Feb 25
Online
Poetry
Arvon at Home Masterclass: The News that Stays News
Zoom masterclass with Clare Pollard
Clare Pollard
Arvon runs creative writing courses and retreats for schools, groups and individuals. Our courses, tutored by leading authors, are held at three rural centres and include a powerful mix of workshops and individual tutorials, with time and space to write, free from distractions of everyday life. Arvon courses are in a range of genres and we have different styles of courses. Grants are available to help with course fees. We also run an online programme of courses and events – Arvon at Home.
Our new online programme of courses, events and writing support
Our writing houses may be temporarily closed, but Arvon remains very much open: to helping people make space for creativity and to connecting them with the finest writing tutors. We're pleased to share our new Writing Weeks, Masterclasses, Live Guest Readings, Craft of Writing Sessions, Children & Young People programme and Arvon 1-1s, all accessible from the comfort of your sofa.
Give your writing the time and space it deserves with Arvon’s dedicated Writers Retreat at The Clockhouse
The Clockhouse is specifically designed for writers on retreat. It has four apartments for writers, each with bedroom, study-lounge and bathroom. All food is provided for you, so you can spend your time as you please.
How will Covid-19 affect Arvon courses?
Due to the national lockdown we have had to close our writing houses. We hope to reopen them as soon as is safe to do so. In the meantime we are running an online programme of courses and events - Arvon at Home.
Do you believe that everyone should have the opportunity to unlock their creative potential?
We believe that everyone deserves the freedom to imagine, write and explore ideas regardless of their age or financial background.
Private hire of our writing houses - Totleigh Barton and Lumb Bank
We are offering a unique opportunity to hire Lumb Bank in Yorkshire and Totleigh Barton in Devon for self-catering holidays. Please note - during national lockdown private hire is not available.
Feb 25
Online
Poetry
Zoom masterclass with Clare Pollard
Mar 3
Online
Fiction
Reading and Q&A with Nell Frizzell via Zoom
Mar 4
Online
Radio Drama
Zoom Masterclass with Oliver Emanuel
Mar 8-12
Online
Poetry
,Playwriting
From page to stage
Mar 9
Online
Playwriting
In conversation
Mar 10
Online
Fiction
,Playwriting
,Screenwriting
Reading and Q&A with Courttia Newland via Zoom
Mar 11
Online
Non-Fiction
Zoom Masterclass with Horatio Clare
Mar 15-19
Online
Fiction
,Starting to Write
,Children & YA
,Non-Fiction
,Short Story
Taking your first step into the worlds of fiction and non-fiction
Every time I’ve taught at Arvon - going back over fifteen years now - I’ve seen how much difference just a handful of days can make in the life of writers. There’s a perfect mix of tutorials, writing time, socializing, and discussion - all those elements come together to create an atmosphere in which writing projects move in that longed-for but often unattainable direction: forward.
— Kamila Shamsie
Exercises
Fiction
Whenever you write a scene it’s a good idea to rewrite it – perhaps in note form – using a different…
Tips
Poetry
Each line must carry at least one unit of sense either in the line itself or across several lines.
To make…
Tips
Non-Fiction & Life Writing
Objects have immense power to help us to tell stories.
I have found that an entire storyline can be found in…
Exercises
Film & TV
PART ONE: Documentary or Research Exercise for Screenwriters
Using a still camera and or a tape recorder (or video recorder), follow…
Tips
Writing for Children & YA
After the giddy rush of a first draft, how you edit and refine your work is of equal, if not more…
Exercises
All
,Writing for Children & YA
Start with a scenario – this might be a random picture, a very short scene from a novel, a few lines…
Tips
Fiction
Before you begin to write your story ask yourself what is it about, what do you want it to say, what…
Exercises
Fiction
Think about your favourite novel or short story, or if not your favourite, then the novel or short story you are…
18 Nov 2020 / My Arvon Week
‘The image doesn’t know it’s a metaphor – don’t … control it’ (Caroline Bird)
We feel for Billy Collin’s ‘light switch’*…
26 Aug 2020 / The Stories We Tell
On Living alongside Dead Writers
‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless…
12 Aug 2020 / My Arvon Journey
A personal journey to publication of my first book
‘The West Façade’
A collection of short stories.
M…
15 Jul 2020 / The Stories We Tell
Disappearances and Encounters
As the daughter and granddaughter of antique dealers, I grew up handling wonderful old things. They…
We offer residential weeks for schools, young people and adult groups.
Our weeks for schools and groups follow the same pattern as our adult course programme – led by two professional writers, with tutorials, group workshops, and time and space to write.
