Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 17th Nov - Sat 22nd Nov, 2025
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
Listening, Inventing, Collaborating with the Wild World
How can the sea tell our story? How can we tell the story of the rain? Do we want to ventriloquise the voices of the elements, of the land and of other species, or find a home for our own voice in the natural world? Should our art mimic, or take liberties and make audacious leaps of faith? Listening, inventing, collaborating with the wild world, this course dances on the so called boundary between us and all else … bringing what is outside into us – and drawing what is inside us out into the world. This course is aimed at writers of all stages who want to engage with both the natural world and the private world inside themselves. Using workshops, discussions, and examples, we will find ways to fulfil Ingmar Bergman’s ideal: not making something real, but making something alive. Join us to connect with nature and bring your inner voice to life on the page.
Tutors
Jen Hadfield lives in Shetland. Her first collection, Almanacs, won an Eric Gregory Award in 2003. Her second collection, Nigh-No-Place, won the T.S. Eliot Prize and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. She won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Competition in 2012 and the Windham Campbell Prize in 2024. Her fourth collection The Stone Age, published by Picador in 2021, explores neurodiversity and won the 2021 Highland Book Prize. In 2024 she published her first collection of essays, Storm Pegs: A Life Made in Shetland.
Niall Campbell is a poet from the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. His first poetry collection, Moontide, was published by Bloodaxe Books and won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and Saltire First Book of the Year. Noctuary, his second collection, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2019. A selection from these first two books were published in the U.S. as First Nights, part of the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets. His latest collection, The Island in the Sound, was published in September 2024. Alongside writing poetry, Niall has worked as a librettist for both the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He is also the editor of the acclaimed poetry journal, Poetry London. He lives in Fife.
Guest Reader
Suzannah V. Evans is a poet, researcher, and educator. Her debut poetry collection is Under the Blue (Bloomsbury Poetry, September 2025). She is the author of Brightwork and Marine Objects / Some Language, and the editor of All Keyboards are Legitimate: Versions of Jules Laforgue (Guillemot Press). A chapter of her work appears in Carcanet’s anthology New Poetries VIII. Her poetry has been awarded the Ivan Juritz Prize for Creative Experiment and a Northern Writers’ Award, performed at international festivals, and broadcast on BBC Radio.
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 format and practicalities of our courses, tutored courses, and retreats, please visit our About the Residential Courses & Retreats 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 small single room with a skylight is available at a discounted price of £700. Please note this room does not have an ordinary window, only a small skylight.
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.