Writing School East Midlands Programme 2015/16

Leicester Creative Writing Courses

Sept 2015 – June 2016 Poetry About the Self with Kathryn Maris and other courses with tutors including

Mahsuda Snaith Rod Duncan

Polly Tuckett

Making Crime Pay: Writing Crime Fiction with Stephen Booth and other courses with tutors including

Maxine Linnell Alison Dunne Wayne Burrows

Writing School East Midlands – The Writing School in Leicester and Nottingham builds on 60 years of experience to provide courses, workshops and events to help writers of all abilities to develop their own work.

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Make time for writing Welcome to Writing School East Midlands: Leicester We’re delighted to bring you, for the first time, a whole year’s worth of courses, workshops and special events. Our new programme continues to reflect the Writing School’s commitment to providing excellent tuition in a supportive and creative environment, and this year we’ve introduced courses, workshops and events specially designed to help you develop your craft through our Building Block bundles (see page 6 for details) We welcome writers of all abilities regardless of experience and academic qualifications, whether you write recreationally or if you’re a professional author or new or emerging writer at the start of your career.

Our tutors are not only celebrated writers and performers in their own right, but accomplished teachers acknowledged for their skills and ability to work with a broad spectrum of readers and writers across a range of genres and forms, including novel writing, short fiction, memoir, poetry, and this year we’re helping you to try your hand at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Our Leicester tutors are: Rod Duncan, Maxine Linnell, Polly Tuckett, John Gallas, Alison Moore, Alison Dunne, Lydia Towsey, Wayne Burrows, Jacqueline Gabbitas, Adele Wearing, Mahsuda Snaith and Stephen Booth.

Our Special Events programme offers wonderful opportunities to work with distinguished visiting writers from across the country. This season’s programme includes Mimi Khalvati and Kathryn Maris. Previous guest tutors have included Rob Gee, Joel Stickley and Farhana Shaikh.

We’re pleased to be working again with LCB Depot, Attenborough Arts Centre, The Y and Phoenix Arts Centre.

Writing East Midlands administrates Writing School East Midlands and is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Arts Council England.

0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk Designed by Martin Parker at silbercow.co.uk tel: 0845 456 4838

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Courses Writing Workshop with Maxine Linnell

Play Writing Workshop with Alison Dunne

16 Week Course (two 8 week terms) Day & Time: Wednesday, 10am – 12pm Term 1: 23 Sept – 18 Nov (no session 21 Oct) Term 2: 20 Jan – 16 March (no session 17 Feb) Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE Cost: £128, £112 conc. (per term)* Booking Code: WSL01a/b

8 Week Course Day & Time: Tuesday, 6–8pm Date: 6 Oct – 1 Dec (no session 20 Oct) Venue: The Y, 7 East Street, City Centre, Leicester LE1 6EY Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSL03

Develop your writing skills and try out new genres and forms in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. This sustained course covers poetry, short fiction, drama and memoir. Use peer feedback to find out how your readers will experience your writing, and develop your own feedback skills which you can use to edit and revise your own work.

NaNoWriMo: Getting it Done! with Adele Wearing 6 Week Course Day & Time: Sunday, 12–2pm Dates: 27 Sept (sign up & planning session) 1–29 Nov Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £96, £84 conc.* Booking Code: WSL02 Want to tackle NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and don’t know where to start? Intimidated by the word count? These sessions are designed to help keep you motivated and inspired, to problem-solve and get you to that word count. Support will be provided from planning through the writing and on to what comes next. All you need is motivation and an idea. The course will have a sign-up and planning session in September followed by five support sessions in November. As sessions will be over lunch-time participants are welcome to bring a sandwich.

Sharpen your play writing skills with this hands-on workshop. Participants will take part in weekly writing exercises and home assignments which may be brought in for discussion. We will look at play text extracts as a way of discussing the elements of play writing including: dialogue, structure, motivation. The course will be practical in focus and participants may be encouraged to visit and discuss work being put on locally. (Ticket costs not included in course price)

Making Poems with Jacqueline Gabbitas 8 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 6–8pm Date: 5 Oct – 7 Dec (no sessions 19 Oct & 23 Nov)

Venue:

Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSL06 Taking the building blocks of poetry writing as its focus, this course will explore imagery, structure, sound and language to produce poetry drafts we can develop at home. We will look at how published poems use these building blocks, through reading and exercises, and every fortnight we’ll dedicate the session to feedback on the poems we’ve worked on at home. Suitable for beginner poets and writers new to poetry.

*If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

4 Courses Starting Short Stories with Mahsuda Snaith

Writing for Wellness with Alison Dunne

4 Week Course Day & Time: Thursday, 1–3pm Date: 8 Oct – 5 Nov (no session 22 Oct) Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE Cost: £64, £56 conc.* Booking Code: WSL07

8 Week Course Day & Time: Tuesday, 1–3pm Date: 19 Jan – 15 March (no session 16 Feb) Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSL10

What makes a short story different from a novel?

How can you make yours stand out from the crowd?

Mahsuda Snaith leads these fun and interactive sessions to help you tackle the tricky world of short stories. From finding a great idea to developing plot and characters, as well as tips on what to do with your finished short story, these sessions will help writers of all levels tap into their storytelling potential.

How can we use writing as a tool for personal development and increased wellbeing? In this course participants will take part in weekly writing exercises and home assignments which may be brought in for discussion. The group will foster a supportive and enquiring environment to allow for personal development through creativity. Participants will also be invited to keep a creative journal during the course for reflecting on their journey. Suitable for writers at any level of development.

Mainlines: 20th Century Poetry with John Gallas 8 Week Course (two 4 week terms) Day & Time: Wednesday, 1–3pm Term 1: 18 Nov – 9 Dec Term 2: 13 Jan – 3 Feb Venue: Richard Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Rd, Leicester LE1 7HA Cost: £128, £112 conc.* (for the whole course) Booking Code: WSL08 This extended version of John’s one-day Special Event workshop, English Express, will look in-depth at some of the major 20th Century poets writing in English, including Eliot, Kipling, Auden, Hughes, Lawrence, McGough, Owen, and Stevie Smith. Participants will read and discuss poems, exploring style, content, context and the poem’s/poet’s purpose. Suitable for everyone interested in poetry.

*If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Finding the Rhythm, Working the Form with Wayne Burrows 16 Week Course (two 8 week terms) Day & Time: Tuesday, 6–8pm Term 1: 19 Jan – 15 March (no session 16 Feb) Term 2: 26 April – 21 June (no session 31 May) Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £128, £112 conc. (per term)* Booking Code: WSL11a/b An intensive course in reading, writing and using poetic metres and forms, especially designed for page poets looking to think about their writing more rhythmically, and performance poets looking to explore the possibilities of using more formal metres and approaches in their writing. Close readings, discussions, practical exercises and workshops will be mainly focused on poetry, but we’ll quickly learn that a working knowledge of metre and form can be relevant in prose, copywriting, song writing and any other expressive approach to language.

PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

5 Short Story Writing Workshop with Polly Tuckett 16 Week Course (two 8 week terms) Day & Time: Friday, 11am – 1pm Term 1: 22 Jan – 18 March (no session 19 Feb) Term 2: 29 April – 24 June (no session 3 June) Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE Cost: £128, £112 conc. (per term)* Booking Code: WSL12a/b Week by week this course will explore the building blocks of writing short stories, including plot, character, setting etc. We will try out different styles and voices in a fun and pressure-free way. And we’ll share our own work within the group, offering constructive feedback and helpful suggestions in an atmosphere of trust and support to help individual writers dare to be different.

Sessions involve writing exercises to be built upon as homework. Suitable for writers at all levels.

Writing Poetry for Performance with Lydia Towsey 8 Week Course Day & Time: Thursday, 6–8pm Date: 28 Jan – 17 March (no session 18 Feb) Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSL13 Combining creative writing with editing skills and an overview of the contemporary scene, participants will be supported to develop new work across a range of genres and styles and discover their own unique voice. We will briefly explore the history of performance poetry and debate the differences and similarities between writing for the page and stage. We welcome writers at all levels of experience.

Practical Performance Workshop with Lydia Towsey 1 Session Workshop Day & Time: Thursday, 6–9pm Date: 24 March 2016 Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £24, £21 conc.* Booking Code: WSL14 From vocal warm ups and body work to microphone control, breaking the silence and new ways of introducing, linking and presenting material, we will investigate a range of techniques and approaches, enabling participants to explore, identify and develop their own unique performance style. The session will combine one-to-one and group work to build reflection, confidence and enhance stagecraft.

Elements of Fiction with Alison Moore 5 Week Course Day & Time: Thursday, 1–3pm Date: 21 April – 19 May Venue: Richard Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Rd, Leicester LE1 7HA Cost: £80, £70 conc.* Booking Code: WSL15 What is fiction? Alison Moore will lead this examination of various aspects of prose fiction. Over five sessions, participants will explore story structure, setting, the narrator, conflict and backstory, looking at examples from contemporary novels and short stories as well as producing their own work. Suitable for writers at all levels.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

Disclaimer: The Writing School reserves the right to change the programme if necessary.

Participants will be notified of changes to courses booked on.

6 Courses Novel Writing Workshop with Rod Duncan

Making Crime Pay: Writing Crime Fiction with Stephen Booth

8 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 7–9pm Date: 25 April – 20 June (no session 30 May) Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £128, £112 conc.* (per term) Booking Code: WSL16

8 Week Course Day & Time: Wednesday, 1–3pm Date: 27 April – 22 June (no session 1 June) Venue: LCB Depot, 31 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1RE Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSL17

The best way to learn the craft of the novelist is to write a novel. Through the sharing of work-in-progress and detailed feedback, participants hone their writing and critiquing skills. This class is driven by the participants’ needs, so we will spend time focusing on specific writing issues such as dialogue or plotting when requested. All levels of experience are welcome.

There’s a body in the corner, a murderer on the loose, a detective with a head full of questions and a story to be told... The course will examine the main elements of a crime novel, including plot, character and setting, and discuss the routes to successful publication. Includes practical exercises and feedback. Suitable for writers at all levels of experience.

PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

Building Block Bundles: Leicester Our courses and workshops are designed for writers at all levels of experience and ability and are suitable for people who write recreationally, as well as professional authors and new and emerging writers looking to publish their work.

Some of our courses have been programmed specially to help you to develop your writing, from early/beginner courses through to more advanced courses, workshops and events, and we’ve bundled them together as our Building Block programme. You can book any of our courses separately, but if you’d like to book a suggested programme of development, you can book one of our bundles at a 10% discounted price (cheaper than most residential courses).

Stanza Blocks A programme to help you develop your poetry. Book: Making Poems, Finding the Rhythm and 20th Century Poetry in a Day for only £391 or £338 conc* (saving £43/£38)

WSL-STAN

Chapter Blocks Develop your novel writing with this programme. Book: NaNoWriMo, The Novel Writing Workshop and Beginnings, Middles and Endings Day for £247 or £212 conc.* (saving £27/£24) WSL-CHAP

Short Blocks A programme to help you develop your short stories. Book: Starting Short Stories and The Short Story Workshop for £288 or £252 conc* (saving £32/£28) WSL-SHORT

Feedback Seminars

Tutorials One-to-one tutorials are designed for participants wanting in-depth critical feedback on their work.

Tutorials comprise one hour preparation by the tutor and one hour in-person tutorial based on up to 150 lines of poetry or 2000 words of prose. For details of tutors available for tutorials, please see our website.

Current tutors include Maxine Linnell, Polly Tuckett and John Gallas.

Duration:

One hour preparation, followed by a one hour face-to-face tutorial Venue, time & date: To be decided with tutor Cost: £110* Booking Code: WSL-TUT

Once a month for eight months participants will meet in a small group with a Writing School tutor for intensive, in-depth feedback on an ongoing writing project.

Participants will develop workshopping and feedback skills as well as creative writing and craft skills, and become more confident in writing and editing their own work. Places are limited to only six people, and will be allocated to a tutor relevant to the participant’s requirements (e.g. poetry, fiction, memoir). Tutors available for Feedback Seminars are Maxine Linnell, Polly Tuckett and John Gallas.

Duration: Eight 2 hour monthly sessions Venue, time & date: To be decided with tutor Cost: £192, £160 conc.* (can be paid in 2 instalments†)

*If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Booking Code: WSL-SEM †

Please call 0115 959 7929 if you wish to arrange instalment payments.

The Making of Poems It’s odd to think of poems as made things in the way we might make a cake, a cup of tea, a flower bed, a brick wall, a home... but the metaphor stands; a poem is a construction. Imagine this: we have in front of us half a dozen trugs or buckets, and in each of those trugs we have something that will help us to build a wall; we have cement, sand, water, bricks, a trowel, a spirit level, a plumb line. And so we bring these elements together and build our wall, and after we’ve built it we build another one, only this one might also include plaster and breeze blocks and paint. We learn how to keep the wall straight, how to make it arch, how to smooth it down or jag it up just to see what tension, what wonder, might come from a jagged wall. Eventually we build a house, which might in some way be called a home.

So, substitute the bricks and mortar, the spirit level and plumb line for imagery, voice, sound, metre, rhythm, verse break, line break, metaphor, allegory... and the wall that we make is a line or two of poetry, and the line becomes a poem and the poem becomes another poem until eventually you have a collection, a house of poems, a home for all your hard work. It’s no coincidence that another word for ‘verse’ in a poem is ‘stanza’, which, as well as meaning a ‘standing place’, is also another word for ‘room’. But without our building blocks, our first elements, we might have a wall that struggles to stand on its own, to protect both the things it’s made from and anything – such as love, terror, companionship, a laugh, a memory – that we choose to keep inside it and the rooms we make with it. Our poems, then, are built things, made things; an architecture for our vocabularies, for how we feel, for how we share those feelings: we build a wall, we build a room, a home; we invite people in. And they come and spend some time with us.

Jacqueline Gabbitas, tutor for Making Poems

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8 Special Events

English Express: 20th Century Poetry in a Day with John Gallas One-day reading workshop Day & Time: Wednesday, 11am – 5pm Date: 30 Sept 2015 Venue: Richard Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Rd, Leicester LE1 7HA Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSL04 Take the fast train to some of the main poetry stations with award-winning poet John Gallas. Looking at ten major 20th Century poets, including including Eliot, Kipling, Auden, Hughes, Lawrence, McGough, Owen, and Stevie Smith, participants will read and discuss poems, exploring style, content and the poem’s/poet’s purpose. Suitable for everyone interested in poetry.

Beginnings, Middles and Endings Day with Alison Moore One-day writing workshop Day & Time: Thursday, 11am – 5pm Date: 1 Oct 2015 Venue: Richard Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Rd, Leicester LE1 7HAE Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSL05 Acclaimed novelist and short story writer Alison Moore (author of Man Booker shortlisted The Lighthouse) will lead this three-part exploration of narrative.

Beginnings will examining the art of the first line and consider ways in which stories are conceived. Middles will look at narrative shape and pace. And Endings will explore the power of last lines, and address the point at which we might leave a story.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

9 PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

Confessional Poetry: How to write poetry about the self with Kathryn Maris One-day writing workshop Day & Time: Saturday, 11am – 5pm Date: 28 Nov 2015 Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TG Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSL09 In this one-day special event on autobiographical poetry, you will become better acquainted with so-called ‘Confessional Poetry’ of the mid-20th-century in the United States (Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, John Berryman and Sharon Olds) interrogate the ‘Confessional’ label, learn devices that American poets have used to convey autobiographical experiences and write your own poems that explore memory and personal experience.

The Prose Poem with Mimi Khalvati One-day writing workshop Day & Time: Saturday, 11am – 5pm Date: 11 June 2016 Venue: Phoenix Arts Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester LE1 1TGE Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSL18 “Writing a prose poem is like trying to catch a fly in a dark room. The fly probably isn’t even there, the fly is inside your head, still, you keep tripping over and bumping into things in hot pursuit. The prose poem is a burst of language following a collision with a large piece of furniture”. – Charles Simic Renowned poet Mimi Khlavati returns to the Writing School for a special one-day workshop on the prose poem. Through exercises and examples, we will learn what prose poems are and how to write them. Suitable for experienced poets.

0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

10 Tutors Stephen Booth is a former newspaper journalist and the author of fifteen novels in the best-selling Cooper and Fry series, featuring two Derbyshire police detectives. His books have won awards on both sides of the Atlantic and are translated into fifteen languages. His most recent book is Murder Road (2015).

Wayne BurroWS’s most recent publications are Black Glass: New & Selected Poems (Shoestring, 2015) and Exotica Suite & Other Fictions (Shoestring, 2015). Exotica Suite has also been released as a full length album featuring musical performances of the written texts, made in collaboration with Paul Isherwood (The Soundcarriers). roD DunCan is a novelist and screenwriter. His first novel Backlash was shortlisted for the John Creasey Dagger for the best debut crime novel. His steam punk novel, The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter (Angry Robot, 2014) was shortlisted for the Philip K Dick Award and the East Midlands Book Award 2015. aLiSon Dunne has many years experience leading writing groups and teaching creative writing in the community. A published poet and short fiction writer, she currently has two plays in development for national touring in 2016, is working on a film script and is developing a play with KLiC in Leicester.

JaCqueLine GaBBitaS’s poetry chapbooks are Mid Lands (Hearing Eye, 2007), Earthworks and Small Grass (Stonewood Press, 2012 and 2014). She has been published in Poetry Review and The Forward Book of Poetry (Faber) and appeared on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb. She is co-editor of the literary magazine Brittle Star and works for Writing East Midlands.

John GaLLaS has published fifteen poetry collections and his newest, The Little Sublime Comedy, is due from Carcanet in 2017. He has wide experience of readings, festivals, creative writing teaching, commissions, radio work and translating. He was made a Fellow of the English Association in 2013.

MiMi KhaLVati has published seven collections with Carcanet Press, including The Meanest Flower, which was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, a Financial Times Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her most recent collection is The Weather Wheel, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. She is the founder of The Poetry School in London, where she is a tutor. She has received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

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Writing School East Midlands 49 Stoney St, The Lace Market, Nottingham NG1 1LX 0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

11 MaXine LinneLL’s novels Vintage and Closer are published by Five Leaves, Breaking the Rules was commissioned by Bloomsbury and Real Reads commissioned three retellings of Thomas Hardy novels. She has poetry in magazines and anthologies, including The Book of Love and Loss. She is a mentor, editor and teacher, and critiques for TLC. She’s currently working on a new novel.

Kathryn MariS is from New York City. Carol Rumens describes her poetry as “like Sylvia Plath with added chutzpah”. She has won a Pushcart Prize, an Academy of American Poets award and fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and Yaddo. Her most recent poetry collection is God Loves You (Seren, 2013). Her poems have appeared in Granta, Poetry London, Poetry Review and Best British Poetry. She teaches at the Poetry School in London. aLiSon Moore’s short fiction has been published in Best British Short Stories anthologies and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Her first novel, The Lighthouse, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012 and the National Book Awards 2012 (New Writer of the Year), winning the McKitterick Prize 2013. Her second novel, He Wants (2014), was described by Rachel Cusk in The Guardian as ‘brave and rigorous’.

MahSuDa Snaith is a Leicester based writer of short stories, novels and plays. She is the winner of the Bristol Short Story Prize 2014, SI Leeds Literary Prize 2014 and a finalist in the Mslexia Novel Competition 2013. Her short stories have been anthologised by The Asian Writer, Words with Jam and Bristol Short Story Prize.

LyDia toWSey has over fifteen years’ experience of writing, performing and teaching. She’s spoken at the House of Lords, performed at London’s 100 Club and tours ‘Three the Hard Way – Part Two’ with Jean Binta Breeze and Shruti Chauhan in 2015. Lydia is the Chair/Compere of WORD! Her collection The Venus Papers is published by Burning Eye Books. poLLy tuCKett is a Leicester based writer for children and adults and a qualified creative writing tutor with over 15 years teaching experience. She writes stories and poems and her work appears in various journals and publications. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Bridport and Fish prizes and she is currently working on a collection of fairy tales.

Publisher aDeLe WearinG started Fox Spirit Books in June 2012 after a number of years reviewing and running events. In 2014, after only two years, Fox Spirit was shortlisted for Best Small Press and Best Anthology by the British Fantasy Society.

Gift Certificates available now Help your friends make time for writing. Whether you’re looking for the perfect birthday gift for the writer in your life or if you just want to treat a friend to some writing time, our gift certificates are just the ticket. They come in denominations of £10, £15, £20 or £50 with a gift-card. Call us on 0115 959 7929 to buy yours now.

WSL01a/b WSL02 WSL03 WSL04 WSL05 WSL06 WSL07 WSL08 WSL09 WSL10 WSL11a/b WSL12a/b WSL13 WSL14 WSL15 WSL16 WSL17 WSL18

LEICESTER Writing Workshop with Maxine Linnell NaNoWriMo with Adele Wearing Play Writing Workshop with Alison Dunne English Express with John Gallas Beginnings, Middles... with Alison Moore Making Poems with Jacqueline Gabbitas Starting Short Stories with Mahsuda Snaith Mainlines: 20th Century Poetry with John Gallas Confessional Poetry with Kathryn Maris Writing for Wellness with Alison Dunne Finding the Rhythm with Wayne Burrows Short Story Writing Workshop with Polly Tuckett Writing Poetry for Performance with Lydia Towsey Practical Performance Workshop with Lydia Towsey Elements of Fiction with Alison Moore Novel Writing Workshop with Rod Duncan: Making Crime Pay with Stephen Booth The Prose Poem with Mimi Khalvati

Full price £128 £96 £128 £50 £50 £128 £64 £128 £50 £128 £128 £128 £128 £24 £80 £128 £128 £50

All our courses are for adult learners (18 years +)

Conc. £112 (per term) £84 £112 £40 £40 £112 £56 £112 £40 £112 £112 (per term) £112 (per term) £112 £21 £70 £112 £112 £40

Seminars can be paid in two instalments. Please call 0115 959 7929 if you wish to arrange payments.

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In person: In Nottingham only, you can pay for full price courses at Waterstones Nottingham. If you are paying a concession rate you must pay Writing School East Midlands directly (online or by post).

By Post: to book on any of the courses in this programme, please complete the booking form and return to Writing School East Midlands, 49 Stoney Street, Nottingham NG1 1LX with your cheque (made payable to Writing School East Midlands Ltd). If booking for someone else, please include their name and contact details in the additional information section.

Online: book online at www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk and pay by debit or credit card. There is a 4% PayPal fee if booking online.

HOW TO BOOK

12 Booking Form

£177 £177

Conc. £42 £84 £84 £56 £112 £40 £14 £40 £40 £112 £84 £56 £56

£160 † £338 £212 £252

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are not normally made in other circumstances. In exceptional circumstances consideration will be given to a written request from a participant who wishes to cancel. If a refund is agreed, a £10 administration fee will be charged. It is also possible for the fee you have paid to be credited against a future course. Full Terms and Conditions can be found on our website.

Course Cancellation: In the event of cancellation by us, you will be offered a full refund or the opportunity to transfer to another course. Refunds

£ ..................................

Full price £48 £96 £96 £64 £128 £50 £16 £50 £50 £128 £96 £64 £64 £110 £202 £202

NOTTINGHAM Inspiration Workshop with Joel Stickley Starting to Write with Victoria Villasenor Inspiring Short Stories: Getting Started with Megan Taylor Workshopping Short Stories with Megan Taylor Getting it Written with Victoria Villasenor Writing Romantic Fiction with Sue Moorcroft Tum-ti-Tum-ti-Tum with Joel Stickley A World of Your Own with Ian C Douglas The Lazarus Trick with Judith Allnatt Let’s Write a Book with Alex Davis Getting Your Short Stories Out There with Megan Taylor Writing Fiction for YA with Paula Rawsthorne Writing Memory: Memoir with Roberta Dewa Tutorials Building Block Bundles: Chapter Blocks Building Block Bundles: Short Blocks

WSN01 WSN02 WSN03 WSN04 WSN05 WSN06 WSN07 WSN08 WSN09 WSN10 WSN011 WSN12 WSN13 WSN-TUT WSN-CHAP WSN-SHORT TOTAL AMOUNT

£110 £192 £391 £247 £288

Tutorials Feedback Seminars Building Block Bundles: Stanza Blocks Building Block Bundles: Chapter Blocks Building Block Bundles: Short Blocks

WSL-TUT WSL-SEM WSL-STAN WSL-CHAP WSL-SHORT

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11 Booking Form

Nottingham Creative Writing Courses

Sept 2015 – July 2016 Writing Romantic Fiction with Sue Moorcroft and other courses with tutors including

Joe Strckley

Alex Davis

Megan Taylor

Writing Historical Fiction with Judith Allnatt and other courses with tutors including

Ian C Douglas Roberta Dewa Victoria Villansenor

Writing School East Midlands – The Writing School in Leicester and Nottingham builds on 60 years of experience to provide courses, workshops and events to help writers of all abilities to develop their own work.

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Make time for writing Welcome to Writing School East Midlands: Nottingham We’re delighted to bring you, for the first time, a whole year’s worth of courses, workshops and special events. Our new programme continues to reflect the Writing School’s commitment to providing excellent tuition in a supportive and creative environment, and this year we’ve introduced courses, workshops and events specially designed to help you develop your craft through our Building Block bundles (see page 9 for details) We welcome writers of all abilities regardless of experience and academic qualifications; whether you write recreationally or if you’re a professional author or emerging writer at the start of your career.

Our tutors are not only celebrated writers and performers in their own right, but accomplished teachers acknowledged for their skills and ability to work with a broad spectrum of readers and writers across a range of genres and forms, including novel writing, short fiction, science fiction, memoir and poetry.

Our nottingham tutors are: Joel Stickley, Megan Taylor, Alex Davis, Ian C Douglas, Roberta Dewa and Victoria Villasenor.

Our Special Events programme offers wonderful opportunities to work with distinguished visiting writers from across the country and nearby. This season’s programme includes Judith Allnatt and Sue Moorcroft. Previous guest tutors have included Mimi Khalvati and David Constantine.

We thank Waterstones Nottingham for its continued support in providing a welcoming venue in the Sillitoe Room.

Writing East Midlands administrates Writing School East Midlands and is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Arts Council England.

0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk Designed by Martin Parker at silbercow.co.uk tel: 0845 456 4838

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Courses Inspiration Workshop with Joel Stickley 3 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 6.30–8.30pm Date: 5–19 Oct Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £48, £42 conc.* Booking Code: WSN01 Every writer has been asked at some point, where do you get your ideas from? In this workshop, we try to

Inspiring Short Stories: Getting Started with Megan Taylor 6 Week Course Day & Time: Saturday, 1–3pm Date: 24 Oct – 28 Nov Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £96, £84 conc.* Booking Code: WSN03

come up with some answers. There will be games, exercises and discussions designed to generate ideas and explore plot and character. Whether you’re just starting out in writing or you’re an old pro looking for some fresh inspiration, come and mess about with stories in a relaxed environment.

Through a series of playful and practical writing exercises, using images, props and examples of published work, we will generate ideas and learn about structure, characters, settings and voice to create unique short stories. This course is suitable for beginners to creative writing and also for those who are looking for new inspiration and structure for their stories.

Starting to Write: Your First Novel with Victoria Villasenor

Inspiring Short Stories: Workshopping Short Stories with Megan Taylor

6 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 1–3pm Date: 19 Oct – 23 Nov Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £96, £84 conc.* Booking Code: WSN02

4 Week Course Day & Time: Saturday, 1–3pm Date: 30 Jan – 20 Feb Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £64, £56 conc.* Booking Code: WSN04

This course is designed for writers who know they want to write a novel, but aren’t sure where to start. Over the course of six weeks, we’ll workshop your first novel into something you can continue to work on. We’ll look at plot, character and story construction, discuss story arcs, voice and craft. You’ll start playing with these things and work through them both in the workshop and on your own time, until you have the beginnings of a novel you can proceed to work on.

Gain confidence as well as essential insight and advice by sharing your short stories in a warm and supportive environment with an experienced tutor. This course is suitable for beginners to creative writing and also for those who are looking for new inspiration and structure for their stories.

*If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

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Where Do I Begin?

Picture this: I’m at a book festival, running around corralling authors and talking to attendees. Person A says to me, “You know, I’ve had this idea for ages, and I want to write a book. I just have no idea where to start.”

This question is one I can pretty much guarantee I’ll get at some point, whether it’s a book festival, a course I’m running, on a plane when I’ve told someone what I do for a living, or in a loo stall when someone slips a few sheets of paper under the door and says, “Can you just give me some feedback on this?”

My first answer, always, is “you have to actually sit down and write.” While it’s a somewhat blasé answer, it’s also true. If you want to get your novel written, you have to make the commitment to sit down and put words to paper (or screen, as the case may be). That said, it’s not always easy to know where to start. The concept of ‘just sit down and start typing’ is an easy one. But when faced with the blank page, suddenly we realize there might be more to it than that.

That’s where courses like Your First Novel become invaluable. You come in with an idea, even if it’s as insubstantial as fog at the beach, and then we’ll begin playing with it. There won’t be any pressure. There won’t be any criticism.

What there will be, and what you should expect from any writing course you attend, is support, guidance and inspiration. A first novel is often an experiment, and in this course we’re going to do a lot of experimenting; with words, with voice, with concepts and structure. You’ll learn what we mean when we say ‘you’ve got a unique voice’ or ‘consider the three act structure’.

Most of all, this course is about getting you started and building on the excitement you already have going. You’ll commit to the six weeks, and in that time, I’ll help you figure out where to begin, who your characters are, and how to consider aspects of craft like point of view and whether to tell it in first person or third. When the course is over, hopefully you’ll feel inspired enough to keep writing. And there are always courses for the next steps, too. Once you’re writing, you can attend a course that goes a bit deeper into the elements of craft, so you can continue working with a group and getting feedback, even as you continue crafting. And when you’re finished, there are self-editing courses to help you find what you might have missed.

Writing can be a solitary process, but with great courses like these around, it doesn’t have to be. Join us for an inspirational, fun beginning to your writing journey.

Victoria Villasenor, tutor for Starting to Write: Your First Novel and Getting It Written: Novel Writing Workshop

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Getting it Written: Novel Writing Workshop with Victoria Villasenor 8 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 1–3pm Date: 1 Feb – 21 March Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSN05 This course is designed for writers who have a novel, and some work already done, but need a bit of guidance. Over the course of six weeks, we’ll workshop your novel into a draft with structure and an outline, so you know how to get where you want to go. We’ll look at story arcs, character arcs, how to develop your own voice, and how to avoid plot gaps.

A World of Your Own with Ian C Douglas One Day Course Day & Time: Saturday, 10.30am – 4.30pm (Lunch not provided) Date: 5 March 2016 Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSN08 An introduction to creating imaginary worlds in speculative fiction genres, such as fantasy or sci-fi. The course looks at definitions of world building, basic methods for building the foundations of your world, advanced strategies, tools to help you, and infodumping and how to avoid it. There will be opportunities to use these methods in your own writing and share feedback in a safe and friendly forum.

Tum-ti-Tum-ti-Tum: Writing Let’s Write a Book Poetry People with Alex Davis Will Listen To with Joel Stickley 8 Week Course Special Event Workshop Day & Time: Thursday, 1–3pm Date: 18 Feb 2016 Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £16, £14 conc.* Booking Code: WSN07 Poetry was never meant to be written down – the business of ink and paper is a poor compromise. This one-off workshop will help you to discover how to escape the page and get your poetry listened to. We’ll be exploring structure, metre and performative writing as well as talking about how your direct relationship with a live audience changes the dynamics of poetry.

Day & Time: Date: Venue:

Monday, 1–3pm 25 April – 13 June Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £128, £112 conc.* Booking Code: WSN10 This eight week course not only covers the theory involved in creating a book, but also enables participants the time and space to work on their books, discuss their progress and have in-depth feedback. Perfect for those people with an idea for a book but don’t know where to start, or just looking for that extra bit of motivation and guidance to get their projects going.

*If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

PLEASE NOTE: places are limited on these courses, therefore early booking is advisable.

6 Inspiring Short Stories: Getting Your Short Stories Out There with Megan Taylor 6 Week Course Day & Time: Saturday, 1–3pm Date: 30 April – 4 June Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £96, £84 conc.* Booking Code: WSN011 Learn how to edit and polish your short stories to make them the best that they can be before sending them out into the world. You will consider the practicalities of submitting work to magazines and competitions, and look at individual themes and what it takes to put a short story collection together.

Writing Fiction for Young Adults with Paula Rawsthorne 4 Week Course Day & Time: Saturday, 1–3pm Date: 11 June – 2 July Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £64, £56 conc.* Booking Code: WSN12 These sessions will involve workshop exercises to develop skills to write for Young Adults; an ever-growing and popular genre in the publishing and reading world.

Sessions will look at building suspense in your writing, creating believable characters and pacy plotting, and the distinction between YA and adult fiction. You will also learn through examples from your favourite YA books and by looking at what is popular in the current market.

Writing Memory: Memoir with Roberta Dewa 4 Week Course Day & Time: Monday, 1–3pm Date: 20 June – 11 July Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £64, £56 conc.* Booking Code: WSN13 This course will help writers develop their skills by exploring the sense of time and place in memoir writing, and the importance of voice. It will look at published books, and consider the state of the market and what makes a successful memoir, as well as the sub-genres of the form. Logistical and legal issues for memoir writing will also be discussed.

Tutorials One-to-one tutorials are designed for participants wanting in-depth critical feedback on their work.

Tutorials comprise one hour preparation by the tutor and one hour in-person tutorial based on up to 150 lines of poetry or 2000 words of prose. For details of tutors available for tutorials, please see our website.

Duration:

One hour preparation, followed by a one hour face-to-face tutorial Venue, time & date: To be decided with tutor Cost: £110* Booking Code: WSN-TUT *If booking online there is a 4% PayPal fee.

Courses with this symbol can be booked as part of the Building Blocks Bundles at a 10% discount per bundle.

Disclaimer: The Writing School reserves the right to change the programme if necessary.

Participants will be notified of changes to courses booked on.

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Special Events

Writing Romantic Fiction with Sue Moorcroft One Day Course Day & Time: Friday, 10.30am – 4.30pm Date: 12 Feb 2016 Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSN06 This fun, interactive one-day course is designed to arm participants with the writing and storytelling techniques particular to romantic fiction – one of the fastest selling genres. We will take part in workshop exercises, study the genre and look at the publishing world with experienced tutor and awardwinning author, Sue Moorcroft.

The Lazarus Trick: Writing Historical Fiction with Judith Allnatt One Day Special Event Day & Time: Saturday, 10.30am – 4.30pm Date: 23 April 2016 Venue: Waterstones Nottingham, 1–5 Bridlesmith Gate NG1 2GR Cost: £50, £40 conc.* Booking Code: WSN09 How do writers make past worlds seem real and compelling? Drawing on another era can make you look afresh at the interaction between character and context, and can revitalise your writing through introducing colourful and exotic experience, new imagery and language. Through a range of examples and writing exercises you will practise the techniques of the masters of historical fiction writing. We will also discuss research methods and touch on markets for historical fiction.

0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

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Success stories…

Some of the best stories we hear at the Writing School are about your writing successes and we’d like to share a few with you: Writing School alumnus David Wilkinson published his first novel, We Bleed the Same, in 2014, which was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award 2015. He attended Rod Duncan’s Novel Writing Workshop, where he wrote and developed his debut work. He wrote us a blog about his experience in writing his book at Writing School East Midlands. “The atmosphere in the workshops was so friendly and relaxed that I had no real fear of writing low quality material because I knew that the feedback I received would improve it.”

In 2013 celebrated writer, Sarah Butler, published her debut novel Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love (Picador 2013), and her most recent book is Before the Fire (Picador 2015). We asked her about her writing journey. “When I finally decided to take my lifetime ambition to ‘be a writer’ seriously, I signed up for a course at Writing School. Two courses and a year later I applied to UEA to do an MA in Creative Writing and was awarded a place. Ten years later I was offered a two-book deal with Picador.”

We were thrilled to be at Lisa Drakeford’s launch of her debut novel The Baby (Chicken House) in June 2015 at Waterstones Leicester. Lisa worked closely with Writing School East Midlands tutor and mentor Maxine Linnell on her manuscript, and said this of the Writing School, “Thanks to Writing School East Midlands.

They brought me together with some fantastic authors and writers. Writing’s a bit solitary. That’s why it’s good to sit with others who are doing the same thing. I enjoyed those courses.”

Craft Development Building Block Bundles: Nottingham Our courses and workshops are designed for writers at all levels of experience and ability and are suitable for people who write recreationally, as well as professional authors and emerging writers looking to publish their work.

Some of our courses have been programmed specially to help you to develop your writing, from early/beginner courses through to more advanced courses and workshops, and we’ve bundled them together as our Building Block programme. You can book any of our courses separately, but if you’d like to book a suggested programme of development, you can book one of our bundles at a 10% discounted price (cheaper than most residential courses).

Chapter Blocks Develop your novel writing with this bundle. Book: Starting to Write Your First Novel and Getting it Written for £202, £177 conc* (saving £22/£20) WSN-CHAP

Short Blocks A programme to help you develop your short stories. Book all three Inspiring Short Stories courses: Getting Started, Workshopping Short Stories and Getting Your Short Stories Out There for £202, £177 conc* (saving £22/£20) WSN-SHORT

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Writing School East Midlands 49 Stoney St, The Lace Market, Nottingham NG1 1LX 0115 959 7929 • writingschool@writingeastmidlands.co.uk • www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

Gift Certificates available now Help your friends make time for writing. Whether you’re looking for the perfect birthday gift for the writer in your life or if you just want to treat a friend to some writing time, our gift certificates are just the ticket. They come in denominations of £10, £15, £20 or £50 with a gift-card.

Call us on 0115 959 7929 to buy yours now.

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10 Tutors JuDith aLLnatt is an acclaimed short story writer and novelist. Her first novel, A Mile of River, was a Radio Five Live Book of the Month and was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature. Her second novel, The Poet’s Wife, was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award. Her most recent book is The Silk Factory (HarperCollins, 2015). aLeX DaViS is an author, editor, publisher and events organiser based in Derby. His debut novel, The Last War (Tickety Boo Press, 2015) is the first in a science-fiction trilogy. He is coordinator for Derby’s annual Edge-Lit event and part of the management committee for Derby Book Festival. He runs Boo Books, Derby’s independent press, aiming to promote regional talent along internationally known authors. roBerta DeWa is a novelist, memoirist and poet. Her books include Lackland’s Lady (Robert Hale, 1980), Holding Stones (Pewter Rose Press, 2009). The Memory of Bridges and The Esplanade, (Weathervane Press, 2014). When not writing, she teaches at the University of Nottingham. ian C DouGLaS has an MA in Creative Writing (Dist) from Nottingham Trent University. He has published three books for younger readers, as well as short stories, an app, and a radio play. He is a contributor to the Eisner-nominated graphic anthology To End All Wars. Ian writes reviews for Left Lion and teaches creative writing at Nottingham Writers Studio.

Award winning author Sue MoorCroft writes contemporary women’s fiction with occasionally unexpected themes. The Wedding Proposal, Dream a Little Dream and Is this Love? were all nominated for Readers’ Best Romantic Read Awards. Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for a RoNA in 2013. Sue’s a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, a past vice chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and editor of its two anthologies. pauLa raWSthorne is an award-winning Young Adult writer whose prizes include The Leeds Book Award, Sefton Super Reads Award, the Nottingham Brilliant Book Award and The Rib Valley Book Award 2014. Her novels, The Truth About Celia Frost and Blood Tracks, are published by Usborne. Her comic story, The Sermon on the Mount, won a national BBC competition and was read by Bill Nighy on BBC Radio 4.

JoeL StiCKLey is Poet Laureate for Lincolnshire and the author of Who Writes This Crap? and 100 Ways to Write Badly Well. His work has appeared on BBC1, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as at the Glastonbury, Latitude and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals.

MeGan tayLor’s first novel, How We Were Lost, was published by Flame Books in 2007. Her second, The Dawning, was published by Weathervane Press in 2010, who also published The Lives of Ghosts (2012) and her first short story collection The Woman Under the Ground and Other Stories (2014). She has been running creative writing workshops since 2010.

ViCtoria ViLLaSenor is a development editor for a publishing house in New York, and also runs the social enterprise Global Words. She works with marginalized communities throughout the Midlands on writing projects, and has published fifteen short stories and over a hundred articles/reviews.