Louisa Rhodes Arvon Week

The warm and welcoming environment is such a key part of the magic of Lumb Bank, and the hospitable staff made us feel immediately at home. Turning up somewhere with 15 other young people, many of whom you don’t know, is daunting, especially for an introvert like me. But I cannot express how close we all became by the end of the week. We started mingling from the moment we were greeted with pots of tea and cake.

On sharing some highlights from the week, honestly, I’m lost for words (oh the irony). I truly loved every moment – the writing, the workshops, cooking and eating together, the surroundings, the tutorials, the evening events. But what stays with me most is the people. We were all given ample time to write outside of workshops be it in a private corner of the house, a romantic bedroom window seat overlooking a magnificent valley, or a secluded spot in thegarden watching the birds, but the feedback and conversations I had were invaluable. My writing improved hugely, and connecting with other people that are just as excited about words as I am, in such a wonderful environment played a part.

I have grown significantly as a writer and as a person; grown in creativity and maturity, grown in confidence, maybe even grown in height, though I doubt it. I’m not one for standing in front of a room full of people and reading my own, often personal, work as this makes me feel vulnerable. But there I was, on many evenings, not only the final showcase night, defying my own expectations. I think I speak for all my young writer companions when I say that you do not leave Lumb Bank the same person as when you arrived.And those valuable changes and light bulb moments that you take away, stay with you forever.

Our tutors, Tiffany and Peter, were a brilliant support throughout, with insightful tutorials, and inspiring workshops which had a very welcoming and open feel; it felt like whatever came out was something good and worth working on or coming back to. Whatever I wrote, it was something to be proud of and treasured, and that environment and attitude is something that I try to remember now whenever I write. Even when I was at my least confident, I felt comfortable in the knowledge that what I was doing was an ‘ink waster’, a term I have lovingly adopted for my own work (when you feel like you’re not really getting there, but it’s still worthwhile). Every writer’s been there!

All in all, this was a truly life-changing week. I wrote words Inever thought I could and made friends I didn’t think I would. I implore any young person who has the opportunity to go on an Arvon residential to take it. You will never regret it, and never forget it. If I could put into words what it would be like for you, how it would change you, I would. But not even the writer in me knows how! What you will discover will be so unique and so special to you that I could never express it. Arvon has shown me that there is so much more I can do with my writing and my voice, and that there is an even wider community of writers out there. When I heard people talk about how Arvon will ‘change your life forever’, I never quite believed it. Needless to say, saying this about Arvon is no ink-waster.

With thanks to Hive South Yorkshire and Arvon for subsidising this opportunity.