Apr 14
Online
Fiction
,Screenwriting
Arvon at Home: Live Guest Reading
Reading and Q&A with Amrou Al-Kadhi via Zoom
Amrou Al-Kadhi
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.
Apr 14
Online
Fiction
,Screenwriting
Reading and Q&A with Amrou Al-Kadhi via Zoom
Apr 15
Online
Poetry
Zoom masterclass with Jacob Polley
Apr 20
Online
Non-Fiction
Zoom masterclass with Marina Benjamin
Apr 21
Online
Fiction
,Short Story
Live reading and Q&A with Rebecca Watson via Zoom
Apr 21
Online
Children & YA
Black British Voices: Poetry to Prose
Apr 22-22
Online
Children & YA
Finding The Magic of Writing
Apr 26-30
Online
Poetry
Writing Your Second Collection
Apr 26-30
Online
Fiction
Work in Progress
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…
08 Apr 2021 / Chief Executive
Arvon’s ‘4th House’ reaches record-breaking number of adults and young people during the pandemic, expanding Arvon’s reach by 500%, and…
Read more19 Mar 2021 / The Stories We Tell
On Writing Memoir: Do You Feel Better Now?
As a boy I carried secrets – they slid to the…
26 Feb 2021 / The Stories We Tell
Anger
‘Where do you get your ideas?’ It’s a question often asked of writers, and indeed a question I…
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’*…
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.
