This course is for anyone who is committed to a long-form prose project who needs the opportunity, time and space to progress their work.
There will be daily writing workshops to guide your practice
Bring along something you started writing a while ago which has ‘dried up’ or something you are working on currently which has become stuck. Alternatively, bring a notebook of ideas or arrive with a blank page. Whatever stage you’re at, by the time you complete this course you will be in a different place with your project, fired up ready to do what it takes to improve it, revise it, complete it.
Workshops start at 11am to allow time for individual writing. After the daily taught session you will be able to revisit your practice in the light of our work together. In the evenings you are invited to discuss your project/s with the tutor and receive feedback on your writing.
Please send a writing sample of up to 4000 words with your application.
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Tutor: Hannah Vincent – Novelist/Playwright
Hannah Vincent is a playwright and novelist who lives in Brighton. She is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Sussex and teaches Creative Writing for The Creative Writing Programme at New Writing South as well as The Open University. She is part of the course design team for the Open University’s new MA in Creative Writing. Her first novel Alarm Girl is published by Myriad and her second The Weaning will be published by Salt in 2018. Photo: Bosie Vincent |
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Guest on Wednesday evening: Umi Sinha – Novelist/Screenwriter
Umi Sinha was born and grew up in India. She holds an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Sussex University and taught on the Certificate in Creative Writing there for ten years. She has lectured for Brighton University and now teaches at New Writing South, runs her own classes and a mentoring service for writers, and co-runs a an oral storytelling club in Sussex. She has had short stories published in magazines and anthologies. Her first novel, Belonging, was published by Myriad Editions in September 2015 and has also been published in Portugal, Poland and India. |
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| PRICES | Fee includes all day and evening tutored workshop sessions, readings, accommodation and full board (not including alcohol).
Single – En-suite room £750 |
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| WHAT TO BRING |
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| START TIME | Please arrive between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm on Monday 17th July. | ||||||||||
| END TIME | After breakfast, 10:00 am on Saturday 22nd July. | ||||||||||
| LOCATION | The Garsdale Retreat, Clough View, Garsdale Head, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5PW |
Un-Tutored Retreats
Provide a great opportunity to kick-start a project; to move writing on; or simply to get something finished!
The Garsdale Retreat gives writers the time and space often lacking in daily life, and frees them from the interfering pressures of the modern world. It offers simple but comfortable accommodation. Each bedroom has a writing desk and there are two ground floor, en-suite bedrooms. The Retreat also has a sitting room in the main house and a workshop space in the coach-house. Excellent locally sourced food is cooked for the writers who can also walk straight out into The Yorkshire Dales where they can draw inspiration from the tranquil and remote beauty of the local landscape.
A maximum of seven places are available on each retreat, all of which run from Monday at 4.00pm to 10.00am on Saturday.
The domestic arrangements and meal-times are the same as for the courses. All food is catered and there are no domestic duties to stand in the way of creative work. At the Garsdale Retreat, writers can devote themselves totally to writing.
Tutored retreats:
These are the same as untutored retreats but offer daily tutorials with a professional writer and a guest writer on Wednesday evening. They may also include some limited group work – see tutored retreat programme.
Courses
The Garsdale Retreat provides an inspiring place to develop as a writer. Our courses offer opportunities for new, emerging and experienced writers. The tutors, all professional writers, lead group work and also give one-to-one tutorials to help the individual student. In the remote and beautiful setting of The Yorkshire Dales, The Garsdale Retreat gives a wonderful opportunity to escape from the daily stresses of life and to draw inspiration from fellow students, tutors and the landscape itself.
All courses start on Monday afternoon, arrival time 4.00 – 5.30pm and finish after breakfast on Saturday, 10.00am
Course Structure
Although there will be slight variations, according to the type of course, students can generally expect the following outline.
Writing Workshops
Each day begins with a morning workshop at 9.30am where students explore particular aspects of the chosen genre and take part in writing exercises to further their understanding and expertise. Tutors also write alongside the students, sharing and developing work with participants. The immediacy of hearing or reading an expert’s emerging work gives invaluable insight and inspiration into the art of writing. All students have opportunities to share their work with the tutor and fellow writers in a safe, supportive and nurturing environment in which individual work is respected and confidence developed.
There is a mid-morning coffee break and the session finishes at lunchtime (1.00pm)
After lunch, participants are free to do whatever they like, such as: relax, go for walks, enjoy The Dales, nap, draw, paint, read or work on individual writing projects.
All students have at least one individual tutorial which usually takes place in the early evening after tea and homemade cake.
Each evening there is an after-dinner event. The precise nature of this vary varies according to the type of course but participants can typically expect a tutor reading on Tuesday followed by a reading from a guest writer on the Wednesday evening. There is an informal activity on Thursday such as a student ‘open-mic’ night, or a tutor devised activity. On Friday, students and tutor take part in a reading of their work from the course-produced anthology. This is followed by an informal celebration where participants are welcome to play music or sing etc. The Retreat has a grand piano, key-board and acoustic guitar but students are free to bring any instruments along with them.
After-dinner events for performance style courses will usually involve workshop performances by participants of work accomplished in the day.
All courses will conclude after breakfast on Saturday.
Writing Course Anthology
An integral part of a course, is the production of an anthology of the week’s writing. Tutors and students have an equal allocation of pages (usually two sides ofA4) and select the work they include. These pages can be illustrated or decorated. Each participant takes ownership of their pages and is free to determine the overall look and style which may be hand-written or word-processed. It is, of course, accepted that work may not be completely polished and there is an element of work-in-progress about it. However, the aim of the anthology is to reflect a flavour of the work accomplished on the course by both tutor and participants and to provide them with an attractive record of their time at Garsdale. The Retreat stores copies of anthologies in the library, providing pleasure and inspiration for future students.
Musical Theatre Courses
These are essentially the same as the writing workshops in terms of the structure of the day. The main difference is that the evenings are devoted to performance of work produced each day. An informal concert of work produced over the week is given on the Friday evening.
Musical Theatre Course Recording
For musical theatre and performance poetry based courses, an audio anthology is produced. Each student selects work they’ve produced over the week to be recorded. As with the written anthology, the audio version is not expected to be a complete and polished work but more of a work-in-progress which reflects the week’s endeavours. A copy of the anthology recording is given to each student at the end of the course. The Garsdale Retreat will archive the anthology, providing pleasure and inspiration for future students.
Un-Tutored Retreats
Provide a great opportunity to kick-start a project; to move writing on; or simply to get something finished!
The Garsdale Retreat gives writers the time and space often lacking in daily life, and frees them from the interfering pressures of the modern world. It offers simple but comfortable accommodation. Each bedroom has a writing desk and there are two ground floor, en-suite bedrooms. The Retreat also has a sitting room in the main house and a workshop space in the coach-house. Excellent locally sourced food is cooked for the writers who can also walk straight out into The Yorkshire Dales where they can draw inspiration from the tranquil and remote beauty of the local landscape.
A maximum of seven places are available on each retreat, all of which run from Monday at 4.00pm to 10.00am on Saturday.
The domestic arrangements and meal-times are the same as for the courses. All food is catered and there are no domestic duties to stand in the way of creative work. At the Garsdale Retreat, writers can devote themselves totally to writing.
Tutored retreats:
These are the same as untutored retreats but offer daily tutorials with a professional writer and a guest writer on Wednesday evening. They may also include some limited group work – see tutored retreat programme.
