The Sharpham Trust is developing a new residential creative writing programme of weekends hosted and led by award winning poet Alice Oswald, alongside other established guest writers. This is a unique and special opportunity to stay at Sharpham House and focus on your writing practice in a breathtaking, inspirational landscape.
Course overview:
This course, which is one of a series of four, will offer time to create new work in a spirit of exploration and interrogation. The theme for this series will be ‘Myth and the Natural World’.
Part of the weekend will be to focus not only on the process of writing, but also on its context.
Apart from the house itself, Sharpham has quarries, courtyards, cellars, arbours, formal gardens and even a volcano. These places will be used as inspiration to generate or enhance ideas.
The courses offer an opportunity to experience creative writing as co-enquiry and alongside fellow participants you will be encouraged to give and receive feedback about each others’ work, in a supportive atmosphere.
These residential courses are for anyone interested in developing their writing, from those just starting out, to more experienced writers.
Tutor - Alice Oswald:
Alice’s six poetry collections include Memorial, Dart, (winner of the T S Eliot Prize for Poetry), and Weeds and Wildflowers, which won the inaugural Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. In Sept 2013, she won the £25,000 Warwick Prize for Writing 2013 for Memorial (Faber and Faber), her “glitteringly original” poem, which is a reworking of Homer’s ‘Iliad’.
Guest writer: Jerome Fletcher
Jerome Fletcher is Associate Professor of Performance Writing at UC Falmouth and award leader for the MA Performance Writing. He is the former Director of Writing at Dartington College of Arts.
He has published novels, a book of poems, co-written a quartet of literary concept books and made a series of artist’s books. His work has been translated into ten languages.
Guest writer & playwright: Peter Oswald
Peter Oswald is a playwright, poet and performer. He was Writer-in-Residence at Shakespeare’s Globe from 1998 to 2005. His plays in prose and verse have been performed at the Globe, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway and all over the world.
Venue:
The residency will take place at Sharpham House and includes full board with delicious home cooked vegetarian food. Each weekend course begins with arrival Thursday evening and departure after lunch on Sunday.
Dates:
10 – 13 April 2014
12 – 15 June 2014
18 – 21 Sept 2014
Each course costs £395. The courses can be booked either individually or as a series.
We are now able to offer some limited non-residential places (which include lunches and all day refreshments) at £290 per person.
Limited bursaries are also available. To book, please contact the bookings secretary on bookings@sharphamtrust.org in advance or phone her on 01803 732542
