Courses

The stage can be a frightening place. It needn’t be. The nature of expression through the poems which you have carefully written are what this course is all about. We will show you how to give the words the respect they deserve by exalting them through your voice and physical presence.

This is a partnership course. An intensive and exhilarating full-board residential course for up to 14 aspiring songwriters in a glorious rural Highland setting. Through focused self-development, as well as collaborative co-writing opportunities, Findlay and Bella will support course participants to write and record an album of new songs on site in a week, under the technical guidance of guest engineer/producer Mattie Foulds.

In fiction, we are always being reminded that ‘less is more’, but what does this mean? How do you decide what to leave out, and what is essential?

As the nights get longer and the leaves fall, cosy up at Moniack Mhor and get some serious writing done. There will be company of you want it, hearty meals in the evening, but most of all, time and space to concentrate on your project without any distractions.

A writing workshop about how to make every word count Writing very short stories – flash fiction – that are also satisfying and well-structured is no mean feat. In this two hour workshop, which is part of the 2017 Tarbert Book Festival, author, editor and creative writing tutor, Anne Hamilton, will discuss what makes good […]

This course for fiction writers will concentrate on how to re-draft short stories. Re-drafting is a crucial art, indispensably part of writing well. It involves recognising and building on your strengths as a writer, and takes time and practice.

Although writers tend to work holistically, it can be helpful to isolate and examine some of the elements of our writing. In this course, novelists Louis de Bernières and Tim Pears will foreground the writing of character, emphasising the importance of such matters as dialogue and silence, action and inaction as means of revealing the inward workings of our characters’ minds.

Tis the season to be writing! Come on our Winter Retreat and cosy up next to a burning stove while you work. Be inspired by the snow-filled landscapes and starry night.

On this course Edwina and Boo will guide you as you work on your songwriting skills. Learn about meter, melody, lyrics, chords…. every aspect of song. Edwina and Boo will teach you the tools to allow your inspiration to be realised. On recent courses attendees have gone on to wonderful things.Songs have been recorded and […]

Desperate to get that manuscript redrafted? Or that poetry collection polished off? Our Christmas Retreat is the perfect occasion to do so.