Every year we hold several one-day masterclasses to support our students’ writing practice. These are held in April and June.

Each student on the two-year programme has two masterclasses included in their course fee every year and can purchase additional masterclasses at a discount. The discount codes are on your course page and you can book through our Eventbrite page. The workshops are also available to writers outside the programme for a fee.

Summer Masterclasses

Friday 26th June, online – Writing Otherness with Sharlene Teo. Explore ways of navigating and presenting characters in fiction by confronting our biases, privileges and stereotyped perceptions and writing different perspectives from our own.

Sunday 28th June, online - Dramatic Tension with Tammye Huf. How to hold your readers’ attention and keep them on the edge of their seats.

Sunday 27th September, online – Imagery, Symbolism and Metaphor in prose with Dr John McCullough. How do you know when to put a waterfall in your short story or novel?

To book your place, visit our Eventbrite page and, if you’re an existing student, use the discount code on your course page to secure your free or discounted place.

Publishing Day: how to get your work published

Our day-long walk through the maze that is the publishing process takes place online at the start of June each year. It will give you a solid overview of how traditional publishing works, as well as self-publishing options, together with case studies of students who’ve gone through the process. It’s free to attend if you’re a student on any of our courses and costs £60 for writers outside of the programme. It’s run online only to enable us to attract a wide variety of speakers who wouldn't be able to attend an in-person event. The date is announced in January each year and booking will open then. The code to secure a free place will be on your course page and in the student newsletter.

Manuscript consultations

At the end of June each year, students and alumni from the two-year programmes with a completed first draft of their work can have a one-to-one online meeting with a literary agent to get market feedback on their work. These are aimed at students in their second year, those on the Advanced Writers Workshops and alumni of the programme. You will need to prepare:

• A one-page synopsis of your work including whether it is a work of fiction or non-fiction (biography, autobiography, memoir, travel writing etc). If fiction, include the genre.

• A short biography that includes relevant experience (no more than 150 words)

• An extract (preferably from the first chapter/lead story) of between 2,500 – 3,000 words.

Details of how to book a place and submit work will be announced in January each year on your course page and in the monthly student newsletter. The manuscript consultation is not available to writers outside of the Creative Writing Programme.