In this tutored retreat, we’ll explore dramatic techniques and writing for performance. Whether you’re new to playwriting or already have scriptwriting experience, this week is a chance to develop your work with techniques that are widely used in playwriting. Each morning, we’ll have a 90 minute writing workshop focusing on different techniques, and consider how to use them in your new writing or your work in progress. Each writer will have a daily individual 30-minute tutorial and will have the space and time to write during the rest of the day. Each writer will also have the opportunity to share their work in an evening group reading. This retreat is ideal if you want to explore craft techniques in creative and practical ways and to develop your writing for performance within a supportive and stimulating environment.
 |
Tutor: Jules Horne – Playwright
Jules Horne is a playwright and multimedia writer whose work has won two Edinburgh Fringe Firsts, toured the UK and appeared on BBC Radio. She writes in English and Border Scots, and recently began performing her spoken word with film and music as Rebel Cello, as a way of bringing her dialect writing to a wider audience. Jules’ teaching includes 13 years as an Open University creative writing tutor, co-writer of the OU MA Script strand, tutor for Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and dramaturg for Theatre Gu Leòr radio drama. She has been Robert Louis Stevenson Fellow at Grez-sur-Loing, artist in residence at MoKS Centre for Arts as Social Practice in Estonia and in 2023 will be artist in residence with Alchemy Film & Arts in the Scottish Borders. Cross-disciplinary work includes Working the Tweed arts-science project for Year of Natural Scotland and Three Border Songs with composer Suzanne Parry. She is currently under commission to the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, for a play about women’s rugby. Jules has served on the EU LEADER local action group and the Writers’ Guild Scotland committee and is part of the Creative Informatics creative-tech community. If you’re interested in place, DIY media, collaborating with friends, or simply curious about craft techniques and developing as a writer, we’ll have loads to share! My project site: www.juleshorne.com |
||||||||
| PRICES | Fee includes all day and evening tutored workshop sessions, readings, accommodation and full board (not including alcohol).
Single – En-suite room £945 Single – Shared bathroom £895 Shared Room (2 Beds) £845pp – single supplement £50 |
||||||||
| TO BOOK | £150 deposit payable on booking by bank transfer, PayPal or cheque, to secure place. Balance due six weeks before the start of the course/tutored retreat/untutored retreat. Please see Terms and Conditions. |
||||||||
| INCLUDED |
|
||||||||
| WHAT TO BRING |
|
||||||||
| START TIME |
Please arrive between 3:00pm and 4:30pm on Monday 27th November 2023 |
||||||||
| END TIME |
After breakfast, 10:00am on Saturday 2nd December 2023 |
||||||||
| 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. |
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 workshops 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 3.00 – 5.00pm. On this first day, tea and cake are at 4.30pm followed by an introductory/ice-breaking workshop 5.45 – 6.45pm. Dinner is at 7.00pm. All courses end after breakfast on Saturday (10.00am).
Course Structure
Although there will be slight variations, according to the type of course (see below), students can generally expect the following outline:
8.00 – 9.00am: Breakfast
9.30 – 11.00am: First workshop – Students explore particular aspects of the chosen genre and take part in writing exercises to further their understanding and expertise. 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.
11.00 – 11.30am: Coffee break
11.30am – 1.00pm: Second workshop
After lunch, participants are free to do whatever they like, such as: relax, go for walks, enjoy The Dales, draw, paint, read or work on individual writing projects.
4.30pm: Tea and cake
5.30 – 6.30pm: Third workshop
7.00pm: Dinner
All students have one individual tutorial of 30 minutes with the tutor in the course of the week which usually takes place at a mutually agreed time, usually in the afternoon.
Each evening, at about 8.30pm, there is an after-dinner event. The precise nature of this 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 word/literary game. On Friday, there is a reading of work produced during the week.
Poetry Course Anthology
An integral part of poetry courses is the production of an anthology of writing produced in the week. It is, of course, accepted that the writing is essentially work-in-progress. However, the aim of the anthology is to reflect a flavour of the work accomplished on the course and to provide participants 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.
Tutored Retreats
These follow the same basic structure as above except there is only one workshop in the morning and participants will have a daily tutorial, four per week.
Untutored Retreats
The only formal structure of the week is determined by meal-times (see above), allowing participants to concentrate totally on their own writing. After dinner, participants in conjunction with the course director sometimes organise evening read-rounds of their work /open mics/music /word games. However, participation in such events is entirely voluntary and people are free to continue with their writing in the evenings if they prefer.
