Immerse yourself in the world of the highly original radical publishing house that is Rough Trade Books in a week dedicated to counter-cultural literary practice. Your tutors will be writer Jen Calleja and editor and author Will Burns, leading workshops that will help you find ways into new work, looking at a broad range of fictional techniques and considerations from building characters and locations through to honing that all important tone of voice. We’ll also look at editorial and re-drafting techniques and how a broad cultural sensibility can influence your fiction. The visiting guest will be publisher Nina Hervé, providing an evening of insight into the machinations of running the Rough Trade Books imprint, and on your last evening you’ll have the opportunity to read from your own work with all three tutors and guests in attendance. This is a unique opportunity to surround yourself with like-minded writers and to spend time fully engaged in a different kind of writing life, giving you access to the unique energy that small presses like Rough Trade Books thrive on.
About Rough Trade Books
In 2018, Rough Trade Books was launched as the publishing house from the minds behind the pioneering record company Rough Trade Records, sharing both the label’s sense of originality and its radical direction. Rough Trade has always been about the counter-culture, not the mainstream, and Rough Trade Books continues to reflect the same ethos for literature as the record label does for music.
For Rough Trade Books, the writing is the priority. The most exciting book is always the one they’re about to work on with an author. To be able to help bring something totally brand new into existence, to turn an author’s artistic vision into something tangible, is what the company is all about. Getting fresh new voices to readers who have a trust in the heritage that Rough Trade brings.
*Please use the expandable links below to reveal timings and further details of the course schedule.
Room with indoor shared bathroom: £980
Room with shared bathroom accessed via outdoor covered pathway: £915
Concessions: Room with indoor shared bathroom £686
Concessions: Room with shared bathroom accessed via outdoor covered pathway £640.50
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.
What your course fee covers:
Tutoring: Four morning group workshops, with inspiring writing exercises to kick-start your creativity, plus two 1:1 tutorials, one with each tutor, focusing on your own work. Our tutors are some of the leading writers at work today, and in addition to formal workshops and tutorials you will share meals with them and have opportunities for more casual conversation. During evening readings, you’ll hear your tutors – and a guest speaker on Wednesday evening – share their work and answer your questions, from the secrets of their craft to the practicalities of life as a writer.
Your accommodation: A week in a grade II listed thatched Devon manor house in beautiful, peaceful west Devon.
All meals: We hand over our well-stocked and welcoming kitchen to you, offering a fresh, tasty seasonal menu prepared from local ingredients where possible (with dietary requests catered for), as well as a cream tea on arrival and a constant supply of coffees, teas, and home-baked cakes throughout your stay.
Time and space to write: an opportunity to step away from the distractions of everyday life and focus solely on your creativity.
A community of writers: our writing weeks have a relaxed and sociable atmosphere and offer the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded people. Many of the writers who attend our residentials stay in touch and continue to share work and support one another’s writing journeys – sometimes even decades later.
Support for our charitable activity: Arvon is a charity, and each year over 40 of our courses are with vulnerable groups and schools, from young people who have experienced bullying to adults recovering from an addiction. Your course fee helps to support groups who would otherwise not have the opportunity to access our transformational courses.
Physical Access at Totleigh Barton:
We do not currently recommend this house if you are a wheelchair user. Totleigh Barton is a sixteenth-Century manor house and has many steps and tight corners. In the future we hope to redevelop the property to provide level access. For additional detailed information on physical access in bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining, shared spaces and the grounds please visit our dedicated access page.
Please see our access page for general access information for residential courses.
Our grants scheme may be able to cover a portion of your course fees. Disability costs and additional living/support costs are taken into account when considering your grant application. You may also be entitled to concession pricing on selected courses.
If you have any questions or concerns and want to chat to a member of staff prior to booking please contact us on access@arvon.org
Totleigh Barton, the first ever Arvon centre, is a 16th-century manor house in one of the most peaceful and idyllic parts of Devon.
Totleigh Barton is a thatched manor house with single occupancy rooms and shared bathrooms. The house offers many comfortable lounge and spaces to relax and write throughout the house and a renovated barn offers a comfortable space for evening readings. Mobile and Wi-Fi signal is limited. We invite you to think of a retreat to this beautiful old house as a full ‘digital detox’ – a chance to make real progress with your writing with no distractions.
All your meals are provided, locally and sustainably sourced wherever possible. Help yourself to breakfast, our team will prepare lunch, and dinner is prepared in groups each evening using the delicious recipes and ingredients provided.
Totleigh Barton lies two miles from the village of Sheepwash, with walks along the River Torridge nearby. There is a beautiful and productive garden and quiet spaces on-site for writing.
See here for more information on Totleigh Barton.
Jen Calleja
Will Burns
Nina Hervé
