May 12
Online
Fiction
Arvon at Home: Live Guest Reading
Reading and Q&A with Caleb Azumah Nelson via Zoom
Caleb Azumah Nelson
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.
Time away to free your imagination
Spend five nights at two of our much-loved writing houses for an untutored retreat with up to 5 other writers. Our retreats are fully catered, leaving you more time to write at your desk or walk in the beautiful landscape.
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.
May 12
Online
Fiction
Reading and Q&A with Caleb Azumah Nelson via Zoom
May 13
Online
Fiction
,Non-Fiction
Zoom Masterclass with John-Paul Flintoff
May 17-21
Online
Non-Fiction
,Other
Putting Wildness into Words
May 17-21
Online
Poetry
Retrievals: Recovering Lost Voices
May 18
Online
Children & YA
(Really) Feeling It!
May 19
Online
Poetry
Reading and Q&A with Elizabeth-Jane Burnett via Zoom
May 19
Online
Fiction
,Children & YA
,Short Story
Memories Are The Stories You Tell Yourself
May 20
Online
Fiction
,Publishing
Zoom Masterclass with Rachael Kerr
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…
10 May 2021 / My Arvon Journey
I first went on a residential Arvon course more than 25 years ago.
It was at Moniack Mhor, a remote farmhouse…
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…
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.
