Dec 4
Online
Fiction
,Children & YA
,Screenwriting
Arvon at Home: Live Guest Reading
Reading and Q&A from David Baddiel via Zoom
David Baddiel
Home of Creative Writing
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.
#SUPPORTARVON
We need your help to raise £75,000 to support Arvon and the livelihoods of writers while our writing houses are closed due to the pandemic.
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 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?
Following government advice, and with the safety and wellbeing of our staff and course participants in mind, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all residential writing courses until the end of 2020. Lumb Bank and Totleigh Barton are open in November and December for Covid-secure writers' retreats, limited to six participants.
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 over the coming months.
Dec 4
Online
Fiction
,Children & YA
,Screenwriting
Reading and Q&A from David Baddiel via Zoom
Dec 8
Online
Fiction
Zoom masterclass with Claire Messud
Dec 9
Online
Poetry
Reading and Q&A from Vahni Capildeo via Zoom
Dec 10
Online
Poetry
Zoom masterclass with Jacqueline Saphra
Dec 15
Online
Poetry
Zoom masterclass with Liz Berry
Dec 16
Online
Fiction
Reading and Q&A from Abi Daré via Zoom
Dec 22
Online
Poetry
,Children & YA
Reading and Q&A from Joseph Coelho via Zoom
Jan 18-24
Lumb Bank
Retreat
Main house
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.
