Courses/Retreats

Poetry: Surprising Ourselves in Poetry – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Saying what you mean in writing feels good. Maybe even better is the way we can surprise ourselves in poetry. Whether you're new to writing poetry or in need of some refreshment, come and explore how we can surprise ourselves and spark each other's thinking in a small supportive group.
Philip Gross – Tutor
Katharine Towers – Guest Reader
15th – 20th April 2024

Fiction: Writing Fiction – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

This fiction writing course is suitable for writers at any stage of their creative journey, whether just starting out, working on a novel or short stories, or in the process of developing an idea.
Sally O’Reilly – Tutor
Sally Magnusson – Guest Reader
29th April – 4th May 2024

Untutored May Retreat – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Come to Garsdale in May, ‘Of spring and summer months the queen.’ (Clare) Leave off gathering nuts and enjoy the space to write, free from domestic distractions and fuelled by outstanding food.
13th – 18th May 2024

Tutored Poetry Retreat: Developing Your Poetry – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

This tutored retreat is designed for writers to work intensively with a focus on individual sessions to help them develop their work. This tutored retreat includes one 90 minute group workshop and one 30 minute individual tutorial each day.
Steve Ely – Tutor
Fleur Adcock – Guest Reader
3rd – 8th June 2024
Tutored Retreat- Novel Writing

Tutored Retreat: Novel Writing – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Novelists, memoirists, short story writers – do you need time, space and encouragement to move your manuscript forward? This retreat is for prose writers who want guidance and motivation to help their work-in-progress achieve its potential.
Zoë Strachan – Tutor
Louise Welsh – Guest Reader
17th – 22nd June 2024

Poetry: Writing the Self/Hiding the Self FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

During this poetry course, we will explore the joy and the perils of writing about the self in poetry. Using a wide and diverse range of poetry, we’ll examine how our life experiences can enrich our poetry and how our inner landscape can be rich and fertile ground for creativity.
Kim Moore – Tutor
Liz Berry – Guest Reader
1st – 6th July 2024

Untutored July Retreat – FULLY BOOKED email for waiting list

‘Summer’s lease has all too short a date.’ So take advantage of a July untutored retreat. Let your writing blossom now summer is here with its seasonal influx of house martins, curlews, lapwings and oyster catchers. Enjoy the space to write, free from domestic distractions and fuelled by outstanding food.
15th – 20th July 2024

Untutored August Retreat – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Leave those domestic chores behind and escape to the peace and tranquillity of a Garsdale summer.  Indulge yourself with space and time to write in idyllic surroundings. Meet up with your muse…
19th – 24th August 2024
Life Writing- That Book in You

Memoir/Life Writing: That Book in You – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Everyone has a book in them'. Do we? Perhaps it's true when we write from our own experience. Whether it's a single episode from your life to craft into an essay, or a whole family history that's itching at your writing hand, this course will help you find the extraordinary in the authentic.
Linda Cracknell – Tutor
Sam Miller – Guest Reader
2nd – 7th September 2024

Untutored September Retreat – FULLY BOOKED – email for waiting list

Departing summer hath assumed / An aspect tenderly illumed.....' 'Tenderly illume,' your writing with an autumnal excursion to the unfaded beauty of the Yorkshire Dales. Dedicate time and space to your writing, escape domestic chores and be nurtured by outstanding hospitality.
16th – 21st September 2024