Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 4th May - Sat 9th May, 2026
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
The Pull To Speak and the Pull To Stay Silent
Using their own work and the work of fellow neurodivergent writers and thinkers, Joanne Limburg and Kate Fox will help participants explore how neurodiversity can be found in literary forms from poetry to fiction and creative non -fiction -and look at how neurodivergent writers of all levels of life experience can play with, challenge or find a sense of home within these forms.
Using a range of prompts and practical exercises in a neurodivergent-affirming space, you’ll be encouraged to join the tutors in finding ways of engaging that work for your particular ways of processing and energy levels.
We’ll also look at how, for many neurodivergent writers and artists, the pull to have your words heard and understood can be in tension with an urge to stay safely invisible.
Tutors
Kate Fox is a stand-up poet, spoken word artist and broadcaster. She is a regular contributor to Radio 4’s spoken word cabaret “The Verb”, has made two comedy series for Radio 4, been Poet in Residence for the Glastonbury Festival and the Great North Run and completed a PhD in stand-up comedy.
She is the author of “Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women” published by Harper North, and poetry collections including “On Sycamore Gap” (Harper North, 2024), “Bigger On the Inside” (Smokestack Books, 2024) and “The Oscillations” (Nine Arches Press, 2021). She is also a neurodivergent advocate whose latest show “Bigger on the Inside” explores neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who.
Joanne Limburg is a multi-genre writer and creative writing teacher. She has published three poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books; the most recent of these is The Autistic Alice. A fourth collection, entitled Alas, is due out in 2027. Joanne has also published one novel and three works of non-fiction. After receiving her autism diagnosis in 2012, Joanne explored the subject through her writing, first in poetry, and then in prose, in the form of the book Letters to my Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism. She teaches creative writing at the University of Cambridge and is a trustee of Mainspring Arts, an organisation which provides opportunities for neurodivergent artists. Joanne is Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Guest Reader
Elspeth Wilson is a writer interested in exploring the limitations and possibilities of the body. Her poetry pamphlet, Too Hot to Sleep, is published by Written Off Publishing and was shortlisted for the Saltire Society’s 2023 Poetry Book of the Year Award. Her debut novel, These Mortal Bodies, is published with Simon and Schuster and was described by The Bookseller as “an absorbing, clever and twisty debut”. She runs the Neurodivergent Notes on Writing Subtack and can usually be found in or near the sea.
Fees
The full fee for this course is £740. 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 £690 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 £715. 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 £590 is due six weeks before the course begins. Please read our Terms & Conditions for full details about our cancellation policy. If you would like to pay the full amount in advance, please 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.
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.