Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 18th Nov - Sat 23rd Nov, 2024
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
Writing Towards the Great Turning
When future generations look back upon the Great Derangement they will certainly blame the leaders and politicians of this time for their failure to address the climate crisis. But they may well hold artists and writers to be equally culpable — for the imagining of possibilities is not, after all, the job of politicians and bureaucrats.
Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement
2023 was the year global warming of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels breached an entire year. The failure this moment marks is in part a failure of narrative, of story-telling. Writers are now needed more than ever to respond to the current ‘polycrisis’. In this course we explore what ecologically-informed writing looks like, and how might our work contribute to the challenge of what Joanna Macy calls ‘The Great Turning’ – a turning towards nature, adaptation, peace, justice and environmental restoration.
Tutors
Monique Roffey, FRSL, is an award winning Trinidadian born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism and a memoir. The Mermaid of Black Conch, won the Costa Book of the Year Award, 2020, and was nominated for eight other major awards. Her other Caribbean novels, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle and House of Ashes have also been nominated for awards. Archipelago won the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature in 2013. Her work has been translated into many languages. She is a co-founder of Writers Rebel within Extinction Rebellion and works with Just Stop Oil. She is a Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University. Passiontide, her new novel is out May, 2024.
Owen Sheers is a poet, author and playwright. Some of his climate-related work includes The Water Diviner’s Tale, a climate change oratorio for children, The Trick a 90 min BBC One drama about the 2009 Climategate events and Galwad for Sky Arts/ Unboxed Festival. Twice-winner of Welsh Book of the Year he was the recipient of the 2016 St Davids Award for Culture and the 2018 Wilfred Owen Poetry Award. A former NYPL Cullman Fellow, he is Cennad of WalesPENCymru, Professor in Creativity at Swansea University and co-founder of Black Mountains College, a new college focused on systems change and sustainable futures. He lives with his two daughters in Wales.
Guest Reader
Charlie Hertzog-Young is a researcher, writer and award-winning activist. A proudly mad bipolar double amputee, he has worked for the New Economics Foundation, the Royal Society of Arts, the Good Law Project, the Four Day Week Campaign and the Centre for Progressive Change, as well as the UK Labour Party under three consecutive leaders. Charlie has spoken at the LSE, the UN and the World Economic Forum. He studied at Harvard, SOAS and Schumacher College and has written for The Ecologist, The Independent, Novara Media, Open Democracy and The Guardian.
Fees
The full fee for this course is £725. This includes your accommodation in a single room with shared bathroom, all meals, hot drinks and snacks from Monday afternoon until Saturday morning, and your tuition. For more information about the practicalities of our courses and retreats, please visit our About the Courses page.
A limited number of en-suite rooms are available, which can be booked in advance for a £50 surcharge. We will also reserve an en-suite room for anyone who may need it due to a medical condition. This will be offered out as an upgrade nearer the course start date if it is not needed.
A limited number of Twin Room places are available at a discounted price of £675 per person. When booking a Twin Room place, please tell us in the comments box which gender you are and which gender(s) you are comfortable sharing a room with. This information will remain confidential.
A deposit is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The balance payment of £575 is due six weeks before the course begins. Refunds are not always available – please read our Terms & Conditions for full details about our cancellation policy. If you would like to pay the full amount in advance, please call our booking office on 01463 592 828 or email info@moniackmhor.org.uk.
Bursaries are always available, and you also have the option to pay in instalments. If you have any problems paying online, or wish to discuss paying in instalments or applying for financial help, or would simply like assistance, please contact us by emailing info@moniackmhor.org.uk or phoning us on 01463 592828.
Access
Please let us know in your booking form if you have any access requirements, for example a ground floor bedroom and / or access to a step-free accessible shower room. We also reserve one en-suite bedroom per course for anyone who may need this due to a medical condition. For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.