Date/Time
Date(s) - Saturday 25 Apr, 2026
11:00am - 5:00pm
Highland Book Prize Longlist Series: A Day of Non-Fiction Masterclasses – Tree Meets Sea with Mandy Haggith and Christina Riley
Mandy Haggith and Christina Riley join forces for a special day of immersive, non-fiction masterclasses as part of the Highland Book Prize Longlist Series. Inspired by Mandy’s pamphlet, Tree Meets Sea, which sits in The Nature Library run by Christina, this day draws on the longlisted works of both authors, The Lost Elms and Looking Down at the Stars, to help you create evocative, vivid and believable habitats within your own writing.
Masterclass 1: 11.00am – 1.00pm with Mandy Haggith: Head, Hands and Heart
In this session, Mandy will explore how we can weave together science, practical folklore and memoir in our writing. Her non-fiction book, The Lost Elms, blends research from many different disciplines, and has involved eclectic reading and discovery about elm tree ecology, the latest plant pathology about Dutch elm disease, ancient tree lore, practical woodworking and elm-inspired art. But elm trees, like everything in the more-than-human world, are much more than facts. Much of the creativity of writing non-fiction involves bringing our own experience and feelings to the page so that the reader is invited to share in a personal story. This masterclass will delve into how we can pull rational, practical and emotional threads together into a single narrative.
Masterclass 2: 3.00pm – 5.00pm with Christina Riley: Writing from Beneath the Surface
Hosted by Moniack Mhor on Zoom Pro. With thanks to the William Grant Foundation for supporting the Highland Book Prize Longlist Series.
Tutors
Mandy Haggith lives in a remnant of ancient rainforest in northwest Scotland and spent 20 years as a forest activist, from award-winning local campaigns in Scotland all the way to the UN. A keen sailor, an honorary research fellow at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and a lecturer in creative writing at the University of the Highlands and Islands, she is the author of five novels, six poetry collections and two non-fiction books, most recently The Lost Elms, and editor of the tree poem anthology, Into the Forest.
Christina Riley was born in Florida and grew up in Ayrshire on Scotland’s west coast, where she now lives. With a focus on coastal waters, her work draws attention to small details — a particular species, object or place — to shift perspectives and encourage new ways of seeing and experiencing our surroundings, natural and otherwise. She has been longlisted for Canongate’s Nan Shepherd Prize for Nature Writing and her first photobook, The Beach Today, was published by Guillemot Press in 2021.
Fees
We are running this as a ‘pay as you can’ event. Please see our booking options below. By paying our standard price wherever possible you help us give people on lower incomes more opportunities to attend, thank you. Please read our Terms & Conditions for full details about our cancellation policy.
We have a limited number of free places for this event, if these are showing as not available and you need a free place to be able to access the event, please email a request to us on online@moniackmhor.org.uk, thank you.
Access
Please let us know in your booking form if you have any access requirements when working online so we can do our best to support you. For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.