Online Writing Week: Performance

This week-long creative writing course facilitated by Paula Varjack and Deborah Pearson will focus on creating text for performances that work with non-fiction or ‘the real’. Paula and Deborah will share strategies from their respective practices as performance makers to help participants of any level of experience create and realise performance texts that are not a fictional play, but something else. There will be ‘Inspiration sessions’ and ‘Generating sessions.’ Inspiration sessions will focus on discussion and overviews of several forms of non-fiction performance, including instruction-based performance, conceptual art, autobiographical performance, task-based work, group devising and site responsiveness. Generating sessions will focus on incorporating inspiration into focused time for writing exercises or generating text by other means (for example improvising or devising text and transcribing). Paula and Deborah ask participants to come to the course with the beginnings of an idea they’d like to work into a text using these methods. By splitting sessions between exploratory sessions and writing/devising exercises, ‘Disrupting the Real’ will facilitate participants to push the boundaries of their idea into the beginnings of something concrete and, hopefully, unexpected to share.

We’ll help you to make ‘Arvon at Home’, turning your own place into a writing cocoon, capturing the transformative power of our acclaimed Arvon residential courses: two brilliant author-tutors at your service, a caring and sharing group, the time and space to devote to your writing, invaluable feedback, new writing pals, and the unique creative progress that happens in a dedicated week. 

You will be offered the best of a classic Arvon residential week, with a few virtual tweaks. Spot the difference: a carefully balanced combination of tips to help you focus, daily morning workshops, one-to-one tutorials with both tutors, three evening get-togethers to chat about the day’s work, a mid-week guest reading offer, the celebratory Friday-evening collective reading, and lots of time and encouragement for you to write every day. 

All gatherings, one-to-one or group, will be delivered via our own Arvon Zoom, so you’ll need to have a reliable internet connection. Your Arvon host will be on call to offer support as you need it, including any help you may need with your computer set-up. 

To participate, and to get the most out of the week, you’ll need to turn up online for all planned morning sessions, Monday to Friday. You should also set aside your afternoons for tutorials and independent writing time.  Last but not least, we urge you to read your tutors’ published work before the week starts.

Online: £425

Concessions: £297.50

As part of our effort to increase participation in the arts, we offer limited concessionary places at a 30% reduction. You can select this option at checkout if available.

We are committed to making our Arvon at Home programme accessible to as many people as possible.

Across all of Arvon at Home

• All sessions will have auto-generated captioning.
• During sessions we will have a text version available via screen share.
• There is a Chat facility to ask any questions.

Masterclasses and Online Writing Day

• A recording of the Masterclass will be available to view for one month after it is aired live.
• There is a Chat and Q & A facility to ask any questions.
• Zoom webinar format (your video and audio will remain off throughout, & your name will not be visible to other participants so it is a ‘relaxed’ event).

How I Write

• There is a chat and Q&A facility to ask any questions.
• Zoom webinar format (your video and audio will remain off throughout, & your name will not be visible to other participants so it is a ‘relaxed’ event).

Online Writing Weeks / Weekends

• Courses have much smaller groups than Masterclasses and How I Write events, and are also more interactive with your fellow course participants and tutors, so cameras and audio are usually on (though both are completely optional). If you would prefer your camera and audio to be off, it would be helpful to let your course host know this in advance.

Subject to funding/permissions (please contact us for more details)

• Recording of Writing Weeks and Weekends.
• Downloadable transcripts.
• BSL interpretation.
• Live captioning.

If you have any access issues that we have not covered here, please contact us on access@arvon.org

See here for more access information.