Prose Fiction

Scroll down to see the selection of courses on offer.

Masterclass: (Two-day workshops.) Deal – Take two for £150 – save £50
Daycourse: Deal – Take two for £100 – save £20

Taking the Fear out of Novel Writing
Day Course with Tahmima Anam and Joe Treasure

Saturday 25th October

Sometimes the thought of writing an entire novel feels like a Herculean task.  Spend the day working on specific aspects of writing - point of view, dialogue, and structure. Through a series of exercises, you will make choices that will in turn become the building blocks of your novel. 

About Tahmina Ahman

Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in Paris, Bangkok, and New York City.  Her debut novel, A Golden Age, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Prize and the Costa First Novel Award, and was the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth First Book Prize.  Her writing has been published in Granta, The Guardian, and The New York Times. 

About Joe Treasure

Joe Treasure’s first novel, The Male Gaze, was published in 2007 to glowing reviews (see www.joetreasure.com). Joe taught English and Drama and worked as a Director before beginning to write fiction in 2000.  His poetry has appeared in TheTimes Literary Supplement and he has written for The Los Angeles Times and the The New Statesman.

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Plotting and Narrative Structure
Masterclass with Louise Doughty

Saturday 01st / Sunday 02nd November

What keeps a story going? This workshop will focus on the architecture of story-telling and how to plot things well. Using practical exercises and feedback you can put your narrative idea through its paces and learn a series of checks and techniques to keep your ideas and rewrites on the right track.

About Louise Doughty

Louise Doughty is a novelist, playwright and critic. She is the author of five novels; Crazy Paving, Dance With Me, Honey-Dew, Fires in the Dark and Stone Cradle, and one work of non-fiction A Novel in a Year. She has also written five plays for radio. She has worked widely as a critic and broadcaster in the UK.

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Writing 21st Century Fiction
Masterclass with Matt Thorne

Saturday 15th / Sunday 16th November

The novel is changing all the time, trends emerging and disappearing with ever increasing speed.  How can a writer keep up with this and write publishable fiction that will excite readers, critics, agents and editors?  This Masterclass will look at how to write truly contemporary fiction, looking at the current publishing market and giving essential tips on how to get people to read and respond to your work.

About Matt Thorne

Matt Thorne was born in 1974 and is the author of six novels, including Eight Minutes Idle (winner of an Encore Award, 1999) and Cherry (longlisted for the Booker Prize, 2004).  He has also published three books for children and edited two anthologies; All Hail the New Puritans (2000) and Croatian Nights (2005).  He is a regular reviewer for The Independent, The Independent on Sunday  andThe Sunday Telegraph.