Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/05/2025 - 09/07/2025
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
The Hewett Academy
This course is designed for anyone who wants to explore Creative Writing through a series of workshops that explore fiction, poetry and life writing /creative non-fiction.
Over ten weeks, we will look at a range of approaches to creative writing. We will cover short stories, poetry, creative non-fiction (writing from life).
Each week we will undertake a range of writing exercises, read examples of published work and discuss different approaches to writing such as narrative, point of view, form and voice.
These classes are relaxed, fun and accessible with the opportunity to share work with each other only if you are comfortable doing so. This course will then lead to a developing writing course for anyone who wants to explore their ideas further.
WEEK 1: GETTING STARTED
Where we write from. Keeping a journal. Reading like a writer.
WEEK 2: WRITING FICTION 1
Narrative and Point-of-view
WEEK 3: WRITING FICTION 3
Setting and character
WEEK 4: WRITING FICTION 2
Writing dialogue
WEEK 5: CREATIVE NON-FICTION 1
How might we write from experience? Exploring ways of communicating who we are and the things that concern us.
WEEK 6: CREATIVE NON-FICTION 2
Exploring the world of work.
WEEK 7: POETRY 1
Exploring the joy of language. Poetic imagery and sensibility
WEEK 8: POETRY 2
Form – a look at the sonnet
WEEK 9: WORKSHOPPING 1
Preparing for peer feedback. Understanding how readers can reshape your work. One-half of the group will workshop a piece of their writing.
WEEK 10: WORKSHOPPING 2
The other half of the group will workshop one of their pieces.
I have been teaching Creative Writing for twenty years, both in adult education and universities. My approach is to create a space where learning is through practical exercises and reflection.
About the Tutor – Dr Andrew McDonnell
I’m a writer and professional tutor of Creative Writing, English Literature and Publishing. I write both poetry and prose and my collection The Somnambulist Cookbook was published by Salt in 2019. My second collection 55 Devotionals (Against Erasure) will be published in 2026 by Broken Sleep Books and a Creative Writing handbook Our Story Needs Your Story is forthcoming from Story Machine. I hold a doctorate in Creative and Critical Writing and teach for University Centre Peterborough where I am course leader for degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing. I have also worked as sessional lecturer of modules in Creative Writing and Publishing for UEA, ARU and Birkbeck.
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