Date/Time
Date(s) - Monday 5 Oct - Saturday 10 Oct, 2026
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, IV4 7HT
Master the craft of fiction
Whether you are a short story writer or a novelist, this general fiction tutored course is for you. We’ll look at all the main areas of the craft of fiction: character, sense of place, dialogue, point of view… During the morning workshops we will study and discuss extracts of published prose and experiment with the craft through writing exercises. In the afternoons, you will have time to focus on your own writing, as well as the opportunity to have a one-to-one tutorial with both Lesley and Ruth.
Mid-week, we will be joined by Jacob Polley, who will give us an insight into his writing.
This course is equally suitable for beginner writers and those who are already engaged in a work-in-progress.
Tutors
Lesley Glaister is a novelist, mentor and teacher of creative writing. She has published seventeen novels, most recently A Particular Man. For her first novel, Honour Thy Father, Lesley won both a Somerset Maugham and a Betty Trask Award. For Easy Peasy she was named Yorkshire Writer of the Year, and Little Egypt was awarded a Jerwood Unbound Prize. She has held residencies at the Cheltenham Literary Festival, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Otago in New Zealand. She teaches creative writing at all levels, from university, most recently St Andrews, to online and residential courses, including for The Arvon Foundation and the Mslexia Novel School. Lesley currently holds a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Ruth Thomas is a novelist and short story writer living in Edinburgh. Her latest book Leaves of Absence, a collaboration with the photographer Dana Macfarlane, was published in 2025. Her most recent novel The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line (Sandstone) was broadcast as a BBC Book at Bedtime in 2021 and her previous novel The Home Corner (Faber) was chosen as a Reading Agency ‘Summer Reads’ title. Ruth has worked as a Royal Literary Fund fellow and Scottish Book Trust mentor and has lectured in Creative Writing at St Andrews University. She is currently working on a new novel and collection.
Guest reader
Jacob Polley won the 2016 T. S. Eliot Prize for poetry for his fourth book of poems, Jackself. His fifth, Material Properties, was published in 2023 and his Selected Poems in 2026. He’s also published an award-winning novel, written radio plays and film scripts, and collaborated with lots of people to make art, sound and performance work. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and lives with his family on the north-east coast of England.
Fees
The full fee for this course is £745. 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 small single room with a skylight is available at a discounted price of £720. Please note this room does not have an ordinary window, only a small skylight.
Two non-residential places are available on this course at the price of £440. This includes all meals, hot drinks and snacks from Monday afternoon until Saturday morning, and your tuition. You will not be assigned a room, but you will be able to access communal spaces and evening events throughout the week. You will not be able to stay overnight at the Centre. Read our non-residential frequently asked questions for more information.
A deposit is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The remainder of the course fee 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.
We have a limited number of twin rooms available on site. If you need to book a twin room for access reasons, please book a standard single room and mention in the comments box that you will need a twin room.
For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.