Residential Writing Course: Memoir/Place (Fiction and Non-fiction)

About this event

The stories we tell – be they fiction, journalistic non-fiction, memoir, or a hybrid form – all take place somewhere. A work may not be about a place, but a work is brought to life when the reader has a sense of place. This course will examine how to transform a landscape from something passive we might gaze at to something we have an active conversation with: something that speaks through us as writers, and speaks to our readers. Join acclaimed authors Jade Angeles Fitton and Tom Vowler to learn how they capture the essence of place in their work, and explore the overlooked places within us and without us when it comes to our own writing. How can a place act as a metaphor or personality a character or allegory in its own right? How do we evoke place, and ensure fair representation of the place and the people we are writing about? Your tutors will encourage you to develop your ideas, characters and environments through writing exercises, reflective practice and diverse readings, with The Hurst’s woodlands and gardens from which to take inspiration. Whether you are just embarking on or are midway through a project, and whether you are working in fiction, non-fiction or hybrid forms, this promises to be an immersive, inspiring week that will demonstrate how ‘place’ is the bedrock of our experience, and how we can translate that to the page.