This course is suitable for writers of all levels and will be helpful whether you arrive at Garsdale with a blank page or with a project on which you have already started work.
Stimulating exercises will help you keep your writing muscle flexed and writing prompts each day will show you how to develop scene, character and plot. There will be opportunity to share work in progress as well as one-to-one advice about how to develop your material.
By the end of the week, you will be equipped with skills and techniques to help you take your writing further and you will have the support of fellow writers to encourage you on your writing journey.
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Tutor: Hannah Vincent – Novelist/Playwright Hannah Vincent is a novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her first novel, Alarm Girl was published in 2014 and her second, The Weaning in 2018. Her 2020 short story collection, She-Clown and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Her stage plays have been produced by among others, The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal National Theatre Studio and her radio play Come to Grief won a BBC Audio award. Hannah teaches Creative Writing on The Open University’s MA programme and on The Creative Writing Programme in Brighton. She holds a PhD in Creative and Critical writing from The University of Sussex and is an Advisory Fellow for the Royal Literary Fund. |
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Guest, Wednesday evening: Joanna Quinn – writer Joanna Quinn was born in London in 1976. When she was seven, she moved with her mum and sister to Dorset. Joanna wrote stories as a child, and her first published work was one was inspired by Dorset – a story called Kestrel that won a WH Smith Young Writers Award when she was 12. After studying English Literature at Salford University, Joanna worked as a journalist in the West Country, while completing a MPhil in Creative Writing at the University of South Wales. She wrote short stories and was published by the Bridport Prize, the Bristol Short Story Prize, The White Review, Comma Press and others. She was also a Jerwood/ Arvon mentee and a finalist for the National Arts Foundation Fellowship for Short Stories. In 2013, while working for a charity, she began a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University in London, and, as part of this, began to write a novel. During the lockdown of 2020, she heard that literary agent Clare Alexander was looking for submissions. Despite the fact her novel was unfinished, Joanna was taken on by Clare and completed her manuscript during the pandemic. This manuscript became The Whalebone Theatre, which was the subject of a four-way bidding war in early 2021. It was published in the UK and the US in 2022 and became an instant bestseller in both countries. It has been sold to fourteen territories around the world. Joanna still lives in Dorset with her daughter, where she is figuring out her next novel. |
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| PRICES |
Fee includes all day and evening tutored workshop sessions, individual tutorials, tutor and guest readings, accommodation, inc. sheets and towels and all meals (not including alcohol). Single – En-suite room £1,115 |
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| TO BOOK |
£200 deposit payable on booking by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, to secure place. Balance due six weeks before the start of the course. Please see Terms and Conditions. |
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| STRUCTURE OF THE WEEK | See Structure of the Week (tab above) | |||||
| WHAT TO BRING |
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| START TIME |
Please arrive between 3:00pm and 4:30pm on Monday 28th April 2025 Tea, cake and housekeeping information 4.30pm Introductory Workshop 5.30 – 6.30pm Dinner 7.00pm |
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| END TIME |
After breakfast, 10:00am on Saturday 3rd May 2025 |
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| LOCATION | The Garsdale Retreat, Clough View, Garsdale Head, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5PW Nearest railway station: Garsdale, on the Leeds – Carlisle line. For directions, see Find Us section on the Contact page. |
All courses start on Monday afternoon.
Arrival time 3.00 – 4.00pm.
4.30pm: Housekeeping/Course information with tea and cake
5.30 – 6.30pm: Introductory workshop
7.00pm: Dinner
All courses end after breakfast on Saturday (10.00am).
Course Structure Tuesday – Friday
8.00 – 9.00am: Breakfast
9.30 – 11.00am: First workshop – Participants explore particular aspects of fiction writing and take part in writing exercises to further their understanding and expertise. All participants 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.
11.00 – 11.30am: Coffee break
11.30am – 1.00pm: Second workshop
1.00pm Lunch. After lunch, participants are free to do whatever they like, such as: relax, go for walks, read or work on individual writing projects.
4.30pm: Tea and cake
5.30 – 6.30pm: Third workshop
7.00pm: Dinner
All participants on a course have one individual tutorial of 30 minutes with the tutor in the course of the week. These will take place in the afternoons.Each evening, at 8.30pm, there is an after-dinner event:
Tuesday – the tutor will read from their work.
Wednesday – reading from a guest writer.
Thursday – poetry/music performance from Hamish and Rebecca.
Friday – a shared reading of ‘work-in-progress’ produced during the week.
