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Friday 13 January to Sunday 15 January.
Do you have a story to tell? This course is for anybody interested in memoir, travel writing, biography or any other form of life writing. It is a chance to explore techniques that will allow you to capture your experiences on the page and transform them into compelling narrative. You will also learn to nurture your unique writing voice, convey a powerful sense of place, create vivid characters and seek out the universal appeal of your personal story.
The course will be held at Boldshaves, a lovely, rambling house set in a beautiful garden on the edge of the Weald of Kent. It is surrounded by ancient woodland and set in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Helena Attlee’s latest book, Lev’s Violin, An Italian Adventure, was published in April and broadcast as BBC Radio 4’s ‘Book of the Week.’ Her last book – The Land Where Lemons Grow, The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit was a Sunday Times Bestseller and has been translated into several languages. It was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman travel writing prize and and won the Guild of Food Writers’ Book of the Year 2015. Helena teaches creative writing both here and in Italy. Her latest course, The Thing About Things, was a community project inspired by the objects in a museum collection.
Whether working with students at a university or creative writers in a field, Helena incorporates experience-led activities into her teaching. The ideas for these activities have grown out of her own practice, often on the move, often abroad, and always wrestling with new techniques for bringing the reality of experience to the page.
Friday
Arrive late afternoon or early evening and take your time to settle in at Boldshaves before a delicious home-cooked dinner and an introduction to the weekend ahead.
Saturday and Sunday
Writing workshops of Saturday and Sunday mornings will be practical, interactive and dynamic. There will be plenty of time to explore new techniques, and share your writing with others if you feel like it. After the workshops we will meet for a wholesome lunch in the beautiful, 18th-c barn. Saturday afternoon will be a time to focus on your own writing and attend a personal tutorial with Helena. You might also take the opportunity to read in the Wealden library, go for a walk or explore the lovely garden. We will converge again for a delicious home cooked dinner. Afterwards Helena and our visiting author will share readings from their own work. On Sunday afternoon we will share a farewell tea and a final celebration of your writing.
This course is suitable for writers of all levels, from complete beginners to those already immersed in a non-fiction project.
Please note that residential spaces have now sold out.
