction Sep 3-8 Advanced Fiction Sep 3-8 Historical Fiction Sep 17-22 Fiction Oct 1-6 Crime Fiction Oct 8-13 Fiction Oct 15-20 Crime Writing Nov 5-10 Short Story Nov 19-24

OTHER
Graphic Novels Jun 25-30 Songwriting Jul 9-14 Comedy Jul 23-28 Text and Image Aug 13-18 Songwriting Sep 3-8 Comedy Oct 8-13 Online Writing Nov 19-24
52 59 67 80

Starting to Write poetry Sep 24-29 105

114 118 124 129

Starting to Write Fiction Aug 20-25 84

89 91 98 107 109 110

Starting to Write Jul 16-21 Starting to Write Jul 23-28

Starting to Write Fiction Aug 20-25

Literary Translation Aug 27 - Sep 1 86

92 108 125

Starting to Write Sep 3-8 Starting to Write Sep 17-22 Starting to Write Nov 12-17
Starting to Write Nov 26 - Dec 1 Starting to Write poetry Dec 3-8

THEATRE, FILM, TV, RADIO

Theatre May 7-12 Writing for Television May 14-19 Writing for Radio May 28 - Jun 2 Tutored Retreat: Screenwriting Jul 30 - Aug 4 Writing for Radio Aug 20-25 Tutored Retreat: Theatre Aug 27 - Sep 1
32 35 42 72 81 85

NON-FICTION
Life Writing Apr 2-7 Travel Writing May 14-19 Life Writing Jun 18-23 Creative Non-Fiction Jul 16-21 Life Writing Aug 6-11 Creative Non-Fiction Sep 10-15 Food Writing Sep 10-15 Life Writing Sep 24-29 Creative Non-Fiction Nov 5-10
26 37 48 62 76 93 96 103 120

Starting to Write poetry Sep 24-29 105

121 127 129

Fiction and beyond Oct 29 - Nov 3 116

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Work in progress: Fiction Nov 12-17 122

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FICTION
Fiction Apr 30 - May 5 Fiction May 7-12 Fiction May 14-19 Fiction May 28 - Jun 2 Short Story Jun 4-9 Fiction and poetry Jun 11-16 Tutored retreat: Novel Writing Jun 18-23 Fiction Jun 25-30 Fiction Jul 2-7
Starting to Write a Novel Jul 9-14
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pOETRy
30 33 36 41 44 45 50 53 55 58

poetry Apr 30 - May 5 poetry May 21-26 poetry Jun 4-9 Fiction and poetry Jun 11-16 poetry Jun 18-23
Starting to Write poetry Jun 25-30

31 40 43 45 49 54 57 61 66

Writing for Television Sep 17-22 101 Theatre Sep 24-29 Writing for Radio Sep 24-29 Theatre Oct 15-20 Screenwriting Nov 5-10
102 104 111 117

RETREATS
Retreat with yoga Apr 23-28 Retreat Jul 2-7 Retreat Sep 10-15
29 56 94

Writing for Radio Nov 26 - Dec 1 128

poetry Jul 2-7 poetry Jul 16-21 Advanced poetry Jul 23-28

WRITING FOR CHILDREN

Writing for Children May 21-26 Writing for Children Jun 11-16
39 47

Arvon Friends Retreat Oct 22-27 112

Tutored Retreat: poetry Jul 30 - Aug 4 69

Writing for young Adults Jul 30 - Aug 4 68

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1. LIFE WRITING
Illuminating a life April 2-7 Moniack Mhor This course will explore the way writing a memoir can be a form of self-discovery, as the writer uncovers not only the facts of a life, but their meaning and what they reveal. This is why life writing can be painful as well as illuminating and is not to be embarked upon by the faint-hearted. Come and be brave, with our support! Laura Hird writes non-fiction, short stories and novels. Her autobiographical book Dear Laura concerns the mother and daughter relationship. Born Free was shortlisted for the Whitbread and nominated for the Orange Prize. Richard Holloway wrote the autobiographical books Looking in the Distance, On Forgiveness and Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt. He has also written more than 20 books on religious, philosophical and ethical themes. Guest Blake Morrisons books include the memoirs When Did You Last See Your Father? and Things My Mother Never Told Me.
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2. STARTING TO WRITE
How to begin April 9-14 Moniack Mhor A chance for beginners to put pen to paper and for those with some experience to experiment with different forms. One challenge for new writers is figuring out creative strengths and how to play to them. Well give you plenty of opportunities to try different approaches and get the best from what youve got, whether its fiction or non-fiction. Kapka Kassabova is a poet, novelist and non-fiction writer. Her fiction debut was Villa Pacifica. Her non-fiction books are Street Without a Name and Twelve Minutes of Love. www.kapka-kassabova.com Zo Strachan is an award-winning novelist who also writes drama, libretti, short stories and essays. Her latest novel is Ever Fallen in Love. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. www.zoestrachan.com Guest Andrew Greig has written 18 books of poetry, novels and non-fiction. His most recent are Romanno Bridge and At the Loch of the Green Corrie.
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3. STARTING TO WRITE
Getting off the ground April 23-28 Lumb Bank What comes after initial inspiration? This course takes writers through the process of progressing work, getting a piece of writing to jump off the page and take flight. Well look at examples and techniques, and help you develop your own ideas through a mixture of feedback and set exercises. Julia Bell is a writer and Senior Lecturer on the Birkbeck Creative Writing MA. Her novels include Massive and Dirty Work and the forthcoming Class Work. Shes also the co-editor of the bestselling Creative Writing Coursebook. Yemisi Blake writes poetry and short stories. His work has been published in Spread the Words Flight Anthology and Wasifiri. He has been commissioned by Tate Britain, The Wellcome Trust and Southbank Centre. Guest Inua Ellams was born in Nigeria. He lives and works in London as a poet, playwright, graphic artist and designer. His play The 14th Tale was performed at the National Theatre in 2010.
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4. RETREAT WITH yOGA

April 23-28 Totleigh Barton

Exercise the mind and the body

Escape to the green pastures of the Devon countryside in springtime and find the time, the space and the peace you need to concentrate on your writing in the company of fellow writers and with the added bonus of yoga in Totleigh Bartons newly refurbished barn. Qualified yoga instructor and writer Lucy Greeves will run (non-compulsory) hatha yoga and meditation sessions in the morning and early evening. The classes are designed to support your writing retreat, and are suitable for all levels including beginners. There are single rooms for all writers on this course and the all-inclusive price is 540 for the week. Lucy Greeves has been practicing hatha yoga since 1999. She has a teaching diploma from the British Wheel of Yoga, is first-aid trained and fully insured.

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5. FICTION

Structuring stories April 30 - May 5 The Hurst How do you structure a narrative, how do you edit it and how do you get to the end? This course will focus on the story element in new work and work in progress. Together, well look closely at language, providing both the opportunity and the techniques for editing and rewriting. Tash Aw is the author of The Harmony Silk Factory and Map of the Invisible World. His work has won the Whitbread and Commonwealth Writers Prizes and been translated into 23 languages. Maggie Gee is the author of 11 novels including The White Family, My Cleaner and My Driver, a collection of short stories titled The Blue, and most recently a memoir, My Animal Life. Guest Kishwar Desai is the author of Witness the Night, winner of the 2010 Costa First Novel Award and the Man Asian Literary Prize.

6. pOETRy

Finding poems April 30 - May 5 Lumb Bank This enjoyable and challenging week is suitable both for those new to poetry and for more experienced writers. There will be a series of stimulating exercises covering the work of a broad range of poets, designed to move your writing on to a new level, leaving participants better readers and writers of poetry. Adam ORiordans debut collection In the Flesh was published in 2010 and won the Somerset Maugham Award. He is Lecturer in Poetry at the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ann Sansom has published six collections of poetry, and has written and directed plays for stage and radio. She is a director of The Poetry Business, which publishes The North magazine and Smith/Doorstop books. Guest Janet Kofi-Tsekpos recent poems have appeared in Ten (a PBS Special Commendation), New Poetries V and Poetry Review.

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7. THEATRE

Writing the stage May 7-12 The Hurst This course focuses on the specific challenges and opportunities of writing for the theatre how to start a play and, just as important, how to finish. Well look at the place of story, character, the importance of metaphor, ritual and disruption, and the negotiation of form and content. Mike Bartletts stage plays include Cock, Earthquakes in London, 13 and Love, Love, Love. He is currently writer-inresidence at the National Theatre. Tanika Guptas plays include Hobsons Choice (Young Vic), Gladiator Games (Sheffield Crucible and Theatre Royal Stratford East), Sugar Mummies (Royal Court) and White Boy (National Youth Theatre). Guest Ola Animashawun is Creative Director of playwriting consultancy Euphoric Ink and former head of the Royal Court Theatres Young Writers Programme.

8. FICTION
Jump start May 7-12 Lumb Bank Whether your fiction has stalled or just needs a fresh eye, this course will give you new momentum. The emphasis will be on practical skills. Well tackle various aspects of writing from characterisation and dialogue to scene-building, structure and voice giving you the extra tools you need to reignite your imagination and confidence. Jane Feaver is author of According to Ruth and Love Me Tender, a collection of short stories. Her second novel An Inventory of Heaven was published in 2011. Philip Hensher is the author of seven novels. The Northern Clemency was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize and the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region Best Book). His latest is King of the Badgers. Guest Anne Donovan is the author of novels Buddha Da and Being Emily and short story collection Hieroglyphics.

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9. STARTING TO WRITE
Adventures in imagination May 7-12 Totleigh Barton A chance to explore the link between real life and imagination, for people interested in writing prose of all kinds. If youre willing to experiment, youll finish the course better equipped to tell the truth and to make things up, understanding just how close the two things often are. William Fiennes is the best-selling author of The Snow Geese and The Music Room, and co-founder of First Story, which promotes writing in secondary schools. Mark Haddons novels include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, A Spot of Bother and The Red House, which is published in 2012. His play Polar Bears was produced at The Donmar Warehouse. Guest Molly McGrann is an American literary critic, poet, and novelist, living in England. She has published two novels, 360 Flip and Exurbia.

10. WRITING FOR TELEVISION

Finding a voice for the small screen May 14-19 Lumb Bank Exploring the rigours of writing television drama, this course investigates how to create ideas that are exciting, original and have commercial potential. Using your own ideas, well focus on developing stories, writing treatments and scene breakdowns, and learning to pitch. The course will cover structure, character, dialogue, re-writing, dealing with scripteditors and producers, and surviving! David Allisons comedy Boy Meets Girl aired in 2009 on ITV1. He co-created supernatural show Bedlam, broadcast on Sky Living in 2011. His five-part legal series The Case aired in autumn 2011 on BBC1. Chloe Moss worked within Channel 4 Drama Commissioning before script-editing and producing the first two seasons of Skins. She was then development producer at Big Talk, before joining Misfits. Guest Eleanor Greene has produced drama for BBC2, Five and BBC1. She is Head of Drama Development at Wall to Wall.
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11. FICTION
Working it out May 14-19 Totleigh Barton Examine the crucial elements of fiction and then look at how to apply those elements to your own work. Led by two experienced novelists, this course will use group discussion and practical exercises while also providing the space for you to develop your work, helping you harness the energy and focus to keep writing when you return home. Jake Arnott is the author of six novels including The Long Firm, which was adapted as an award-winning BBC2 drama serial. His latest, The House of Rumour, is published in June 2012. Louise Welsh is the author of four novels The Cutting Room, Tamburlaine Must Die, The Bullet Trick and Naming the Bones. She is currently writer-in-residence at Glasgow School of Art and The University of Glasgow. Guest Jon McGregor is the Man Bookernominated author of three novels, including If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things and a forthcoming book of short stories. www.jonmcgregor.com.
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12. TRAVEL WRITING

May 14-19 The Hurst

Journey as a metaphor for life

Journeys lend themselves to narrative by their shape and their power to transform. But how do we turn a personal excursion or a lifetimes voyage into prose, be it fiction, biography or travel writing? Through creative engagement with place, language and the way travel changes the traveller, this course explores how we can mine our brief encounters and epic adventures, our family histories and imaginative quests, and shape them into stories and books. Rory MacLean is one of Britains most expressive and adventurous travel writers. His eight books include award-winners Stalins Nose, Under the Dragon, Magic Bus and Gift of Time, which is about his mothers final journey. Susan Elderkins awards include the Society of Authors Travel Award. She has published two novels, writes travel articles for The Observer and Financial Times, and is a Bibliotherapist at The School of Life. Guest Dea Birketts award-winning travel books include Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers. www.deabirkett.com.
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13. STARTING TO WRITE

Becoming an explorer May 21-26 The Hurst Set out on a journey with fiction, poetry or playwriting, and find out how to keep going. Perfect for beginners and more experienced writers wanting to try different forms, you can expect creative adventures, hard work, fun and the making of some maps. Join us for workshops and one-to-one tutorials in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. Amanda Dalton is a playwright and poet. Her original BBC Radio dramas include No Harm, Lost in Space, Room of Leaves and Caligari, a radical reworking of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Other adaptations include Howards End and Spellbound. Mark Illis has written four novels, including The Last Word, published last year and Tender, a collection of short stories. He writes regularly for TV and has also written three radio plays. www.markillis.co.uk Guest Steven Thompson has written plays, screenplays, articles and novels including Toy Soldiers, Missing Joe and Meet Me Under the Westway.
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14. WRITING FOR CHILDREN

Casting a spell May 21-26 Lumb Bank Want to whip up a bit of magic to enchant young readers? We are here to take you through the basic spells. Topics covered will include how to plot, character development, dialogue and finding that special something to make your potion unique. Please bring any work in progress but be ready to learn new charms. Julia Golding is an award-winning writer of 16 novels for children, covering genres from fantasy to spy thrillers. She also writes for teens under two other names. www.juliagolding.co.uk Marcus Sedgwick, alongside a 16-year career in publishing, has established himself as a widely admired writer for young adults. His books have been shortlisted for, or won, over 30 awards. www.marcussedgwick.com Guest Mary Hoffman has had over 90 books published for children and teenagers the latest is David.

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15. pOETRy

In the forest of forms May 21-26 Totleigh Barton A course for thinking about form in which the focus is not this or that specific or received form, though such forms might be explored, but the idea of form itself its nature, its sense of resistance and escape, its latent content, its latent productivity, its abandonment and rediscovery from the simplest of rhythms, through traditions and inventions. Marilyn Hacker is the award-winning author of 11 volumes of translation, an essay collection, Unauthorized Voices, and 12 books of poems, including Names, Essays on Departure and Desesperanto. She is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. George Szirtes won the TS Eliot Prize for Reel (2004) and was shortlisted for it again with The Burning of the Books (2009). His New and Collected Poems appeared in 2008. Guest Vahni Capildeos books include Dark & Unaccustomed Words and Utter. She is a Contributing Editor for The Caribbean Review of Books.
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16. FICTION

Getting on with it May 28 - June 2 The Hurst Youve started to write a novel or short story... but what next? This course will focus on helping you approach your story creatively, with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm. Itll provide you with the tricks to help you maintain your focus and momentum as you approach the hard work of writing it all the way to the end. Romesh Gunesekera was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for his first novel Reef. His most recent novel is The Match. He is an associate tutor at Goldsmiths. www.romeshgunesekera.com Kate Pullingers most recent novel is The Mistress of Nothing, which won Canadas 2009 Governor Generals Literary Award for Fiction. She is also the author of the prize-winning digital fiction project Inanimate Alice. Guest Charlie Williams most recent books include Stairway to Hell and One Dead Hen, fourth in his Mangel series.

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17. WRITING FOR RADIO

Making every minute count May 28 - June 2 Lumb Bank Nearly a million people listen to the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play the radio slot where most radio playwrights cut their teeth. This course will explore the challenges and potential of this unique format and examine the writers voice. Well look at how to write story, explore character and create soundscape. Come with an idea and real passion to make radio worth listening to. Linda Marshall Griffiths is a dramatist. Original BBC radio dramas include Everything Must Change or Cease, Frozen and Monkeyface. Adaptations include the award-winning Wizard of Oz, The Wings of the Dove and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Nadia Molinari has been a producer at BBC Radio Drama North for 11 years where she has directed numerous new plays, dramatisations and drama-documentaries. Before this she was a theatre director specialising in new writing. Guest Eloise Whitmore is a freelance sound designer, creating audio drama for the BBC, community projects and theatre.
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18. pOETRy

Getting on with it June 4-9 The Hurst The shape a poem takes can greatly affect its impact and meaning. In this course well focus on the structure as well as the language of your poems, examining poetic form in the broadest sense, including free verse and experimental structures. Youll be encouraged to play with forms old and new, fixed and organic, rhymed and unrhymed, and to invent novel forms of your own. Jane Yehs book Marabou was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. Her next collection is published in November 2012. Carol Rumens has published 15 collections of poetry, most recently De Chiricos Threads. She writes the Poem of the Week column for The Guardian Books Blog and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Guest David Wheatley has published four collections of poetry, most recently A Nest on the Waves.
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19. SHORT STORy

June 4-9 Lumb Bank

Good things come in small packages

20. FICTION AND pOETRy

June 11-16 The Hurst

Writing from the mythic imagination

A short story can be anything, from VS Pritchetts glimpse in passing to a densely plotted mini-saga, from a folktale to an exquisitely crafted miniature. Stella Duffy and Toby Litt will encourage you to explore and develop your own unique approach to this fantastically varied form. Stella Duffy has written over 40 short stories, 13 novels, and nine plays. Her stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. She co-edited the anthology Tart Noir and won the 2002 CWA Short Story Dagger Award. Toby Litt is the author of two collections of short stories and nine novels. His story John and John won the 2009 Manchester Fiction Prize. www.tobylitt.com. Guest AL Kennedy has written six novels and five collections of short stories, including Indelible Acts and Original Bliss. Her novel Day was winner of the 2007 Costa Book of the Year Award.

A chance to strengthen your engagement with the craft of both fiction and poetry and explore the relationships between them. Join us as we attend to the range and flexibility of language and the demands of form, considering ways of deepening writing through a lively sense of the myths (both personal and cultural) which give shape and meaning to our experience. Lindsay Clarke is author of The Chymical Wedding, which won the Whitbread Fiction Prize, and The Water Theatre. He is an associate of the Creative Writing Programme at Cardiff University. John Moat, co-founder of Arvon, has published more than 20 books of poetry and fiction. His latest works include the novels The Fabrication of Gold and Blanch and the memoir The Founding of Arvon. Guest Jules Cashford is author of The Moon, co-author of Myth of the Goddess and translator of The Homeric Hymns.

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21. STARTING TO WRITE

June 11-16 Lumb Bank

A notebook, stout shoes and an open mind...

22. WRITING FOR CHILDREN

June 11-16 Totleigh Barton

Picture books for writers and/or illustrators

Explore the natural environment as a starting point for fresh work. Perfect for new writers of poetry and fiction, this course uses the immediate surroundings of Lumb Bank to encourage you to draw on a variety of environments real or imagined, familiar or unknown. Support, encouragement and information will be given about all aspects of writing, technical and imaginative. Susanna Jones novels are The Earthquake Bird (winner of several awards including the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Water Lily, The Missing Persons Guide to Love and When Nights Were Cold. She teaches at Royal Holloway. Jo Shapcott has won many literary prizes including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Collection, the Forward Prize for Best Collection and the National Poetry Competition (twice). Her latest collection, Of Mutability, won the 2010 Costa Book of the Year. Guest Richard Prices Lucky Day was shortlisted for three awards, including the Costa Book Award. www.hydrohotel.net
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What makes a perfect picture book? Polly, Malachy and YOU will be sparking new, original and deliciously irresistible ideas. Writers will write (and, possibly, illustrate). Illustrators will illustrate (and, hopefully, write). There will be collaboration. There will be FUN! Malachy Doyle has had over 80 illustrated childrens books published without drawing a single picture. His 2011 picture books included The Happy Book and Hens Cake. His 2012 ones include The Snuggle Sandwich. www.malachydoyle.com Polly Dunbar is an award-winning childrens author/illustrator. Her books include Penguin, Shoe Baby and the Tilly series. Guest Anthony Browne is the multi-awardwinning writer and illustrator of over 40 books for children. He was Childrens Laureate from 2009-2011.

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23. LIFE WRITING

Reflecting on ourselves and others June 18-23 The Hurst Whether you are writing about your own life, or someone elses, this course will provide you with tools and tricks to bring it to life on the page. You will conceive and develop new pieces of writing and examine and discuss different methods and strategies for making your writing as alive and compelling as its subject. Rick Gekoski is a writer, rare book dealer and broadcaster. His books include a critical work on Joseph Conrad, a bibliography of William Golding, Staying Up (a book on Premiership football) and Outside of a Dog: A Bibliomemoir. Selina Hastings is a writer and literary journalist. She has written four biographies, of Nancy Mitford, Rosamond Lehmann, Evelyn Waugh and Somerset Maugham. She is currently working on a biography of Sybille Bedford. Guest Justin Cartwrights many books include non-fiction works Not Yet Home and In This Secret Garden and novels including Other Peoples Money.
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24. pOETRy

Unloosing abundance June 18-23 Lumb Bank Is it hard to find time for writing, or do you find yourself waiting for inspiration that never arrives? Is that blank page a source of perpetual anxiety, and are you frustrated by your own lack of productivity? In this inspirational course, we take a playful look at the gremlins behind creative block and explore some techniques for releasing the natural abundance of poetic creativity. John Glendays most recent collection Grain was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize. He was a judge for the 2011 National Poetry Competition. Kona Macphee grew up in Australia and lives in Scotland. She teaches for the Poetry School and Poetry Society. Her second collection Perfect Blue received the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize 2010. www.konamacphee.com Guest Paul Farley received the 2009 EM Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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25. TUTORED RETREAT: NOVEL WRITING

The long and winding road June 18-23 Moniack Mhor If you are writing a novel then you are on a remarkable journey, but are you on track? Why not share the road for a while and join us for a fiction retreat, where the tutors will offer daily individual tutorials, and where you will have a chance to discuss your work in progress with other writers. So that tutors can feedback on your writing, you are invited to submit up to 2,000 words by 18 May, by post or email, to Moniack Mhor. There are single rooms for all writers. Sue Peebles first novel, The Death of Lomond Friel, won the Saltire First Book Award, the Scottish Mortgage Trust First Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2011 Scottish Book of the Year. Alan Warner has written six novels including Morvern Callar, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, These Demented Lands and his latest, The Stars in the Bright Sky, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

26. STARTING TO WRITE

Think it! Feel it! Do it! June 18-23 Totleigh Barton A fun, exploratory and stimulating introduction to writing poetry and fiction for people who have never tried before but want to, or people who would like to develop their writing in a supportive atmosphere. We will set creative writing exercises, explore aspects of craft and look at existing poems and fiction extracts. Each student will get time to write and receive individual feedback on their writing. Bernardine Evaristo is author of six works of fiction, poetry and verse-fiction including Hello Mum, Lara, Blonde Roots and The Emperors Babe. She has won several awards and received an MBE in 2009. Roger Robinson was chosen by Decibel as one of 50 writers influencing the blackBritish writing canon. His books include fiction, Adventures in 3D, and poetry collections, Suitcase and Suckle, winner of the Peoples Book Prize. www.rogerrobinsononline.com Guest Evie Wylds first novel After the Fire a Still Small Voice won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.
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27. GRApHIC NOVELS

Scripting big comics June 25-30 The Hurst Far flung adventure, low key character-driven stories, reportage, documentary or autobiography; this course introduces and explores the form of the graphic novel. Youll be given the information and skills that you need to translate your concepts, of whatever genre, into fully realised scripts for sequential art. Hannah Berrys debut graphic novel is the noir-esque detective tale Britten & Brlightly. Her second graphic novel, the ghost story Adamtine, is due out mid 2012. Bryan Talbot has written and drawn comics for 30 years including Judge Dredd, Batman, Sandman and the award-winning graphic novels The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Heart of Empire and Alice in Sunderland. Guest Mary Talbot is an internationally acclaimed scholar who has published widely on language, gender and power. Dotter of her Fathers Eyes is her first graphic novel.
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28. FICTION
First moves June 25-30 Lumb Bank A chance to overcome the fear of the empty page, this course will explore questions like: Should you always write from experience? How do you develop characters a reader will care about? Does everything need a plot? How do writers look at the world? Ideal for those with little or no experience in the writing of fiction, expect five days of writing and sharing ideas in a supportive and non-competitive atmosphere. Jenn Ashworths first novel A Kind of Intimacy won a Betty Trask Award in 2010. Her second novel, Cold Light, was published in 2011 by Sceptre. Andrew Miller is the author of six novels, including Ingenious Pain, the Bookershortlisted Oxygen and Pure. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. He lectures in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Guest Helen Walsh is the author of three acclaimed and prize-winning novels: Brass, Once Upon A Time in England and Go To Sleep.
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29. STARTING TO WRITE pOETRy

One, two, three June 25-30 Moniack Mhor Everyone can write poetry. Not only that, but writing poetry is proven to be good for your health and contributory towards world peace. The tutors will build your confidence with good humour and exercises geared to loosen your linguistic inhibitions. This week is going to be extraordinarily fun. Caroline Bird has received numerous awards for her work, including a major Eric Gregory Award in 2002. Collections include Looking through Letterboxes, Trouble Came to the Turnip and Watering Can. Lemn Sissays collections include Rebel Without Applause and Morning Breaks in the Elevator. He is a commissioned poet for the Olympic Park 2012, as well as the Arvon Education Ambassador. www.lemnsissay.com Guest Stewart Conn won the 2011 Creative Scotland Poetry Book of the Year with The Breakfast Room.

30. FICTION

Making a start on your novel July 2-7 The Hurst Discover what it is you really want to write about. This course will be an opportunity for you to work on finding a voice, establishing a point of view, developing characters and shaping a plot. The process is different for everyone, and a genuine breakthrough in any one of these areas will be something to celebrate. Tahmima Anam is the author of A Golden Age, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, and was translated into 23 languages. Her second novel The Good Muslim was published last year. Joe Treasure has published two novels, The Male Gaze and Besotted. www.joetreasure.com Guest Sophie Hardach is the author of The Registrars Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages. She is working on a novel about pacifists during the Second World War. www.sophiehardach.com

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31. RETREAT
Run away! July 2-7 Moniack Mhor This year, just say no. No to distractions, work commitments, family ties, obligations. Say see you later to Facebook and Countdown! Immerse yourself in that writing project of yours - and yes, you do know which one. Stop saying you will do it one day, and do it now. Domestic arrangements are the same as for all courses. There are single rooms for all writers and the all-inclusive price is 475 for the week.

32. pOETRy

Patterns of sound July 2-7 Totleigh Barton Basil Bunting spoke of writing poems as tracing in the air a pattern of sound. This course will look at patterns of sounds as well as the shapes poems assume, with attention to line and stanza. There will be an opportunity to start new poems as well as rework old ones. Jamie McKendrick has published five books of poetry, most recently Crocodiles & Obelisks and, among other translations, a selection of Valerio Magrellis poems, The Embrace, which won the OxfordWeidenfeld and the John Florio Prize. Greta Stoddarts first collection At Home in the Dark won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second collection Salvation Jane was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award. She teaches and lives in east Devon. Guest Bernard ODonoghue has published six volumes of poetry of which the most recent is Farmers Cross. Gunpowder won the Whitbread Poetry Prize in 1995.

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33. STARTING TO WRITE A NOVEL

Getting going, keeping going July 9-14 The Hurst Writing shouldnt be a slog. If you find it hard to get going, if youve been becalmed on a project for a while, or if you have many good ideas but want to give them a better shape, then this tightly focused course allows you to move forward with confidence. Shy beginners and the more experienced are both welcome. Lizzie Enfields novels are What You Dont Know and Uncoupled. She writes for several newspapers and has had short stories broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in various womens magazines. www.lizzieenfield.com Stephen Mays prize-winning first novel Tag came out in 2008 and his second is Life! Death! Prizes! He also writes for theatre and is the author of Getting Started in Creative Writing. Guest Jo Verity writes short stories and novels, including Sweets from Morocco and Not Funny, Not Clever.

34. SONGWRITING
Singing poetry July 9-14 Moniack Mhor Some of the best songwriters in the world use exercises and deadlines to get results. By setting tasks, both lyrical and musical, the tutors will open your eyes to different aspects of writing songs, such as understanding structure, chord work and rhyme schemes. By the end of the week youll be better equipped to write the song you want to write. Edwina Hayes is a folk-Americana artist. Her cover of Randy Newmans Feels Like Home was featured in the Cameron Diaz film My Sisters Keeper. Her latest album is Good Things Happen Over Coffee. www.edwinahayes.com Boo Hewerdine is a popular singer/ songwriter and experienced tutor. He has written songs for Eddi Reader, kd Lang, Chris Difford and many others. His most recent album is God Bless the Pretty Things. www.boohewerdine.net Guest Eddi Reader is a hugely successful singer/songwriter, whose latest album is Love is the Way. www.eddireader.co.uk
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35. WORK IN pROGRESS: FICTION

Is it ready to be read? July 9-14 Totleigh Barton Stuck somewhere in the middle? Worried your plot has saggy bits? Wondering if its ready to submit or why your submission was rejected? Dr Duncker and Mr Gale will see you now! Fine-tuning and editing is addictive but Keep/Polish/Axe is a challenging game. Well aim to give you the confidence to make bold changes and help you develop your editing skills to show your writing to its best advantage. Patricia Dunckers novels include Hallucinating Foucault and The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge, shortlisted for the Golden Dagger Award. She is Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of Manchester. Patrick Gale is the author of 13 novels, including Notes from an Exhibition, The Whole Day Through and Good People. www.galewarning.org. Guest Sarah Savitt is an editor at Faber & Faber. Her authors include Maria McCann and Louise Doughty.

36. pOETRy

Responding to what life presents July 16-21 The Hurst We write for many reasons, but sometimes circumstances seem to demand a response, almost in spite of ourselves. These may be illness, our own or that of someone close to us, or some other life event. How does poetry cope, faced with un-lookedfor challenging material? We will try out the choices open to us as writers, and look at how the experience itself might suggest its own ways in. Philip Gross recently won the TS Eliot Prize, CLPE Poetry Award and Wales Book of the Year. His latest collection Deep Field explores his fathers loss of language in old age. www.philipgross.co.uk Susan Wicks sixth collection of poems House of Tongues was a summer 2010 PBS Recommendation. Her work has won the Aldeburgh and Scott-Moncrieff Prizes. Her family memoir Driving My Father was published in 1995. Guest Penelope Shuttle lives in Cornwall. Her New and Selected Poems appears early in 2013.
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37. CREATIVE NON-FICTION

Be creative with the truth July 16-21 Lumb Bank With a focus on voice, structure, editing and research, we take creative non-fiction from the ideas stage to the page. Whether its family memoir, autobiography, reportage or journal writing, well systematically work with you to clarify your purpose as a writer. Come with anything you want to work on and well make it shine. Hephzibah Anderson is the author of the memoir Chastened. Her personal essays have appeared in publications including Vogue, The Observer Magazine and Elle. She is also a book columnist for Bloomberg Muse. Bidisha is a writer, critic and broadcaster who presents arts shows for BBC radio and television. She judged the 2009 Orange Prize and the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Her third book is the bestselling memoir Venetian Masters. Guest Travis Elborough is author of acclaimed histories of the Routemaster bus, vinyl records and the English seaside.
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38. FICTION
Making it up July 16-21 Moniack Mhor Find the stories you want to tell and develop confidence in using both intuition and craft to realise them. This course will focus on inspiration, perseverance and discovering your rhythm and voice as a writer. You will be encouraged to use this opportunity to immerse yourself in your work, a rare chance in most lives. Meaghan Delahunts first novel In the Blue House won the Commonwealth Prize and the Scottish First Book of the Year in 2002. Her second novel The Red Book was shortlisted for the Scottish Book of the Year. Linda Cracknell is an award-winning writer of short fiction, with two published collections: Life Drawing and The Searching Glance. She also writes drama for BBC Radio 4 and dabbles in creative non-fiction. www.lindacracknell.com Guest Kirsty Gunn won the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award in 2007 for The Boy and the Sea.
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39. STARTING TO WRITE

Creative writing: a blueprint July 16-21 Totleigh Barton Want to write but dont know where to start? Feel like you have lost your way? This course will provide a blueprint that will turn your unformed ideas into poetry and prose. Looking at language with line by line focus, drawing attention to rhythm and imagery, the workshops broaden into character, description, plot, narrative voice and point of view. Courttia Newland has published six books and has had short stories featured in many anthologies. His latest collection, A Book of Blues, was nominated for the Frank O Connor Award. www.courttianewland.com Clare Pollard has published four collections of poetry. The most recent, Changeling (2011), is a PBS Recommendation. Her play The Weather premiered at the Royal Court Theatre. Guest Kei Millers most recent books are the poetry collection A Light Song of Light and the novel The Last Warner Woman. www.keimiller.com.
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40. STARTING TO WRITE

On your marks, setgo! July 23-28 Lumb Bank Do you feel like you want to write, but are still on the starting blocks? The first step is the hardest. This course will help you release ideas and kindle the desire to keep going. Well boost your confidence with a range of exercises in a supportive and stimulating environment. Youll learn basic techniques in poetry and prose, whatever your passion. Most of all, youll discover the joy of writing. Patience Agbabis latest poetry collection is Bloodshot Monochrome. She is Fellow in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University. She is currently writing a contemporary version of The Canterbury Tales. www.patienceagbabi.wordpress.com Tim Pears is the author of five novels, including In the Place of Fallen Leaves (which won the Hawthornden Prize and the Ruth Hadden Memorial Award), In a Land of Plenty and Blenheim Orchard. Guest Janice Galloway has written seven books, including This is Not About Me, All Made Up and the award-winning Clara.
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41. ADVANCED pOETRy

Poetry masterclass July 23-28 Moniack Mhor This course is for poets who are working towards a first collection or pamphlet. There will be morning group workshops to generate new approaches to poetry and afternoon group workshops to look at students work in progress. Places by selection: please email up to five poems to moniackmhor@ arvonfoundation.org by 7 May 2012. Carol Ann Duffy is the British Poet Laureate, with a prodigious record of literary achievement. Her collection Rapture won the TS Eliot Prize. Robert Minhinnicks Selected Poems is published in 2012. He has twice won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem, while his first novel, Sea Holly, was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize. Guest John Sampson has worked with Carol Ann Duffy for 10 years, providing music for her live performances. www.johnsampson.co.uk

42. COMEDy

Creating characters from your demons July 23-28 Totleigh Barton Whether youre writing from observed life, telling stories, or expressing from within, its most likely to be the characters you have created that will engage, and the characters that will be remembered. In this course well explore ways to create characters and bring them to life. Then well follow them to see where they lead us: the plots they fall into, the words they speak and the hilarity that ensues. Nigel Planer is best known for the characters Neil and Nicholas Craig. He created many of the characters from the Comic Strip films. He has written two novels and had stage and radio plays produced. Karl Theobald began his comedy career writing and performing a double act with Russell Brand. He has written for Smack the Pony and The Sketch Show and appeared as regular characters in Green Wing and Twenty Twelve. Guest Sally Phillips has appeared in many comedy hits including Smack the Pony, which she co-wrote, Miranda and Bridget Jones Diary.
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43. WRITING FOR yOUNG ADULTS

Developing your toolset July 30 - August 4 The Hurst Writing for young adults is demanding but rewarding. Using workshops, discussions and one-to-ones, well help you develop your ideas, find new ones and generally build up the toolset of skills and techniques needed to write for this age group. Suitable for anyone wanting to write in this genre, we will expect you to bring some work along for us to look at. Malorie Blackman has written over 50 books including the multi-award-winning Noughts and Crosses and Cloud Busting. Her latest novel for young adults is Boys Dont Cry. Melvin Burgess has been writing for young people for over 20 years. Best known for his genre-changing book Junk, his fiction is powerful, innovative, often controversial but always engaging. Guest Simmone Howell is the awardwinning author of Notes from the Teenage Underground and Everything Beautiful. www.simmonehowell.com

44. TUTORED RETREAT: pOETRy

Attentiveness and imagination July 30 - August 4 Lumb Bank Do you crave the space to explore your imaginative reaches and to stretch the boundaries of your own writing style? Youll receive close feedback, readings, fresh air and fresh challenges. There will be no workshops, but students will have one tutorial a day. This week is aimed at those with an established writing practice and is a selected course. To apply, please email three short poems and a brief (100 words max) paragraph on your writing background to lumbbank@arvonfoundation.org by 7 May 2012. David Morley has published over 20 books and won awards for his writing and teaching. Poetry collections include Enchantment and The Invisible Kings, a PBS Recommendation. He is Professor of Writing at Warwick University. Deryn Rees-Jones is a poet, critic and editor. Her most recent book of poems is Quiver. A new collection Burying the Wren and In Black Ink, a philosophical memoir, are forthcoming.

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45. SHORT STORy

The future of the short story July 30 - August 4 Moniack Mhor From PG Wodehouse to JG Ballard, from Borges Ficciones to Bruce Holland Rogers flash fictions the short story can do anything. What do you want your next story to do? Whether youre experienced or just starting, we will help you answer that question. E-publishing transforms the way stories reach readers. New genres are being born. There has never been a more exciting time to write short fiction. Julian Gough won the BBC National Short Story Award and The Pushcart Prize. His novels include Juno & Juliet, Jude in Ireland and Jude in London. www.juliangough.com Susie Maguire has edited four anthologies and two collections of short fiction. She has written 27 stories which have been broadcast on BBC Radio. www.susiemaguire.co.uk Guest Bernard MacLaverty is the prizewinning author of five collections of short stories, including Matters of Life and Death. www.bernardmaclaverty.com
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46. TUTORED RETREAT: SCREENWRITING

Putting your script into focus July 30 - August 4 Totleigh Barton This is a precious opportunity to take time to work on a script with the supervision of an experienced screenwriter and script developer. Rather than workshops you will have one tutorial each day to focus on your work. So that the tutors can do some advance planning, please submit a two page outline of your idea for a film or the first 15 pages by 16 July 2012, by post or email, to Totleigh Barton. Each student will have a single room. Paul Fraser has worked in the film industry for over 15 years. Collaborations with Shane Meadows include Twenty-Four Seven, A Room for Romeo Brass, Dead Mans Shoes and Somers Town. His directorial debut was My Brothers. Lucy Scher is the Director of The Script Factory. Working both in the UK and overseas, she runs hugely popular workshops and is actively involved in project development with many writers, both new and experienced. www.scriptfactory.co.uk

47. pOETRy

Taking it all more seriously August 6-11 The Hurst Already getting published in magazines or being placed in competitions? Well encourage you to take your work to the next level, with a view to assembling a first collection. Using a combination of intensive poetry exercises and individual tutorials, well help you identify your main themes, and broaden and strengthen your work, in a supportive environment. Catherine Smith was one of Mslexias Top 10 UK Women Poets and was a PBS/Arts Council Next Generation poet. She has been shortlisted twice for The Forward Prize. She teaches Creative Writing for Sussex University. www.catherinesmithwriter.co.uk Hugo Williams poetry books include Billys Rain, which won the TS Eliot Prize, Dear Room, shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award and West End Final, shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize and the TS Eliot Prize. Guest Katrina Naomis first collection The Girl with the Cactus Handshake was shortlisted for the London New Poetry Award.
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48. WORK IN pROGRESS: FICTION

Refreshing fiction August 6-11 Lumb Bank Looking for new ideas and approaches to reinvigorate your work in progress? Well look at consistency of tone, pace, the development of themes, characterisation and dialogue in short stories and novels. Through a dynamic series of exercises, readings and tutorials, this course will help you on your way to publication. James Friels A Posthumous Affair will be published in 2012. He is Programme Leader for the MA in Writing at Liverpool John Moores University. Helen Oyeyemi is the author of four novels, the most recent being White is for Witching and Mr Fox. Guest Lee Brackstone is Editorial Director at Faber & Faber.

49. WRITING FOR yOUNG pEOpLE

Get it flowing August 6-11 Moniack Mhor You know that wading through treacle feeling? Every writer gets it sometimes. In this course, well be looking at ways to galvanize new work and ideas. Well experiment with creating new voices, characters and plots, exploring different approaches to writing for readers aged 8 to 18, as well as working one-to-one on your current stories. Join us to get it all flowing again! Joan Lennon lives in the Kingdom of Fife. She has written many books for children from five years old to teenagers. She was the Jessie Kesson Fellow and writer-inresidence at Moniack Mhor in 2011. www.joanlennon.co.uk Paul Magrs lives and writes in Manchester. His novels for young people include Strange Boy and Exchange. www.paulmagrs.com Guest Julia Donaldson is the Childrens Laureate, best known for The Gruffalo and the acclaimed teen novel Running on the Cracks. www.juliadonaldson.co.uk

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50. LIFE WRITING

Putting life on the page August 6-11 Totleigh Barton The unexamined life is not worth living Socrates. Well be exploring how best to excavate your life and the lives of others, and how to write these stories down. Well examine the difference between autobiography, memoir and creative non-fiction. We will look at how to turn memories into fiction, how to write about your childhood and how to make these stories vibrant. Monique Roffeys second novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle was shortlisted for The Orange Prize 2010 and the Encore Award 2011. Her erotic memoir With the Kisses of His Mouth was published in 2011. Robert Rowland Smith has written books on literature, philosophy and psychoanalysis. Breakfast with Socrates has sold all over the world. He is a columnist for The Sunday Times and contributes regularly to radio and TV. Guest Yasmin Hais memoir The Making of Mr Hais Daughter was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.
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51. SHORT STORy

The shorter form August 13-18 The Hurst Are you passionate about short stories? Whether you already write short stories, or write longer fiction and want to develop your short story writing skills, join us for this course where we will discover and develop the range of skills specific to this compact and fascinating form. Leone Ross has had many short stories published in anthologies and magazines. She is the author of two novels, All the Blood is Red and Orange Laughter. Nicholas Royle has published five novels and one story collection, Mortality. He teaches at Manchester Metropolitan University and runs Nightjar Press. Guest Robert Shearman has written for Doctor Who and his short story collections have won World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Awards.

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52. pOETRy

The best words in the best order August 13-18 Lumb Bank To get you writing in fresh ways, this course will focus on generating new work through different habits of art. As well as re-writing, re-reading and re-thinking, well be celebrating the sheer joy of the best words in the best order. Jacob Polley is the author of two acclaimed collections of poetry and a novel. He has received Eric Gregory and Somerset Maugham Awards, teaches at the University of St Andrews and lives in Fife. www.jacobpolley.com Jean Spracklands latest collection Tilt won the Costa Award for Poetry, and her previous books were shortlisted for the Forward Prize and the TS Eliot Prize. She teaches Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Guest Helen Mort is from Sheffield. She has published three pamphlets and her first collection will be published in 2013. www.helenmort.com

53. NOVEL WRITING

That book in you August 13-18 Moniack Mhor They say that everyone has a book in them but its getting it out thats sometimes the problem. All writers get blocked occasionally and need fresh inspiration. As well as offering practical help, advice and inspiration on aspects of novel writing, this course will help get your ideas flowing, ignite your passion for your story and renew your vigour for writing and publishing it. Laura Marneys novels are No Wonder I Take a Drink, Nobody Loves a Ginger Baby, Only Strange People go to Church and My Best Friend Has Issues. She also writes for radio and stage. Richard Masons first novel The Drowning People won the Cavour Prize. His third The Lighted Rooms was longlisted for the IMPAC Award and Alan Paton Award. His most recent is History of a Pleasure Seeker. www.richard-mason.org Guest Paul Torday has written seven novels, including Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Tower House. www.salmonfishingintheyemen.co.uk
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54. TEXT AND IMAGE

Words and pictures August 13-18 Totleigh Barton
For anyone interested in telling stories using words and pictures, this course will help you explore the fascinating relationship between text and image and how one can be made to affect the other. We welcome writers and visual artists of all abilities, keen to investigate this subject through any medium, such as illustrated books for children or adults, cut & paste fiction, visual diaries, comics and experimental typography.

55. WRITING FOR RADIO

Writing radio drama August 20-25 The Hurst This course will give you the chance to develop your idea for a BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play. There will be lots of practical work e.g. writing, script editing, listening to different radio drama styles both as group and individual exercises. An award-winning sound designer will be recording scenes written during the week at the end of the course. Aimed at writers who are new to radio. Dan Rebellatos plays for radio include Emily Rising, Cavalry, Letting Go and adaptations of Dead Souls and Girlfriend in a Coma. His stage plays include Static and Theatremorphosis. He lectures at Royal Holloway, University of London. Polly Thomas is a Sony award-winning radio director. She received the Best Radio Drama Producer RIG Award 2011, and works in the public, independent and community sectors. Guest Eloise Whitmore is a freelance sound designer, creating audio drama for the BBC, community projects and theatre.
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Margaret Huber is a visual artist and course leader for the MA Sequential Design/ Illustration and MA Arts and Design by Independent Project courses at the University of Brighton. www.margarethuber.com Graham Rawle is a writer and artist. Creator of Lost Consonants, his illustrated reinvention of The Wizard of Oz has won several design awards. His collaged novel, Womans World, is being made into a film. www.grahamrawle.com Guest George Hardie has been a designer, illustrator, graphic problem-solver and educator since 1970, working in the UK and internationally.
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56. WRITING FOR yOUNG ADULTS

Taking the risk August 20-25 Lumb Bank What does it take to write for young adults? A course for new or experienced writers who want to write quality fiction for this demanding age group. Well look at ways to keep your writing fresh and challenging. It will include warm-ups to get ideas moving, combined with group discussions and tutorials to develop ideas, individual style and confidence. Martyn Bedfords first young adult novel Flip was published in the UK, USA and Canada in 2011 and has been translated into six languages. He has also written five novels for adults. www.martynbedford.com Celia Rees is a highly experienced, wellestablished writer for young adults. Several of her novels have been shortlisted for major awards. Her latest novels are The Fools Girl and This Is Not Forgiveness. www.celiarees.com Guest Bali Rai is the author of over 20 novels about urban teenagers living in modern Britain.

57. FICTION AND pOETRy

Lets begin August 20-25 Moniack Mhor Reading can teach us almost everything we need to learn as good writers, so this will be a week of reading, writing and discussion, drawing on examples from both fiction and poetry. Implementing this new found knowledge, well be focusing on style, voice, narrative, argument and form. For admission to the course, please email up to three poems or 1,500 words to moniackmhor@arvonfoundation.org by 11 June 2012. Nora Chasslers novel Miss Thing was published to great acclaim. She has completed a second, titled Grandmother Divided by Monkey Equals Outer Space. www.tworavenspress.com Don Paterson has won the TS Eliot Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Prize for Best Collection. He was awarded the Queens Gold Medal for Poetry in 2009. www.donpaterson.com Guest Emily Mackies novel was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Scottish First Book of the Year.
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58. STARTING TO WRITE FICTION

Word by word August 20-25 Totleigh Barton Prose fiction is written word by word, and each one counts. Nikita Lalwani will develop with you the music of your particular voice. Sam North will introduce to you a set of overarching principles that will help you develop your own way of working with the internal combustion engine of plot. Together they will give you a new way of understanding how fiction works. Nikita Lalwanis first novel Gifted was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Desmond Elliot prize in 2008. She teaches on the MA at Goldsmiths. www.nikitalalwani.com Sam North has published eight novels over the last 20 years. Director of the MA at Exeter University, he has also written for film and television. Guest Jake Wallis Simons novels are The Exiled Times of a Tibetan Jew, The English German Girl and The Pure.

59. TUTORED RETREAT: THEATRE

A playwrights retreat August 27 - September 1 The Hurst A fantastic opportunity to get that play finished! There are two tutored hours where you will receive separate and detailed feedback about your work in progress the rest is time for you to write. Each participant has their own room. This course is open to everyone, but once you have booked please send a 10 page extract from your project plus a synopsis to The Hurst as far in advance of the week as possible. Ramin Gray is one of Britains leading directors of new writing, directing premieres by Mark Ravenhill and David Grieg, among others. He has worked at the Royal Court, with the RSC and extensively outside the UK. Meredith Oakes has written plays for the Royal Court and the National Theatre. She has translated plays and written opera libretti.

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60. LITERARy TRANSLATION

Opening up the world August 27 - September 1 Lumb Bank
In Partnership with The British Centre for Literary Translation at UEA

Translation can give voice to the finest literature the world has to offer, and on this course well be looking at the techniques of this creative art. Please come with an excerpt of your translation into English of an as yet untranslated work of poetry, prose, or drama, from any language. Places by selection: submit one double-spaced page of translation and the same text in the original to lumbbank@arvonfoundation.org by 29 June 2012. Sasha Dugdale is a poet and translator of Russian poetry and plays. Red House is her third collection of poetry. Michael Henry Heim translates fiction and drama from 10 European languages, including the works of Gnter Grass, Chekhov and Thomas Mann. He is Professor of Slavic Languages at UCLA. Guest Anthea Bell is one of the leading translators of her generation and winner of several translation awards.

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61. pOETRy

Comedy in poetry August 27 - September 1 Totleigh Barton Humour can be a serious business! Satire, parody, paradox and punchlines can wobble governments and change minds and hearts. Well examine the dark and light arts of humour and look at ways to inject it into your writing and performances. Playful, practical exercises will help increase light and shade in the writing of poets of all levels. Kate Fox is a stand-up poet. A regular on BBC Radio 4s Saturday Live, she has also been commissioned by the Daily Politics Show, Chelsea Flower Show, BBC News Online and was Poet in Residence for the Great North Run 2011. Matt Harveys poetry has taken him from Totnes to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships via Saturday Live, the Edinburgh Festival and The Guardian. He also hosts BBC Radio 4s Wondermentalist Cabaret. www.mattharvey.co.uk Guest Byron Vincents oratory fuses comedy and poetry. He has performed on television, radio and at many festivals. His first collection is Barking Doggerel.
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62. FICTION

Lyricism and style in the novel September 3-8 The Hurst This course covers general novel-writing components, such as character, plot and landscape, while paying particular attention to stylisation and language. It is suitable for those looking for a way to marshal a story using a particular voice, perspective or lyrical mode, and those wishing to add detail, depth and colour to their writing. Sarah Halls books include novels Haweswater, which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, How To Paint A Dead Man, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and her short story collection The Beautiful Indifference. Owen Sheers has published poetry, nonfiction and fiction, most recently the novella White Ravens. He wrote the screenplay for the film version of his novel Resistance and also presents arts programmes for BBC TV and Radio. Guest Ross Raisins novels are Gods Own Country, which won him The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and Waterline.
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63. STARTING TO WRITE

Ideas onto the page September 3-8 Lumb Bank If you are taking your first tentative steps into writing, this course will fill you with the confidence to take ever greater strides. Discover a wide range of basic skills and fuel your imagination. It will be hard work, but the atmosphere will be supportive, playful and lots of fun. Youll leave with some finished new prose and poetry and plenty of inspiration. Antony Dunn has published three collections of poetry: Pilots and Navigators, Flying Fish and, in 2009, Bugs. He teaches for The Poetry School in York and Leeds. www.antonydunn.org Tiffany Murrays novels Diamond Star Halo and Happy Accidents were shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. Tiffany is Senior Lecturer at The University of Glamorgan. She is also the inaugural Hay Festival Fellow for 2012. Guest Paul Henry is a poet and songwriter. His latest book is The Brittle Sea: New & Selected Poems. www.paulhenrywales.co.uk
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64. ADVANCED FICTION

Writing is work September 3-8 Moniack Mhor Head deeper into your writing journey. This structured course will feature group discussion, experimentation, playfulness, having fun and really stretching yourself as a writer, with plenty of time to write. Using intensive writing exercises, youll find your way to the heart of your story while developing an understanding of character, story and style. Suitable for emerging fiction writers. Isla Dewar is the author of 13 literary novels, including Magda and The Consequences of Marriage. Her novel Women Talking Dirty was made into a film starring Helena Bonham Carter. Kathryn Heymans novels include The Accomplice and Captain Starlights Apprentice, which have won and been nominated for awards in Australia and the UK. www.kathrynheyman.com Guest Hamish MacDonald is a novelist, poet, songwriter and playwright. His novels include The Gravy Star and The Girnin Gates.
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65. SONGWRITING
The songsmith September 3-8 Totleigh Barton There are two different approaches to writing songs: those that are pure artistic expression and those that are crafted and mechanically constructed for commercial purposes. Both have value and we will be looking to guide you in how to access either one. Places by selection: please send audio samples of your work by email to Totleigh Barton by 11 June 2012. Tom Baxter has sold over 300,000 copies of albums Feather and Stone and Skybound. His songs have been included on film soundtracks and been covered by the likes of Boyzone and Shirley Bassey. Sacha Skarbek is a songwriter and producer. Grammy nominated and winner of two Ivor Novello Awards, he has worked with artists including Adele, Jason Mraz, Sir Paul McCartney, Seal and James Blunt, with whom he wrote the hit single Youre Beautiful. Guest Sara Lord is Director of Lord Music Management and has managed acts including Reef, Toploader and Tom Baxter.
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66. CREATIVE NON-FICTION

True stories September 10-15 The Hurst What is the best way to tell the true story you want to tell? How do you weave a compelling and exciting story out of the facts? Whatever your idea, it has fascinated you enough that you want to write about it this course will look at ways to help you entertain and enthral your audience. Carole Angier is the biographer of Jean Rhys and Primo Levi. She recently edited three books of refugee writing. She teaches Life Writing at Birkbeck and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Niall Griffiths is the author of three books of non-fiction, including Ten Pound Pom, and his novels include Runt and Sheepshagger. He has written numerous novellas, radio plays and travel features. Guest Sara Wheelers books include Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica and her latest, Too Close to the Sun.

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67. RETREAT

A room of ones own September 10-15 Lumb Bank Leave your world behind for five days and retreat to Lumb Bank, Ted Hughes former home, to focus on THAT piece of work. In this stunning landscape of wooded hills, youll find time and space to write, in the company of 15 other writers. Domestic arrangements are the same as for other courses. There are single rooms for all writers and the all-inclusive price is 475.

68. pOETRy

Beautiful words September 10-15 Moniack Mhor Robert Frost said, a poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a love sickness. Come to Moniack to extract that lump in the throat and convert it to poetry. The course will focus on producing new work, and the workshops and tutorials will be geared to new poets as well as lifelong poets. Tom Leonards prize-winning collections include Outside the Narrative and Radical Refrew. He teaches Creative Writing at Glasgow University, and has been a vital part of the Scottish poetry renaissance for the last 40 years. www.tomleonard.co.uk Liz Lochhead is the National Poet of Scotland. Her collections include Bagpipe Muzak and Dreaming Frankenstein. Shes been awarded honorary degrees and fellowships from 11 universities, is Honorary President of the Scottish Poetry Library and the Poet Laureate of Glasgow. Guest Mandy Haggith is a Highlands based novelist and poet whose most recent collection is Castings.

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69. FOOD WRITING

Food writing from every angle September 10-15 Totleigh Barton A chance to discover what is required to become a food writer, focusing on the different styles of food writing and how to pitch yourself. Between us, we offer years of experience writing recipes, features about food from ingredients to food politics, books, restaurant reviews, reporting and interviewing, internet and blogs. We offer help and guidance in a series of structured talks and tutorials, with hands-on cooking each night. Lindsey Barehams cookery writing career evolved from restaurant reviewing, starting with a series of single subject cook books including potatoes, soup and tomatoes, leading to newspaper and magazine columns for seasonal recipes. Lulu Grimes is Deputy Editor of Olive. She trained as a chef at Leiths where she now teaches Food Writing. Jancis Robinson is an award-winning wine writer and broadcaster. Her books include The World Atlas of Wine and Confessions of a Wine Lover.
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70. pOETRy

Complicating the poem September 17-22 The Hurst Developing poets often shut their poems down too soon, settling for quick closure instead of exploring deeper possibilities. How can we push past our usual habits and move a poem in new directions, making it more dimensional and complex? We will work on techniques for investigating the poem further, and well read a variety of strong contemporary poems as models and inspirations. Mark Doty has had eight poetry books published and won the US National Book Award and the TS Eliot Prize. His latest book is Theories and Apparitions. He is a Professor of English at Rutgers University. Leontia Flynns books have won an Eric Gregory Award and the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. She was named a PBS Next Generation Poet. Her latest collection is Profit and Loss. Guest Martin Figuras collection Whistle was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and toured as a one-man show at festivals including Ledbury and Edinburgh.
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71. HISTORICAL FICTION

From bodice-rippers to courtly politics September 17-22 Lumb Bank Historical fiction attracts an enthusiastic and growing readership, but certain challenges present themselves: how much research should you do, and at what stage? How might you adapt the language? What about fictionalising real people? We will offer you guidance on how to turn a promising idea into authentic and well-crafted fiction. Maria McCanns As Meat Loves Salt was widely praised. The Wilding, longlisted for the Orange Prize, was also a Richard and Judy Book Club selection. Christopher Wakling is the author of six novels including What I Did and The Devils Mask. He writes travel journalism for The Independent and is the Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Bristol University. Guest Sarah Waters has written five novels including Fingersmith, The Night Watch and The Little Stranger, which were shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She is currently at work on her sixth.

72. STARTING TO WRITE

Inspiration through craft September 17-22 Moniack Mhor This course will dispel any beginners stage fright with the discovery that not only is there always something to write about, but also myriad choices about how to write it. Well explore how to delve deep into your unconscious and how to stalk imaginary characters. Youll find supportive feedback as well as insights and techniques to embark on fiction writing with courage and enjoyment. Leila Aboulelas latest novel, Lyrics Alley, won the Best Novel of the Year Award from Creative Scotland in 2011. Two of her previous novels have been nominated for prizes, including the Orange Prize. www.leila-aboulela.com Morag Joss has written seven novels and several short stories. Awards and nominations include the CWA Silver Dagger, an Edgar Award, and a Heinrich Boll Residency. She teaches Creative Writing at Oxford University. www.moragjoss.com Guest Jonathan Falla has published three novels and other works, including The Craft of Fiction. www.jonathanfalla.co.uk
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73. WRITING FOR TELEVISION

The tricks of the trade September 17-22 Totleigh Barton Want to learn how to write a treatment, how to pitch and what to expect from commissioners? Well teach you how to work an idea up to a presentable package. Well provide advice on how to find and secure an agent and how to get a foot in the door of television writing. Brian Dooley is a leading television writer. He won a BAFTA for his comedy series The Smoking Room. His other credits include Being Human, Becoming Human and Monkey Dust. Emma Kennedy is a bestselling author and experienced radio and television writer. She is a television and film script editor and has worked on Sky Atlantic comedy This is Jinsy and Richard Curtis next film Trash. Guest Dan Swimer co-wrote Grandmas House with Simon Amstell (BBC2). He is a regular writer on various TV comedy/ entertainment shows.

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74. THEATRE

The playwrights craft September 24-29 The Hurst The week will focus on exploring the writers toolkit through a mixture of practical exercises, scene study, group work and one-to-one tutorials. Well look at key areas of playwriting, including bringing your back-story to life, dialogue and character as action, meaningful form, writing what you really want and the problem of autobiography. Willingness to try out new ideas essential. David Eldridges work includes the awardwinning Under the Blue Sky and The Knot of the Heart and adaptations include Festen. His work for the screen and radio includes The Picture Man, which won the Prix Europa 2008. Amy Rosenthal has been writing for theatre and radio since 1998. Her plays include Sitting Pretty, Henna Night, Jerusalem Syndrome and On The Rocks, which was shortlisted for the international Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2008-9. Guest Sarah Frankcom is a director and is Joint Artistic Director of Manchesters Royal Exchange Theatre.
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75. LIFE WRITING

Stranger than fiction? September 24-29 Lumb Bank With truth often being stranger than fiction, how do you transform life and experience into a good narrative? This course introduces some essential skills for writing from life: plot, theme, character, location, voice, research and revision. With written exercises, discussion and criticism, participants will be encouraged to stretch themselves imaginatively, experiment stylistically and to understand how to set about writing non-fiction genres. Terence Blacker is the author of the highlypraised biography of Willie Donaldson, You Cannot Live As I Have Lived and Not End Up Like This and of four novels. www.terenceblacker.com Rachel Holmes is a biographer and historian. She directs the Southbank Centre Literature & Spoken Word programme, and was a founder member of Amazon.co.uk and the Palestine Writing Workshop. Guest Julia Blackburn has written two novels, five books of non-fiction and an award-winning memoir. Her most recent book is Thin Paths.
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76. WRITING FOR RADIO

The freedom to create September 24-29 Moniack Mhor Radio is hungry for new talent. Over 50 writers make their debut each year on British radio. This course is about the freedom and discipline of writing radio drama, about creating characters in sound, scene setting, narrative and dialogue. The course will also consider the practicalities of the writing life. Marilyn Imrie has worked in radio, television and theatre for over 30 years as producer and drama director for BBC and ITV, among others. Her radio series include Rumpole and The Gobetweenies. Colin MacDonald has written 15 plays for BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland, including The Whole of the Moon, Hill of Rains and Killing the Butterfly. www.colinmacdonald.co.uk Guest Kirsty Williams is a BBC radio drama producer. Recent work includes: Of Mice and Men, Educating Rita and The Vanishing.

77. STARTING TO WRITE pOETRy

A sense of things September 24-29 Totleigh Barton Getting started can sometimes be the hardest part of all. Well look at how to activate the senses and write through our blocks, with exercises to kick-start fresh ideas and offset our inner critic. Well explore how to develop characters in poems and ways to enrich our writing through language and evocative detail. Please bring a favourite poem or book. Tobias Hills poetry collections include Year of the Dog, Zoo and Nocturne in Chrome & Sunset Yellow. He has published four novels and Skin, a collection of short stories that won the Pen/Macmillan Prize for Fiction. Karen McCarthy Woolfs poetry has been exhibited on London Underground, broadcast on radio and published in Poetry Review and Poetry London. Her chapbook The Worshipful Company of Pomegranate Slicers was a New Statesman Book of the Year. Guest Caroline Bird is an award-winning poet. Her collections include Trouble Came to the Turnip and Watering Can.
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78. pOETRy

Learning to listen October 1-6 Lumb Bank The poet doesnt invent: he listens, said Jean Cocteau. This week you will tune in to the many and varied sources that might provoke a poem a phrase, an image, a life event to discover how inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere. The trick is learning to perceive it: in ourselves and others, our environment and in the work of other poets. Julia Copus latest book In Defence of Adultery is a PBS Recommendation. She won First Prize in the 2002 National Poetry Competition, and the Forward Poetry Prize for Best Single Poem in 2010. Ian Duhig has won the Forward Poetry Prize for Best Single Poem once, the National Poetry Competition twice, three times been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Guest Tishani Doshi is an award-winning poet and dancer. The Pleasure Seekers, her first novel, was longlisted for the Orange Prize. www.tishanidoshi.com
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79. FICTION

Making things up October 1-6 Totleigh Barton Discover some of the joys and pitfalls involved in writing fiction and learn how to maximise on both. Through exercises and in tutorials, this general fiction course will look at the different ways one can tell a story, how to structure that story into a compelling narrative and how to develop the characters who might inhabit it. Kamila Shamsie has written five novels, including Burnt Shadows, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and has been translated into 21 languages. She grew up in Karachi and lives in London. Gillian Slovo is the author of 11 novels including Ice Road, shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She also wrote a bestselling family memoir Every Secret Thing and a play Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom. Guest Rupert Thomson is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels and, most recently, an award-winning memoir This Partys Got to Stop.
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80. COMEDy

The art of comedy October 8-13 The Hurst Heard any good jokes lately? If only comedy writing was as simple as getting down a few good oneliners. Learn to take those funny ideas you have and turn them into comedy gold, as well as find new ideas you didnt know you had, and do likewise. Cue laugh track. Christopher Douglas is the writer and performer of over 100 radio shows including Ed Reardons Week, Beauty of Britain and Dave Podmore. He wrote the How To Be... series for BBC4 and his books include I, an Actor and a biography of cricketer Douglas Jardine. David Stafford has written scripts for everybody from Alexei Sayle to Orville. Hes an award-winning playwright for TV and radio and teaches screenwriting at Birkbeck College, London Guest Mandy Knight won the Time Out Award and was the first woman to host Jongleurs. Television collaborators include Jo Brand and David Baddiel.
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81. CRIME FICTION

Helping with enquiries October 8-13 Lumb Bank The appeal and the range of crime fiction have never been broader. In this course, through discussion, workshops and practical exercises, the opportunities offered by the genre will be explored with emphasis on the important elements of setting, character, plot and suspense. Simon Brett has published over 80 books, many of them crime novels, including Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter, Fethering, and the Blotto and Twinks series. He is President of the Detection Club. Laura Wilson is the award-winning author of 10 acclaimed psychological crime novels. Her most recent title is A Willing Victim. She is The Guardians crime fiction reviewer. Guest Cathi Unsworth is the author of The Not Knowing, The Singer, Bad Penny Blues and Weirdo. www.cathiunsworth.co.uk

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82. FICTION

Searching for the breadcrumb trail... October 15-20 The Hurst This is a course for writers who are already venturing into the maze of their creative resource but have yet to find a breadcrumb trail. Well work on harnessing, structuring, solidifying and deepening your material towards a cohesive work of fiction. In a relaxed and supportive environment, well use exercises in characterisation, plot and revision to help develop your own unique writing process. Diana Evans began her writing career as a journalist. She is the author of The Wonder and 26a, which won the inaugural Orange Award for New Writers and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award. Patrick Neate is the author of seven books of fiction and non-fiction. He has won several prizes, from the Whitbread Novel Award to the NBCC Award for Criticism. His latest novel is Jerusalem. Guest Chika Unigwes novel On Black Sisters Street has been translated into several languages. She lives in Belgium.
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83. THEATRE

Dramatic writing for the stage October 15-20 Totleigh Barton Explore what makes writing on stage dramatic: how narrative and dramatic action can work, and the difference between dramatic dialogue and conversation. This course, imbued with the spirit of Londons Royal Court Theatre, is accessible for new writers as well as challenging for playwrights with more experience. Simon Stephens is an Olivier Awardwinning playwright. Over the past 12 years he has written more than 20 plays for the stage that have been produced in theatres all over the world. Graham Whybrow works internationally advising playwrights, directors, theatremakers and theatres. He was Literary Manager of the Royal Court Theatre from 1994 to 2007, when it launched 50 new playwrights and produced over 200 new plays. Guest April de Angelis work includes Playhouse Creatures, A Laughing Matter, Wild East, Phaeton, Calais and, most recently, Jumpy.
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84. ARVON FRIENDS RETREAT A room to write in a writers house October 22-27 The Hurst Join the Friends of Arvon for a week where people truly know the value of the Arvon experience. You and your fellow writers are invited to retreat to the inspirational Shropshire Hills, for loads of independent writing time and the camaraderie of others who know how precious such opportunities to focus on your craft are. Meet other writers who share your passion and get some serious writing done. Domestic arrangements are the same as for all courses. There are single rooms for all writers and the all-inclusive price is 430 for the week. This is open to Arvon Friends only for information about becoming an Arvon Friend see page 8.

85. WRITING FOR CHILDREN

Serious play October 22-27 Totleigh Barton Embark on a playful journey into a serious business and develop the story you want to tell for children. Through practical writing exercises and group discussion well explore the elements you need, including characterisation, plot, viewpoint and voice. Well offer an insight into the contemporary childrens publishing market and set you sailing in the right direction to write successfully for young people. Gillian Cross has written over 40 books for children. She has won the Carnegie Medal, the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Childrens Award and her Demon Headmaster books were made into a popular television series. Steve Voakes books include The Dreamwalkers Child, The Starlight Conspiracy, Blood Hunters and the Daisy Dawson and Hooey Higgins series for younger readers. Guest Christopher William Hills plays for teenagers have been performed in the UK and internationally. The Schwartzgarten Tales is published in 2012.

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86. pOETRy

Taking your poetry further October 29 - November 3 The Hurst Beginning a poem is only the beginning. Let your poems take off and grow into something larger and more marvellous than they were when they were conceived. This course will consider structure and revision techniques, and is aimed at those who are relatively new to writing poetry as well as those with some experience. Jane Draycotts latest collection Over was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2009. Nominated as a Next Generation poet, her new translation of the medieval dream-vision Pearl (2011) is a PBS Recommended Translation. www.janedraycott.org.uk Luke Kennard won an Eric Gregory Award in 2005 and his collection The Harbour Beyond the Movie was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. His latest collections are The Migraine Hotel and the pamphlet Planet-Shaped Horse. Guest Jack Underwood is a poet, librettist, musician and co-edits the anthology series Stop Sharpening Your Knives. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007.
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87. FICTION AND BEyOND

Playing with words, inventing new forms October 29 - November 3 Totleigh Barton Prose doesnt have to be prosaic. We can enliven our writing and re-imagine the limits of storytelling by bringing in ideas from movie scripts, video games and treasure hunts. Well investigate experimental writing, think about branching narratives, and free our work from the tyranny of conventional thinking. Come and wander through the wonderful things words can do. Naomi Alderman is an award-winning literary novelist. Her books are Disobedience and The Lessons and she has written a Doctor Who novel for the BBC. She also writes computer games, interactive fiction and online treasure hunts. Joe Dunthornes debut novel, Submarine, has been translated into 10 languages and made into a film. His debut poetry pamphlet has been published by Faber and his second novel Wild Abandon came out in 2011. Guest Steven Hall is the author of The Raw Shark Texts, shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award.
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88. SCREENWRITING
Exploring your story November 5-10 The Hurst A chance to explore your own script in a safe encouraging environment and discover some different ways to tell stories on film. This course is for writers who are looking for the help to move their work on and become more effective screenwriters. Olivia Hetreed, formerly a film editor, is screenwriter of Girl with a Pearl Earring and Wuthering Heights. She is on the WGGB Executive Council and is a successful, experienced screenwriting teacher and mentor. Penny Woolcocks work includes Tina Goes Shopping and Tina Takes a Break for television and feature films The Death of Klinghoffer, The Principles of Lust, Mischief Night, Exodus and 1 Day. Guest Tony Grisonis screenwriting credits include films Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, The Unloved, and television drama The Red Riding Trilogy.

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89. pOETRy
Making it new November 5-10 Lumb Bank A course for new and experienced writers that will inspire you to write energetic poetry which reflects contemporary life. Examples from the best poetry written today and fun exercises are guaranteed to take your poetry to the next level. We will explore how to dramatise, add depth and push boundaries so that your poems are challenging the expectations of form and content. Frances Levistons first book of poems Public Dream was published in 2007 and shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. She works as a freelance writing teacher and reviews new poetry for The Guardian. Daljit Nagra has published two collections and won several awards including The Forward Prize for Best Poem and Best First Collection, and the South Bank Show Decibel Award. Guest Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Sheffield and was awarded the CBE for services to poetry.
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90. CRIME WRITING

Dont turn out the light November 5-10 Moniack Mhor Want to learn how to frighten your reader? This course will examine various aspects of crime and suspense writing. Please come with paper, pen and an open mind. The workshops will focus on characterisation, point of view, plotting, description, action, dialogue, outlines and revision. By the end of the week, no one but you will know who done it. Peter Robinson is the author of the awardwinning DCI Banks series, which consists of 20 novels translated into over 20 languages. He has taught creative writing at universities, including the University of Toronto and the University of Tallinn. www.inspectorbanks.com Manda Scotts novels include the bestselling Boudica: Dreaming Quartet and The Crystal Skull, which has been translated into 21 languages. www.mandascott.co.uk Guest Christopher Brookmyre is the author of 14 novels, the most recent being Where the Bodies are Buried. www.brookmyre.co.uk
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91. CREATIVE NON-FICTION

Life into art November 5-10 Totleigh Barton This course will focus on turning real life subjects into imaginative, book-length prose. Well cover plot structure, chapter formation, drawing characters and the ethics and limits of creative non-fiction. Well be helping students to find their own literary and narrative voice, and looking at ways to best capture dialogue and make personal material have broad resonance and appeal. Laura Barton has written features, interviews and music columns for The Guardian for over a decade, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, Word and Intelligent Life. Her first novel, TwentyOne Locks, was published in 2010. Will Hodgkinson is the Chief Rock and Pop Critic of The Times. He is the author of the creative non-fiction books Guitar Man, Song Man and The Ballad of Britain. Guest Jay Griffiths is the prize-winning author of non-fiction books Wild and Pip Pip plus two short novels.

92. STARTING TO WRITE

November 12-17 The Hurst

Give yourself permission to write

Giving yourself permission to write can be daunting. Where to start? How to progress? What to aim for? Well help you liberate your inner voice and style, learn how to structure your ideas and bring your characters into focus. Well look at ways to turn your enthusiasm into sustained self motivation and show you where to find the keys to your potential. Kate Long is the best-selling author of five novels including The Bad Mothers Handbook, which was serialised on BBC Radio 4 and which she helped adapt for television. Her latest title is Mothers and Daughters. Simon Thirsks novel Not Quite White was shortlisted for the 2010 Costa First Novel Award. He has written for television, lectured in journalism and marketing, organised literature festivals and is Director of Bloodaxe Books. Guest Jean Kwok is the award-winning author of the bestselling novel Girl in Translation, which has been published in 15 countries. www.jeankwok.com
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93. WORK IN pROGRESS: FICTION

The end in sight November 12-17 Lumb Bank Do you want to look at your work-in-progress with fresh eyes, and see your way through to the end? Through workshops and tutorials well lay particular emphasis on story-structure and editing. Suitable for anyone who has completed, or is close to completing, a first draft of a novel or collection of stories. Peter Hobbs is the author of two novels, The Short Day Dying and In The Orchard, The Swallows, and a collection of short stories, I Could Ride All Day in My Cool Blue Train. Liz Jensen is the author of eight novels, several of which have been developed for film and TV, including the best-selling The Ninth Life of Louis Drax and The Rapture. Guest Katie Wards debut novel Girl Reading is published by Virago. www.katieward.co.uk

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94. pOETRy

Form and sense November 12-17 Totleigh Barton This course will explore the effects of poetic form as an imaginative provocation, through workshops and tutorials. Course participants own poems will be considered alongside examples of various forms, and we will experiment to discover what makes particular forms suited to particular imaginative occasions. The course requirements are energy and an open mind. Mimi Khalvati has published seven poetry collections, most recently Child: New & Selected Poems 1991-2011. She is the founder of The Poetry School, where she teaches. Sean OBriens first six poetry collections have all won awards, including The Drowned Book, which won both the 2007 Forward and TS Eliot Prizes. Guest Paul Batchelors debut collection of poems, The Sinking Road, was shortlisted for the Jerwood-Aldeburgh Prize. He reviews poetry for the The Guardian and TLS. www.paulbatchelor.co.uk

95. ONLINE WRITING

Building your online platform November 19-24 Lumb Bank Nowadays a writers web presence helps them get noticed and can even be a path to publication. But how do you start, what can you write about and who is your audience? This course will develop your voice online, help you create a successful blog and give you the confidence to use other social media tools effectively. (NB Students will not build websites from scratch.) Jon Reed is a social media trainer, consultant and author of Get Up to Speed with Online Marketing. He previously worked in publishing and runs several blogs including Publishing Talk. www.publishingtalk.eu Sarah Salway is a journalist, blogger and author. Her novels include Something Beginning With and Tell Me Everything. She is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at LSE, and teaches creative writing to community groups. Guest Danuta Kean is a media commentator and journalist. Books Editor for Mslexia, she also teaches about the book industry.
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96. SHORT STORy

Brewing a storm in an egg cup November 19-24 Totleigh Barton The best stories are those that, once finished, linger long in the readers mind. So how can you achieve that in just a few pages? Short stories offer huge creative freedoms, but also require discipline and precision. Well explore the path from inspiration to idea development, structure and characterisation, so that from line one your reader will be ensnared. Bring a blank page. Tania Hershmans collection, The White Road and Other Stories, was commended for the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Tania is editor of The Short Review. Adam Marek won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Short Story Award. His collection Instruction Manual for Swallowing was nominated for the Frank OConnor Prize. www.adammarek.co.uk Guest Helen Dunmore is a poet, novelist, short story and childrens writer. Her latest novel is The Betrayal.
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97. STARTING TO WRITE

Finding your voice November 26 - December 1 Lumb Bank Writing is about finding your voice and allowing it to speak with confidence and assurance. Well set exercises, inspire you, teach you to write with clarity and purpose, and let you find those first notes of your voice and make it sing. Sessions will include characterisation, structure and editing. Alan Bissett is a novelist, playwright and performer based in Glasgow. His most recent novels are Death of a Ladies Man and Pack Men. He has also toured his one-woman show, The Moira Monologues, now being developed by the BBC. Nell Leyshons plays include Comfort Me With Apples and Bedlam for the Globe. Novels include Black Dirt and the forthcoming The Colour of Milk. She also writes for BBC Radio. Guest Anjali Josephs first novel Saraswati Park won the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Betty Trask Prize.

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98. WRITING FOR RADIO

A good listen November 26 - December 1 Totleigh Barton A cheerful, practical and inspiring course for anyone who loves radio drama and would like to write it. We will cover slots, treatments and offers, but also poetry, innovation and experiment. Kate Clanchy has written several plays for BBC Radio 3 and 4 alongside awardwinning poetry and prose and has huge enthusiasm for the genre. Jonquil Panting has been a Producer at BBC Radio Drama London for 15 years, producing and directing award-winning original dramas and comedies, from fantasy to drama-documentary and from shorts to four-hour epics. Guest Eloise Whitmore is a freelance sound designer, creating audio drama for the BBC, community projects and theatre.

99. STARTING TO WRITE pOETRy

Find yourself in poetry December 3-8 The Hurst Spend a week in a supportive environment where well read poetry, write poetry and discover those poems you have always wanted to write. This course is for beginners or those with a little experience. Helen Ivorys second collection is The Dog in the Sky. She is an editor for the Poetry Archive and Academic Director and teacher of Creative Writing for Continuing Education at the University of East Anglia. Neil Rollinson has won the National Poetry Competition, received three PBS recommendations, a Cholmondeley Award, held an RLF Fellowship and has been writer-in-residence at the Wordsworth Trust and Manchester University. His third collection is Demolition. Guest Jen Hadfields poetry collection Almanacs won an Eric Gregory Award in 2003. Nigh-No-Place was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in 2007 and won the TS Eliot Prize in 2008.

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BOOK yOUR COURSE

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COURSE FEE AND GRANTS FOR WRITERS

The standard fee for 2012 courses is 655* but we offer grants for those who cannot afford the full amount (see pages 133-134). Shared rooms are available at the reduced rate of 605, so why not save money and bring a friend or make a new one? The course fee includes all workshops, tutorials and readings and full board accommodation.
* Single rooms are subject to reservation and availability

Please read our terms and conditions before making a booking (see pages 142-144).

HOW TO AppLy FOR A GRANT

If you cannot afford the full course fee, you are encouraged to apply for one of our grants, which are awarded on the basis of financial need and not writing ability. These are limited in number, although we offer grants to around a quarter of students each year. Priority is given to those visiting Arvon for the first time. You may apply for any amount up to the full course fee, although most grants are between 50 and 300, and we only offer higher amounts in exceptional cases. To help us support as many people as possible, please only apply if you would be unable to attend the course without a grant, and only ask for the minimum amount you need.

HOW TO BOOK A COURSE

Bookings can be made either online at www.arvonfoundation.org or by post using the booking form at the back of this brochure. In order to secure your place you will need to pay a deposit of 150 at the time of booking. The balance of your course fee is payable no later than six weeks before the course starts. Please note we do not send reminders. To book by post, complete the booking form and send it to the appropriate centre. Writing centre addresses can be found on pages 14-21. If you are aged 16 or 17 we require a parent or guardian to sign the booking form on your behalf or to send us a signed letter of consent. Please note that under-18s may only book into single rooms. Open courses are not suitable for under-16s, but we also run many courses for schools. See pages 6-7 for details.
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TEACHERS GRANTS
Arvon supports the professional development of practising teachers of English, who may apply for a special fixed grant of 160 towards a course fee. You will need to send evidence that you are a practising teacher of English at a UK state primary or secondary school, or further education college. A teachers
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grant can be in addition to the usual grant if you require further financial assistance. Teachers grants are limited in number. The Arvon grants scheme is supported by the Derek Hill Foundation, the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation and the Barbara and Philip Denny Trust.

GIFT VOUCHERS
Why not buy a gift voucher for a friend or relative who has a flair for writing and just needs that friendly push? Perfect for birthday or Christmas presents, well send you a voucher to give to your lucky writer. To find out more call 0207 324 2554.

TO AppLy FOR A GRANT

1 Download from our website or ask us to send you a grant pack, which contains full details of the application procedure and an application form. 2 Reserve a place on your chosen course, either online or using the form in this brochure, ensuring you complete the grant application section. 3 Complete the application form and send along with your supporting documents to your chosen centre. 4 After weve assessed your application well contact you with a decision and to finalise your booking. If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate centre.
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COMpETITION
This year we are excited to be running a new Text and Image course with Graham Rawle and Margaret Huber (see page 80). In honour of the course we are also running a competition which invites you to create your own word artwork, to win an Arvon week of your choice (worth over 600).
All you have to do is come up with your own combination of creative writing and visual imagery it could be a poem in fridge magnets, a collage of words from a newspaper, a Photoshop blend of text and image, a photograph of words in the sand... we leave it to your imagination! Then submit a digital image of the artwork at www.arvonfoundation.org/ wordartcompetition by 18 May 2012. The winning entry will be chosen by writer and collage artist Graham Rawle and will be based on the quality of both the writing and its visual interpretation. Both the writing and artwork must be your own work, although a writer can partner with a visual artist and submit together. Entry is free, although we encourage you to make a small donation to support Arvons charitable work. For the rules of the competition, submission details and examples of word art see www.arvonfoundation.org/wordartcompetition

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ARVON NATIONAL FREE WORD CENTRE 60 FARRINGDON RD LONDON EC1R 3GA Chief Executive: Ruth Borthwick Director of Operations: Nick Murza Learning and Participation Manager: Becky Swain Communications Manager: George Palmer Individual Giving Manager: Emma Johnson The Hurst Campaign Manager: Laura Greenfield Finance Officer: Nick Kavanagh Communications and Participation Administrator: Leanne Griffin Administrator: Suzie Jones www.arvonfoundation.org Twitter: @arvonfoundation Facebook: facebook.com/ArvonFoundation Arvon is a resident at and one of the founding organisations of the Free Word Centre. Free Word brings together literature, literacy and free expression. Home to nine resident organisations and over 25 associates, it is a dynamic and international production house for literary culture, politics and ideas. www.freewordonline.com
The Arvon Foundation is a registered charity (Charity No. 306694) and a company limited by guarantee (registered in London No.1086582).
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patrons Simon Armitage Lord (Melvyn) Bragg Alan Brownjohn Lady Caroline Chichester-Clark Dr David Cohen CBE Carol Ann Duffy CBE Jerry Hall Seamus Heaney Carol Hughes Baroness James of Holland Park OBE Professor Sir Andrew Motion David Pease MBE Salman Rushdie FRSL Wole Soyinka FRSL Pete Townshend Council of Management Patience Agbabi Sir Andrew Cahn KCMG Kate Donaghy Marion Gibbs Robert Hingley David Kelleher Rachel Lewis Nii Ayikwei Parkes Keith Pybus Michael Symmons Roberts Simon Trewin Virginia Wedgwood Development Board Kate Donaghy (Chair) Andrew Caldecott Duncan Campbell-Smith Rick Gekoski Rosie Gledhill David Graham Andrew Hill Diana Morgan-Hill Richard Morris Jo Parker Henry Raine Susie Tinsley Simon Trewin David Waller Steven Williams

Arvon Angels Rakesh Bhanot Gordon Bloor Marie-Louise Burrows Kate Donaghy Jenny Evans Peter Forbes Basil Geoghegan Marion Gibbs Rosie Gledhill Nicholas Grant Mark Haddon Elizabeth Holt Emer Hunt Alice Jolly Elisabeth Kehoe Conor Kehoe Conor Killeen Rajesh Kulkarni Jeremy Mallinson Nigel Pantling Henry Raine Emma Smithwick Lorna Stuttaford Dominic Stuttaford Susie Tinsley Betsy Tobin Simon Trewin Theodora Zemek Founders John Fairfax John Moat Joint presidents Sir Robin Chichester-Clark Terry Hands Chairman Nigel Pantling

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THANK yOU
Thank you for your continued support and generosity, to:
Arts Council England, Barbara and Philip Denny Trust, Barnsley FC, The Gordon and Elizabeth Bloor Charitable Trust, Simon Brett, Sir Robin and Lady Caroline Chichester-Clark, Felix Dennis, Chris Difford, The Eranda Foundation, The Football Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, Basil Geoghegan, Peter Gordon, Earl of Gowrie, Nicholas Grant, The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, John Harding, Seamus Heaney, The Derek Hill Foundation, Rick Gekoski, Rosie Gledhill, Jeremy Hosking, Carol Hughes, David Hunter, The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, Elisabeth and Conor Kehoe, Lazard Ltd., The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, The John Thaw Foundation, The McGrath Trust, Kate Donaghy, Michael Webber and all the team at Manchester Square Partners, John and Antoinette Moat, Andrew Motion, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, David Pease and Tina Carr, Plymouth Argyle FC, Quintain Estates, Rumer, SCRIPT, John and Susan Singer, Emma Smithwick, Jo Parker and all at Team Spirit, Susie and Denis Tinsley, Pete Townshend, Pauline Walsh, Steven Williams. Brochure produced by Venn Creative www.venncreative.co.uk photography The photographs that illustrate this years brochure were taken by Paul Floyd Blake, Philip Grey, Eddie Jacob, Lee Richardson Foster and Gordon Dickins. Photographs on pages 22-23 Claire McNamee

Arvon is very grateful to all the photographers and photo agencies who kindly gave us permission to reprint their author photos for the brochure. We aim to credit every photographer. Please let us know if we have been unable to credit you.
Leila Aboulela by Vaida Nairn Patience Agbabi by Lyndon Douglas Tahmima Anam by Zahedul I. Khan Simon Armitage by Paul Wolfgang Webster Jenn Ashworth by Martin Figura Paul Batchelor by Caroline Forbes Anthea Bell by Dumbleton Photography Caroline Bird by Hannah Edy Melvin Burgess by Catarina Clifford Linda Cracknell by Phil Horey Kishwar Desai by Anshuman Sen Julia Donaldson by Chris Watt Anne Donovan by Alan Dimmick Jane Draycott by Jemimah Kuhfeld Stella Duffy by Gino Sprio Ian Duhig by Claire McNamee Patricia Duncker by Anita Schiffer-Fuchs Helen Dunmore by Caroline Forbes Antony Dunn by Vicki Hackett Joe Dunthorne by Angus Muir David Eldridge by Matt Humphrey Diana Evans by Charlie Hopkinson Bernardine Evaristo by Katie Vandyck William Fiennes by Claire McNamee Patrick Gale by Claire McNamee Janice Galloway by Gunnie Moberg Julian Gough by Ann Marie Fives Lucy Greeves by Chris Terry Jay Griffiths by Adrian Arbib Tony Grisoni by James Whinspear Philip Gross by Stephen Morris Mark Haddon by Mark Haddon Matt Harvey by Julian Preston Paul Henry by Owen Sheers Christopher William Hill by Simon Annand Mary Hoffman by Jess Barber Liz Jensen by Les Kraner Susanna Jones by Kate Eshelby Anjali Joseph by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi Kapka Kassabova by Liz March Emma Kennedy by Steve Brown Mimi Khalvati by Caroline Forbes Janet Kofi-Tsekpo by Dabinder Rai Jean Kwok by Mark Kohn Nikita Lalwani by Nishant Lalwani Nell Leyshon by Claire McNamee Kona Macphee by Patrick R. Andrews Susie Maguire by Lucie Maguire Adam Marek by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com) Maria McCann by Nigelle de Visme Jon McGregor by Dan Sinclair Jamie McKendrick by Rizwan Mirzah John Moat by Antoinette Moat Leah Moore by Eddie Barford Tiffany Murray by Fritz Fryer Daljit Nagra by Sarah Lee Sean OBrien by Caroline Forbes Bernard ODonoghue by James Connolly Helen Oyeyemi by Mark Pringle Don Paterson by Murdo McLeod Nigel Planer by Dillon Bryden Clare Pollard by Richard Henson Jacob Polley by Sandi Friend Kate Pullinger by Jonathan Bean Deryn Rees-Jones by Adrian Pope Roger Robinson by Nicola Griffiths Monique Roffey by Lee Carter Ann Sansom by Jan Cole Lucy Scher by Clare Muller Kamila Shamsie by Mark Pringle Gillian Slovo by Charlie Hopkinson Jean Sprackland by Caroline Forbes Simon Stephens by www.simonkanephotography.co.uk Greta Stoddart by Manuel Harlan George Szirtes by Clarissa Upchurch Bryan Talbot by Alan Hillyer Joe Treasure by David Zeiger Cathi Unsworth by Allison McGourty Katie Ward by www.katieward.co.uk Alan Warner by Jerry Bauer Louise Welsh by Steven Lindridge Sara Wheeler by Niall McDiarmid Susan Wicks by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey Laura Wilson by Chris Windsor
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All print material is available in large print format. This brochure is available in Braille call 0207 324 2554
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Bookings All bookings must be accompanied by a deposit of 150 and any application for a place will be deemed acceptance of these terms. You should not consider your booking as definite until we have confirmed it in writing or by email. The balance of your course fee is payable by six weeks before the course starts and please note we do not send reminders. Unpaid or late balances may be treated as a cancellation. If we do not receive your balance when due, we reserve the right to offer the place to someone else. Travel insurance We cannot reimburse travel costs or other losses incurred by you in the event of cancellation by us or you. You are strongly advised to take out travel insurance to cover potential loss arising from cancellation or other eventuality affecting your booking, including course fees and travel costs. You should check that any policy you take out meets your needs. Cancellations Cancellations will be accepted up to six weeks before the course takes place, but your deposit will be returned less a 50 cancellation charge. If a place is cancelled after this time, we will retain the full deposit of 150. If not paid already, the balance of the full fee remains payable. However, we will do our best to find someone else to take your place and if we succeed, the balance of your full course fee (less the deposit of 150) will be returned. If we cannot re-fill your place, we will retain the full fee. Note that we do not refund deposits for cancellations later than six weeks before the course start date. Changes to the programme The Arvon Foundation reserves the right to make changes to the advertised programme and tutors. Due to planning the Arvon programme in advance, some changes will inevitably occur to some courses, and occasionally the original tutors are unavailable. We always endeavour to replace tutors with someone equally experienced and to give you as much notice as possible. On very rare occasions we may need to cancel a course; in this case we may offer you an alternative course or return all fees paid. Please note that where we have to change tutors you do not have additional rights of cancellation and our standard terms will still apply. We cannot pay travel or other costs, which you may however be able to reclaim from your travel insurance policy, and our liability to you in all cases is limited to the course fee you have paid.
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Transfers At our discretion, you may be able to transfer your booking to another course at the same or another Arvon centre, subject to availability. We will normally accept transfers up to six weeks before the course takes place, and the deposit paid will be allocated to the new course. If we receive a request to transfer a booking after this time, we will do so only if we have already received the full course fee from you and we are able to re-fill the place on the original course. If either of these conditions is not met we regret we are unable to transfer the booking and will treat it as cancelled, retaining the full fee. Please note that we can only transfer a booking to a course within the same year, and that once a booking is transferred we are unable to offer any refunds for cancellation, or further transfers. Conduct The nature of an Arvon course relies on a level of tolerance and understanding of others and their creative work and we ask that you are thoughtful and respectful of the other students. The Arvon Foundation reserves the right to refuse a place and to exclude from a course any student who, in the opinion of the Centre Directors, behaves in an abusive or disruptive manner or engages in any discriminatory conduct. No refund will be given if exclusion is made for these reasons. Grants All grant applications must follow the guidelines on our website or in our grant application pack. Please note that only UK residents are eligible for our general grants scheme and that teachers grants are only available to those currently employed and practising as a teacher of English in a UK state primary or secondary school, or further education college. Individuals are eligible for up to three grants in total but no more than one in any given year; each successive grant will be smaller than the last. It is a requirement of the grant that a written report is completed within two weeks of the course. Other restrictions and conditions may apply to other grant schemes run by Arvon. Under 18s Anyone under 18 wishing to book on one of the public open courses shown in this brochure must provide signed, written consent from their parent or guardian at the time of booking. Bookings will not be accepted on our public open courses from anyone without consent or from anyone under 16. Please note that under 18s may only book into single rooms. Parents should also note that Arvon does not act in loco parentis.
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Loss The Arvon Foundation cannot accept responsibility for any loss, damage or expense sustained by students as a result of an event or circumstance whether arising from natural cause, human agency, or beyond its control otherwise. Where Arvon is unable to provide a course place to you for any reason, our liability is limited to return of the fees paid. participation and Access Arvon is committed to providing a supportive and welcoming environment to all. Over the course of a weeks stay, participants on Arvon courses should normally expect to take part in daily group workshops, one-to-one sessions with tutors, and group readings and discussions. They will also be expected to share in domestic duties with their group, such as preparing a meal, for which guidance is provided. Please note that Arvon staff provide some general support to all participants but not continuous care, and participants should be able to live independently. Depending on circumstances we may be able to accommodate a personal care assistant. While we offer some accessible facilities, our centres do vary considerably and we regret we may not be able to accommodate some requirements. If you have specific needs, it is important that you discuss these with the centre prior to booking, to establish whether your needs can be met.

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BOOKING & GRANT AppLICATION 2012

You can also book online at www.arvonfoundation.org 1. ABOUT yOU Title Address Name

BOOKING & GRANT AppLICATION 2012

(cont.) 3. yOUR STAy AT ARVON I would like to book a single room* a shared room I am applying to join a Writers Retreat, so I am booking a single room. Please tell us if you have any access requirements

5. DEpOSIT AND pAyMENT I am paying the deposit of 150 I am paying the full fee for my single room of 655 I am paying the full fee for my shared room of 605 I am paying the full fee for my single room on a Writers Retreat of 475 I am paying the full fee of my single room on the Arvon Friends Writing Retreat of 430 I am paying the full fee for my single room on the Retreat with Yoga of 540 I wish to pay by Cheque I enclose my cheque for the deposit or full payment. Cheques should be made payable to The Arvon Foundation, except cheques for courses at Moniack Mhor, which should be made payable to Moniack Mhor Ltd. I would like to pay by Electron/Visa Debit Cardholders name Credit/Debit card number Valid from date Expiry date Issue number (if present) Security number (last three digits on the back of the card) 6. EXTRAS: Arvon Friends I would like to join up as a Scribe 36p.a.* I would like to join up as a Laureate 90p.a.* I would like to join up as a Laureate Plus 175p.a.* I would like to receive more information about Arvon Friends I would like to join by Direct Debit, please send me the form * Please add amount to total payment in Section 7 Visa Switch/Maestro Mastercard

Donation
I would like to make a donation to support Arvons work with writers

I would like to give 500 Other

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40

100

250

Gift Aid To allow us to increase your donation by up to 25% at no extra cost to you, please tick here and sign below.
Please treat my donation and all gifts of money that I have made in the past four years, and all future gifts of money that I make from the date of this declaration, as Gift Aid donations to the The Arvon Foundation. I understand that, to qualify I must pay an amount of Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in each tax year (6 April one year to 5 April the next) that is at least equal to the amount of tax the Arvon Foundation will claim on your gifts for that tax year.

Postcode E-mail Telephone Mobile

Please tell us if you have any special dietary requirements

*

Subject to availability

You are not obliged to state your age or sex, but it will help with room allocation: Male Female 18-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ I am 16-17 and enclose a parental consent letter that allows me to attend or alternatively a parent/guardian has signed this form. How did you hear about this course? Arvon brochure Arvon website TV Word of mouth Other 2. yOUR COURSE Course Title Course Dates Name of Centre Course Number

4. GRANT AppLICATION I would like to apply for a grant

Signed 7. TOTAL pAyMENT AND SIGNATURE

Date

a teachers grant of 160

If you tick neither, please continue filling in the booking form at Section 5.

I enclose a cheque for the total amount of All cheques should be payable to The Arvon Foundation, except for deposit or course payments for courses at Moniack Mhor, which should be payable to Moniack Mhor Ltd. I am paying by credit/debit card the total amount of I have read and agree to Arvons terms and conditions (see page 142144) Signed Date

Press

Radio

If you wish to apply for a grant, you should send in this form to reserve your course place, then complete and send us a grant application form along with supporting documents, within seven days. Information packs, including the application form, are available from our centres, or from our website at www.arvonfoundation.org

I am signing as parent or guardian for the person named in section 1.

Please send your course booking form to the centre where the course takes place. Addresses for centres are on pages 14 21.
Please tick if you no longer wish to receive mailings from us. Data Protection: The Arvon Foundation is committed to protecting your privacy. A copy of our policy is available at www.arvonfoundation.org.

Arvon hosts week-long residential creative writing courses in four beautiful writing houses, set in inspirational countryside. Join us to write fiction, poetry, short stories and plays, or try one of one our specialist courses, like food writing or writing for radio. Whether you are a beginner or more experienced, there is a course for you. The Arvon course was all that I had wanted, hoped for and expected from the experience, and more. Inspirational, challenging, invigorating and relaxing, this course has given my writing a new lease of life. Course participant I did Arvon when I was about 20 and it was a tectonic, life-changing experience Courses like yours are that important to people arriving. paul Abbott, creator of C4s Shameless Arvon is the single most important organisation for sharing and exploring creative writing in the UK. Carol Ann Duffy, Britains Poet Laureate