The Arvon Effect: Abi Morgan

Abi Morgan is one of the UK’s most celebrated playwrights and screenwriters. Her stage work includes Splendour, Tender, Fugee, and Love Song, while her television and film credits span The Hour, Suffragette, Shame, The Iron Lady and most recently Eric for Netflix. She has won BAFTAs, an Emmy, and is the author of the Sunday Times Bestseller This Is Not a Pity Memoir.

But before all of this, Abi came on a transformative residential at Arvon.

‘It was the early 90s, and I was waitressing and trying and failing to make it as a writer in London, when a friend rang and said there was a last-minute space on a theatre writing course. Was I interested? The chance to spend a week away, in the middle of the Devon countryside,  working with legendary Scottish playwright, Rona Munro, was irresistible, and I leapt at the opportunity. Within 24 hours, I found myself stepping off the train at Oakhampton, to be greeted by Jemima Burrill, one of the enthusiastic hosts of Totleigh Barton, a beautiful 16th-century cottage and Arvon writing retreat, nestled in picturesque Devonshire countryside. From that first evening, I knew I had found my tribe. An eclectic mash-up of fellow travellers,  who found themselves breaking bread and sharing stories of other lives. Those lives were quickly and happily forgotten, as the true magic of the Arvon experience revealed itself over those next five days.

Led by Rona, Arvon gave me the insight, space, and time to write my first play. Sharing ideas and guided by Rona, the week culminated in a reading of the opening scene, as the simplicity and magic of theatre was truly exposed to me. From a simple action of a young man standing on a chair, changing a lightbulb, came the spark that lit the paper for the entire play. A play that went on to be performed, integral to my journey as a writer, that thirty years on, put me where I am today. Whether it was the magic of fresh air, good conversation, or sharing a meal at the end of each day with other writers, I still carry that sense of camaraderie and debt to that by chance week away. There is a certain magic to Arvon that cannot be bottled, must be experienced. I wish for any new writer the chance to visit one day.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to visit the other Arvon sites as a teacher and visiting writer. The opportunity to bring 12 writers to the Hurst, as part of our fledgling Little Chick mentoring scheme, for our inaugural residential week was yet another example of Arvon coming up trumps. The breathtaking beauty of the location, deep in a Shropshire valley, steeped in literary history as the former home of John Osborne, is like a warm hug. I hoped it would do its magic for these writers as it did for me.

With its brilliantly holistic infrastructure, we were able to lean in to all that is inspiring about the Arvon, drawing on their years of experience to help us structure the week, and realise what had been only a dream in London, which became one of the most inspiring weeks I had had in a long while. We talked, we laughed, we shared work, we edited, wrote, and rewrote. Each evening was a chance for the writers to sit around a dinner table with their peers and reflect on the day over a delicious supper. Did I mention the amazing cakes?

Writing is a solitary affair. A way to discover the world by digging deep into the self and reflecting anew. When I was starting out, that first Arvon week was a pebble dropped in the early years of my career, the ripples of which I still feel to this day. There is something in the bones of the Arvon buildings, the staff and creative team, that embody its lifeblood and DNA. Pure magic. It was a beautiful full-circle moment to be once more seated at the table, facing other writers, many of them not much younger than I was when I first went. I will forever be grateful. But more than that, I will forever be indebted to its legacy in supporting and encouraging generations of writers into the future. Long may it live.’

Find out more about Little Chick Productions here.