Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 25th Nov - Sat 30th Nov, 2024
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
Turning Ideas into Stories
This week is designed to help you with the entire process of writing for young people, from turning original ideas into full length story ideas, through structuring, polishing and editing your work to completion. The course will include workshops to help expand your writing toolkit as well as 1-2-1’s with your tutors to help you develop your original work. We aim to provide an encouraging and positive atmosphere that will help writers at any stage in their journey feel at home.
Tutors
Melvin Burgess has been writing fiction for young people since his first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. His 1996 novel Junk kick-started the YA genre and achieved great acclaim at home and abroad. It won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal and was recently voted one of the top ten Carnegie winners ever. He has won many other awards over the years, including the LA YA Book of the Year Award for Doing It. He has continued to publish popular, controversial and cutting edge fiction for young people ever since.
He had had two books out in 2021 – Count, illustrated by Chris Mould, for younger readers and his latest YA, Three Bullets, one of three books by different authors set in the same dystopian UK of a possible near future.
Emily Barr has been a professional author for her entire adult life. She is the author of six novels for young adults, plus a seventh, A Girl Can Dream, which will be published in May 2024. Her first YA book, The One Memory of Flora Banks, was translated into 27 languages, nominated for the Carnegie Award and shortlisted for the YA book prize. Emily has also written 12 novels for adults, plus two science fiction books under the pseudonym Evie Green. She is currently writing a new YA book and exploring the baffling world of screenwriting.
Emily has been a creative writing tutor for Curtis Brown Creative, Faber, Arvon and Domestika, and has given a Guardian Masterclass in writing for young adults. She loves working with students finds witnessing the moment when someone’s story falls into place for them to be one of the most rewarding things in the world.
Guest Reader
Liz Flanagan is an award-winning author who writes for children and young adults. Her books include the Wildsmith series of chapter books, wonderfully illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, and the exciting Legends of the Sky fantasy series – including Dragon Daughter and the most recent book The Pirate’s Dragon. Her YA novel Eden Summer was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. She lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and teaches creative writing in many different settings.
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.