Date/Time
Date(s) - Monday 23 Nov - Saturday 28 Nov, 2026
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire, IV4 7HT
Craft spellbinding winter poems
If on a winter’s night… Join poets Liz Berry and Fiona Benson for a special winter course. As we approach the solstice, we’ll gather in to explore winter spells, folk tales, myths and rituals with a particular focus on tales of the north. Drawing inspiration from poets of dark folk such as Robin Robertson and W. B. Yeats, and from the winter work of Kathleen Jamie, we’ll let beautiful drafts of our own germinate in the dark and create a wonderful portfolio of November poems. We will even weave a little winter zine as a decoration for your Christmas tree.
From myths of the northern lights to pagan carols, expect to be enchanted and to cast some fireside spells of your own…
Tutors
Liz Berry is an award-winning poet and teacher. Her collections include Black Country, The Republic of Motherhood and The Home Child, a novel in verse. Liz’s work, described as “a sooty soaring hymn to her native West Midlands” (Guardian), has received the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, The Writers’ Prize and two Forward Prizes. Her poem ‘Homing’, a love poem for the language of the Black Country, is part of the GCSE English syllabus.
Fiona Benson FRSL is the author of four poetry collections: Bright Travellers, Vertigo & Ghost, Ephemeron and, most recently, Midden Witch. Her books have won the Forward Prize, the Seamus Heaney Prize, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her script Infamous Offspring written for the Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus / Ultima Vez has been performed across Europe and in the US. She has also edited two books of Ukrainian war poetry in translation – We Were Here by Artur Dron (2024) and Dasein: In Defence of Presence by Yaryna Chornohuz (2025). She is currently working on a translation of Fedir Rudyi’s The Position with Victor Shepelev. She lives in mid-Devon with her husband and their two daughters.
Guest reader
Roseanne Watt is a writer, filmmaker and musician from Shetland. Her dual-language debut collection, Moder Dy, was published by Polygon in May 2019, after receiving the prestigious Edwin Morgan Poetry Award for Scottish poets under 30. Moder Dy subsequently received both an Eric Gregory and Somerset Maugham Award in 2020, and was named joint-winner of the Highland Book Prize 2019. In 2019, Roseanne completed a funded doctorate from the University of Stirling in the disciplines of creative writing and filmmaking. She also holds an M.Litt in Creative Writing and a BA Hons in English and Film Studies, also from the University of Stirling.
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.