creative writing course devon

Rosalyn Chissick

A life spent writing

Creative writing

Based in the South West of England, Rosalyn Chissick offers creative writing workshops in Glastonbury, Bath, Bristol and Devon.  She  has taught Practical Journalism and Creative Writing courses  all over the UK, including teaching at The Arvon Foundation and Bath University.  She has run writing groups in care homes and took a writing group to the foothills of the Himalayas.

Have you always secretly longed to write but don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you’ve already started and are looking for fresh ideas and support. Whether you are new to writing or hoping to improve your work, creative writing workshops with Rosalyn Chissick will provide ideas, inspiration and fun. In a relaxed, friendly and creative atmosphere you will find your flow, experiment with writing forms and release your imagination.

Rosalyn runs creative writing day retreats at multi-award-winning The Barn in Somerset.

For more information,  please get in contact .

School of Society and Culture

BA (Hons) Creative Writing with Foundation

Writing is an age-old craft – and an essential skill in the 21st century. At Plymouth you will work with poets, novelists, journalists and digital writers to hone your ability as a writer, reader and editor, with a view to making your way in the many fields that now rely on these skills. Our accessible team of published authors has years of professional experience and are adept at nurturing talent, unlocking creativity and enabling future success.

Personalise your degree

At Plymouth, your degree really is what you make it. Choose to study optional modules from across the school.

Find out how our flexible course structures provide you with an opportunity to personalise your studies, feed your curiosity, and help you achieve your career aspirations.

Personalise your degree: explore your options  

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Careers with this subject.

• Develop a range of valuable skills, including critical and creative thinking and excellent communication, presentation and project management skills. 
• Benefit from a tailored programme of Careers events and opportunities. 
• Boost your career prospects by working with a publishing house, literary agent, arts organisation or magazine on our work-based learning module or extra-curricular internships.

Key features

• This four-year course is designed to give you the grounding necessary to progress through your undergraduate studies and, through the many opportunities we give you, find the best possible direction to grow your love of learning.
• Work with published and award-winning writers and journalists.
• Spend time in our nurturing, small-group workshops with staff, honing your craft.
• Learn and grow as a writer through trying out multiple forms and genres.
• Encounter digital writing and new ways of expressing yourself.
• Gain work-facing skills utilised in industries such as journalism, content-writing, publishing, editing, marketing and more.
• BA (Hons) Anthropology 
• BA (Hons) Art History
• BSc (Hons) Criminology 
• BSc (Hons) Criminology and Psychology 
• BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology 
• BA (Hons) English 
• BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing 
• BA (Hons) History 
• BSc (Hons) International Relations 
• LLB (Hons) Law 
• LLB (Hons) Law and Criminology 
• BSc (Hons) Politics 
• BSc (Hons) Politics and International Relations 
• BSc (Hons) Sociology 
• BSc (Hons) Professional Policing

Course details

Foundation year, core modules.

Discovering Your Inner Academic (SSC301)

In this module, students will learn the core academic and organisational skills required to succeed at university. They will benefit from a range of skill development sessions and subject-specific seminars, allowing them to practice applying the delivered academic skills in the context of their field of study.

Individual Project (SSC302)

Students will undertake, with supervision, an individual project related to their degree programme. Staff will guide students through the process of defining, planning, and setting up their project. As part of the module, students will gain research and time management skills that will support their successful progression through their degree programme.

Literature, History and Visual Cultures (SSC306)

This module explores the key texts and voices that have changed the ways in which we think and write the Humanities. It will investigate how thinkers, poets and writers have shaped our contemporary world, and the ways in which we study it. Based on this, this module will also explore the ways in which literature, art, film, media, memory and heritage impact on history and writing today. Students will examine a range of classic and contemporary literary texts as well as visual and media sources and consider the role of technologies in the Humanities. The module will be constructed around the exploration of key themes, for example gender and sexuality, faith, war, and race and ethnicity, using interdisciplinary approaches to identify how they have shaped the Humanities of the 21st century.

Imagining the Past (SSC309)

This module will introduce concepts central to historical and literary study in the Humanities including: Time; Space; and Experience. Students will work with a range of sources to understand how the Humanities engage with the past. Students will develop the tools needed for progression to Higher Education, with a particular focus on analysing textual materials and essay-writing.

Gods, Monsters, and Heroes: Myths and Legends in Literature (ENG4001)

This immersive module provides an important grounding for new students studying English and Creative Writing. Based around some of the earliest written texts that underpin Western literature, the module engages with a number of issues to enable students to gain an understanding of the historical development of literature and the ways in which texts relate to each other over the centuries.

The Craft of Writing I: Prose Fiction and Non-Fiction (ENG4003)

This module introduces students to the key concepts and issues in creative writing through the practise of workshops. We will read classic contemporary works of fiction and nonfiction including autobiography, travel writing, poetry sequences, essays and reportage. We will produce our own works, and critically evaluate and contextualise them.

Rewritings: Contemporary Literature and its Histories (ENG4007)

This module will examine how and why modern and contemporary authors have rewritten or reworkedinfluential literary texts of the past. Students will engage with a range of different literary forms,including fiction, poetry, drama and, where appropriate, film. By investigating the impulses behind suchintertextual acts, students will explore the ways in which literature engages with the cultural politics ofits times, focusing particularly on issues of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, class and aesthetics. This module will include 2, 2 hour talks that introduce our School and programme level employability related opportunities and support, including details of the optional placement year.

The Craft of Writing II: Poetry and Drama (ENG4008)

This module continues the trajectory of the study of ‘the craft of writing’, emphasising poetry and dramatic writing. We’ll explore how creative writing constitutes a ‘practice-as-research’ discipline, whilst studying relevant writing theory, contextual literature, and literary criticism. Lectures will introduce topics, and subsequent workshops will promote the development of student work through feedback. Students will submit creative work alongside ‘research statements’ twice during the term, in the form of portfolios.

Make it New: Digital Writing (ENG4009)

This module introduces students to writing digitally for, most notably, the Web, and its various platforms (from blogs to websites to Twitter etc). Students are invited to explore and expand ideas around authorship and audience and the writing (or images) that connects them as ‘content’, in its myriad of possible forms and formats. It will also introduce speculative and theoretical ideas about the relation between the self, writing, and digital forms. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

Adventures in Criticism: Introduction to Critical Theory (ENG4010)

This module will introduce some key critical theories relevant to the study of English literature. It will familiarise students with a range of theoretical perspectives and enable them to develop an understanding of different ways of reading literature, and its wider contexts.

The Impact of Publishing (ENG5004)

The module will provide an introduction to some of the key concepts in publishing history. It will look at the ways that knowledge has been captured, stored, retrieved, disseminated, policed and suppressed. It will consider how the development of different writing and printing technologies changed the understanding of the self and the self in relation to the world. It will discuss the creation, production, publication, distribution and reception of texts within their cultural, economic and technological contexts.

Professional Writing for Different Media (ENG5005)

In the context of this module, Professional Writing refers to commercial content for a variety of media outlets including advertising and marketing, as well as other ‘businesses’ which students have imagined and created themselves. Students will experiment with creative formats such as posters, reviews, reports, ‘copy’, interviews, the op-ed (opinion-editorial). The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

Dramatic Writing for Stage, Screen and Beyond (ENG5011)

This course explores a wide range of dramatic writing and dramatic writing theory, integrating critical reading with creative writing projects. Class time will be spent discussing published authors/texts/productions, writing/reading theories, compositional processes, practical exercises, and student work.

Burning Issues: Interdisciplinary Writing Project (ENG5012)

This module asks students to engage with the 'burning issues' of our times, by thinking outside of their own discipline and engaging with research taking place in other departments, schools and faculties around the university, or even the country and the world. Students select a topic from outside their discipline and then, through research and communication with experts in the chosen field, devise a writing project to communicate and explore their chosen issue. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

Stage 2 Professional Development, Placement Preparation and Identifying Opportunities (SSC500)

This module is for students in the School of Society and Culture who are interested in undertaking an optional placement in the third year of their programme. It supports students in their search, application, and preparation for the placement, including developing interview techniques and effective application materials (e.g. CVs , portfolios, and cover letters).

Optional modules

Politics Beyond Parliaments (PIR5013MX)

This module analyses the role of civil society and the public sphere in democratic governance and in democratization from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

Harm in the 21st Century (CRM5003MX)

This module explores the global challenges of harmful behaviours and activities in contemporary society by considering specific areas of concern for criminologists. By drawing on real-world examples in everyday life, the module examines how social problems and issues have arisen due to processes of globalisation that have changed the social, political and economic landscape of the 21st century.

Crime, Harm and Culture (CRM5009MX)

The module aims to provide students with a critical appreciation of harm and crime by exploring relevant issues from film, television, music, fiction literature and art. By applying a criminological lens to different forms of popular culture, students will be able to examine a variety of media forms in terms of its content and its contemporary political, social and economic context using different theories and concepts.

Gothic Fictions: Villains, Virgins and Vampires (ENG5002MX)

This module looks at eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novels to trace the variety and scope of literary contributions to the Gothic. It begins by discussing the origins of the Gothic novel, then moves to the heyday of the genre in the revolutionary 1790s, on to authors writing in the early and mid-nineteenth century, through to the decadence of the 1890s.

‘Hurt Minds’: Madness and Mental Illness in Literature (ENG5013MX)

This module considers changing attitudes towards, and a variety of theories of, the mind, examining how different cultures have understood ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ mental states. It will look at how the experience and treatment of mental illness has been represented in fiction. The mind is at its most fascinating when it behaves outside of expected social norms. By considering a variety of literary texts over several centuries, this module explores shifts in the definition, understanding, evaluation, and management of exceptional mental states.

Writing Genre Fiction (ENG5017MX)

This module takes students into in-depth engagement with prose fiction writing in various genres, with possibilities including fantasy, science-fiction, period/historical, young adult fiction, horror, comedy, romance, crime, and thriller. The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

Play and Games for Performance (PER5008MX)

This module will introduce students to practical methods for designing games and play structures for participatory performances that invite audiences to become actively involved in the work. In addition to learning new tools for designing and facilitating play, students will be prompted to consider playfulness from a theoretical perspective, recognising the connection between the play of mimesis and theatrical performance.

Law in Context: Commerce and Intellectual Property (LAW5019MX)

This module focuses on the work of commercial lawyers in practice in helping businesses to trade. It analyses a range of contractual agreements dealing with the manufacture, sale, supply and distribution of goods, assets and services in general and intellectual property in particular.

Voter Behaviour and Effective Election Campaigning (PIR5014MX)

This module undertakes an advanced examination of contemporary trends and developments in theories of electoral behaviour globally; then more specifically the relationship between electoral rules, electoral systems and election outcomes; the evolution of campaign techniques, and the role, mechanics, and accuracy of opinion polls in modern electoral politics. These global understandings are applied directly to the case of British politics.

Optional placement year

School of Society and Culture Placement Year (SSC600)

Students have the opportunity to gain work experience that will set them apart in the job market when they graduate by undertaking an optional flexible placement year. The placement must be a minimum of 24-weeks (which can be split between a maximum of two different placement providers) and up to a maximum of 48-weeks over the course of the academic year. The placement is flexible and can be undertaken virtually, part or full time and either paid or voluntary. This year allows them to apply and hone the knowledge and skills acquired from the previous years of their programme in the real world.

Dissertation (ENG6001)

The student will complete, under tutorial supervision, a significant project in critical or creative writing. Maximum length 9000-10,00 words or equivalent in creative form.

Modern and Contemporary Literature (ENG6002)

This module will explore a number of themes through an examination of writing published in the approximate period 1910-1930. The themes will include structural and linguistic experimentation, historical and artistic influences, the First World War and literary networks.

Advanced Poetry Workshop (ENG6007)

In this final year module we will examine a range of contemporary poetry and poetic theory as a way for students to advance their own composition of poems. Class time will be divided between seminar discussions of published poetry/theory, writing exercises, and workshops of student poetry.

Script to Screen: Making Films, Podcasts, and More (ENG6009)

This final year module asks students to realise an original script of their own making with an on-screen production. In addition to writing their own scripts, students will be introduced to the production side of things, including storyboarding, working with actors, cameras, and using film-making software. We’ll also study some classic examples of page to screen adaptations (albeit most on bigger budgets than you’ll have!). The module is taught through lecture, seminars, and workshops where students are asked to submit and feedback to peers and tutors on a regular basis.

Brave New Worlds: Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Politics (ENG6010)

Science Fiction seems to be a field or mode that is particularly difficult to define, in part because it crosses over with many other forms. But it is also one of the most popular types of literature easily ranging from the highbrow to the low. This module will explore SF writing since 1960, with a particular focus on the hybridity of the field and the ways in which it intersects with fantasy writing, to explore a range of political issues in the contemporary world. SF is ‘a wide-ranging, multivalent and endlessly cross-fertilizing cultural idiom.’ (Roberts, 2006, 2) But is it really concerned with the future, or in fact, driven by nostalgia to engage with the ways in which the past has constructed the present? The module will be thematically structured and will concentrate on Anglophone writing.

Advanced Short Story Workshop (ENG6003)

In this module we will examine a range of contemporary short story writing and relevant theory as a way for students to learn how to compose their own short fiction. Class time will be divided between discussion of short fiction and theory, writing exercises and peer workshops of student work. The workshops will be substantially informed by staff research practice.

American Crime Writing (ENG6005MX)

This module considers the development of twentieth-century American crime fiction from hard-boiled detectives, to myths of the mafia, and postmodern reinventions of the genre. This module will explore the cultural contexts of American crime writing, prevailing conventions of the genre, as well as challenges to those conventions.

Features Journalism Workshop (ENG6008MX)

This module offers students an in-depth experience of professional writing. We will explore technique in features and literary journalism; music reviews, opinion columns and longer immersion features as well as other contemporary works of non-fiction feature writing, both short- and long-form, from sub-genres including profiles and interviews, autobiography and columns, travel writing, and reportage. We will learn to research and produce our own works of professional nonfiction and critically evaluate them.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Creative Writing with Foundation programme specification 7224

Decolonising the Social Sciences (ANT5006MX)

This module responds to contemporary calls to decolonise the social sciences. It reads the history of social science through the lens of post-colonial and indigenous studies. How have non-western voices been marginalised and silenced by academia? What does academia look from the perspective of the subaltern? Can the social sciences shed their colonial robes, or are they doomed to remain racialised and exclusionary disciplines? We explore these questions in regard to emerging disciplines aimed at constructing better and more inclusive futures, including 'indigenous criminology', 'participatory ethnography', and the 'anthropology of the otherwise'.

Brave New Worlds: Ethnography of/on Online and Digital Worlds (ANT5008MX)

This module teaches students how to use ethnographic methods to make sense of the internet, which we now increasingly inhabit. Students learn how to navigate and analyse platforms such as Facebook or TikTok. They study how these technologies transform our relationships, identities, and ideas of truth. The module also examines the socio-cultural and ethical aspects of digital worlds (e.g. Second life).

Coastal Cultures: Marine Anthropology in the age of climate change and mass extinction. (ANT6008MX)

Using ethnography, we analyse how coastal communities use the sea – not only as a source of livelihood, but as a key ingredient in the construction of their identity and place in world. Drawing on a range of cases from across the world – from Polynesian sorcerers, to Japanese whale mourners, to Cornish surfers – we study how coastal communities are responding to climate change, sea level rise, pollution, and extinction.

Painting Sex and Power (ARH5008MX)

The module examines the link between the perception of sexuality and power in a variety of media, and from diverse historical and geographic contexts. Critical approaches from gender studies will be combined with visual analysis in order to contextualize the biased and stereotypical nature of the imagery.

Imagery in Online and Offline Worlds: Film, Television and Video Games (ARH5002MX)

This module provides students with a comprehensive understanding of current approaches towards mass media and visual culture. Particular emphasis will be put on medium-specificity, content analysis and audience studies.

Questions in Contemporary Art (ARH6002MX)

The module introduces and examines selected questions raised in the last three decades in contemporary art. Case studies drawn from art history, critical and cultural theory, and where appropriate related disciplines, will be examined.

Global Cold War: Politics, Culture and Society (HIS5004MX)

This module is an introduction to major themes in the political, social and cultural history of the modern world with special focus on the 20th century and the Cold War.

Eighteenth-Century Empires (HIS5007MX)

This module is designed to explore the ‘long eighteenth century’ with a broad geographical focus, encompassing, but not limited to the Atlantic Isles, Atlantic world, formal and informal empire, and trading connections. It takes in the slave trade and impact of slavery globally, studies voyages of exploration, examines the scientific and political enlightenment, and wider cultural and social impacts of imperialism.

Middle Kingdoms: Themes in Early Modern Asia (HIS5009MX)

This module introduces the history of early modern Japan (c.16th-19th centuries). At one level, it explores key questions shaping the histories of the late Sengoku (‘Warring States’) and Tokugawa Japan. Building on these questions, it then situates the Japanese experience in a trans-regional perspective with reference to early modern China, Korea, Ryukyu, as well as Europe.

Dunkirk to D Day: The Second World War in Europe (HIS5014MX)

The module examines the Second World War in Europe and the Atlantic Ocean from 1940 to late 1944.

Piracy and Privateering, c.1560-1816 (HIS6002MX)

This module explores piracy and privateering activity in the seas around the British Isles and further afield from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the end of the second Barbary War in 1816. This course focuses on the social history of piracy and privateering, the organisation of pirate society, and the economic impact of piracy and privateering.

America, the United Nations and International Relations 1945 to the present (HIS6006MX)

This module provides a detailed examination of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Nations in the management of international relations from 1945 to the present.

Green Criminology (CRM6010MX)

This module will address theoretical perspectives, methodological issues, and empirical research related to the field of green criminology, including applied concerns, such as policy and social/political praxis, through a range of concepts, topics, and themes that are central to green criminology.

Contemporary Issues in Criminology (CRM5007MX)

This module focuses upon a contemporary criminological or criminal justice-related issue that has received attention in the media and in official reports but may not be well covered yet in an established academic literature. The purpose of the module is for students to collect data on the issue and to subject it to a criminological analysis appropriate to the topic.

Security and Policing Today: Debates and Issues (CRM5008MX)

This module provides students with a contemporary overview of debates and issues in policing and security environments that inform practice and development in the field. The module examines how modern policing and security function, the impact of professionalization on all aspects of policing tasks and the tensions and benefits attained from multi-agency working. The module considers policing legitimacy, the ethics of crime control and associated engagement with the diversity of contemporary society, competing community interests and professional practice.

Security Management (CRM6011MX)

This module provides students with a critical insight into the professional domain of security management. It provides an overview of the theories, policies, procedures and practices that underpin the work of the security manager, and focuses upon a career-relevant knowledge and understanding of this significant area of expertise.

Global Environmental Politics (PIR6007MX)

This module examines the problem of environmental degradation and its implications for our global political economy. It discusses the major debates in political thought around the primary causes of environmental degradation. The module outlines the major attempts to build international regimes for global environmental governance, and the difficulties and obstacles that such attempts have encountered. A range of ideas, critiques, policy proposals, innovations in governance, and templates for political activism within the environmental movement are critically evaluated.

Refugee Studies (PIR5009MX)

This module focuses on the political, economic and social context of forced migration and considers the complex and varied nature of global refugee populations. It analyses responses at international, national and regional level and engages with a range of challenging questions around international co-operation, the framework of international protection, humanitarianism and the causes of displacement.

Global Development (PIR5011MX)

This module embraces both theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding development issues and policies, at international and multilateral scale. The approach incorporates historical, economic, political and social perspectives. The module considers issues faced by international development agencies, as well as the impact on populations in the developing world to illustrate and provide context for the discussion of various developmental concerns.

Voter Behaviour and Effective Election Campaigning (PIR6008MX)

Public International Law (LAW6012MX)

A module that focuses on the primary legal principles of the public international legal order, before exploring a range of substantive areas, such as, for example, the use of force, the law regulating the conduct of war, International Human Rights, International Criminal Law and International Environmental Law.

Environmental Law (LAW5009MX)

The module provides an examination of key themes in environmental law, with a focus on the generation, application and enforcement of this law within a critical and applied context.

Law, Literature and the Screen (LAW5012MX)

To introduce students to fictional and factional representations of the legal order in prose, film and TV, and to examine the inter-connections between law, literature and the screen.

Globalisation and Social Justice (SOC5005MX)

This module investigates the key debates of globalisation and critically evaluates, in terms of its economic, political, socio-cultural and legal dimensions, the causes and consequences of a globalising world. It furthermore explores a range of international social justice issues to examine the relationships (causative and ameliorative) between policies and (in)justice

Gender, Sex and Sexuality (SOC5006MX)

This module introduces students to the sociology of gender, sex and sexuality. It interrogates these concepts with particular reference to identity, activism, social justice and social change. It develops an understanding of the similarities, differences and intersections between gender, sex, sexuality and other social signifiers of difference/diversity including ‘race’, ethnicity, dis/ability, class and age.

Health, Medical Power and Social Justice (SOC6004MX)

This module considers a range of issues concerning health, illness and medical power in contemporary society. The module seeks to develop an understanding of the impact of ‘medicalisation’ on everyday life, as well as the importance of social divisions, such as age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. There will be a focus on a range of sociological perspectives on health with an opportunity to focus upon areas of particular interest.

Forensic Criminology: Social Investigations (CRM5006MX)

This module focuses on how social science can contribute to criminal investigations. This involvesforensically investigating the backgrounds and experiences of individuals involved in criminal or deviantbehaviour. The sociology of the police who are tasked to conduct investigations is also analysed. Students will be encouraged to apply criminological techniques and theory to scenario-based examples which will focus on victims, offenders and the police, and their positions in society.

Entry requirements

UCAS tariff

Fees, costs and funding

Undergraduate scholarships for international students.

To reward outstanding achievement the University of Plymouth offers scholarship schemes to help towards funding your studies.

Additional costs

Tuition fees for optional placement years, how to apply, learning from experts, you'll have a wealth of resources at your fingertips.

Plymouth's creative writing experience

Write your future

Take advantage of the many opportunities on offer to develop the knowledge and practical experience to succeed.

Options without limit The broad variety of skills you will hone are highly valued in almost every field, giving you access to numerous career pathways.

Expand your horizons overseas Experience other cultures and grow your network by studying or working abroad in either Europe or the US.

Become a published author Gain invaluable experience with INK, our in-house magazine, building skills in everything from desktop publishing to editing and magazine journalism.

Featured modules

Meet our experts

Dr Mandy Bloomfield

Associate professor in modern and contemporary literature.

Professor Anthony Caleshu

Associate head of school research, knowledge exchange, enterprise.

Dr Rachel Christofides

Associate professor of english (education).

Dr Rosemarie Corlett

Associate lecturer.

Dr Russell Evans

Miss Kate Glew

Dr Miriam Darlington

Lecturer in english and creative writing.

Dr Peter Hinds

Associate professor in english.

Dr Karen Morton

Dr Rosie Langridge

Policy engagement officer.

Professor Dafydd Moore

Senior deputy vice-chancellor.

Dr Kathryn Napier Gray

Associate professor (reader) in early american literature.

Dr Robin Peel

Visiting research fellow.

Dr Joshua Schouten De Jel

Professor David Sergeant

Professor of english literature.

Professor Angela Smith

Professor of modern literature.

Dr Min Wild

Lecturer in english, in the media.

“The creative arts are a brilliant way for people to express feelings they might not be ready to talk about. 

“Creative writing and painting are positive mediums to express my emotions. Poetry in particular helps process my experiences with masculinity and mental health.”

Preparing you for your future

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• BA (Hons) Creative Writing Z
• BA (Hons) English Z
• BA (Hons) English with Foundation Z
• BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing Z
• BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing with Foundation Z

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Whether you are just starting out as a budding writer, or already have lots of experience expressing yourself through writing, our creative writing courses will provide you with a platform to develop your talent. All our creative writing courses look at different audiences and genres such as scriptwriting, non-fiction and poetry. 

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You can choose to tap into your storytelling abilities alongside other creative writers in a fun and supportive environment, telling your story through your very own writing style. You’ll have the opportunity to explore what it is that you want to write about as well as time to investigate how to find your own voice and the style that you want to write in. 

Our poetry courses immerse you in the works of famous poets and literary greats, exploring the techniques they use and their famous pieces of work. All this acts as the perfect inspiration for when you craft your own style. This learning style means you build the core foundations to progress further, becoming a better writer in the process. 

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Whether you prefer online creative classes or learning face to face in a venue, we have something for everyone to choose from. Our learning experience is one of the things that sets us apart, with many of our learners going on to achieve incredible things.  

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You'll get support from your tutor whichever option you choose, as well as the opportunity to build a network of peers who have a passion for creative writing just like you.  

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We are one of the leading English and Creative Writing departments in the UK and offer an exciting range of innovative undergraduate, postgraduate-taught and research degree programmes. We have strengths in teaching and research in most areas from the medieval period to the present day, including specialisms in creative writing, publishing and digital humanities. Located in beautiful Devon, our students have the opportunity to explore the near-by coastline, beaches and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty during their studies.

88% of our English research is internationally excellent

*  Based on research rated 4* + 3* in REF 2021, submitted to UoA27 English Language and Literature

T op 100 for English in the QS World University Rankings*

*QS World University Rankings 2023

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Home / Courses & Retreats

COURSES & RETREATS

Arvon writing houses are open for Residential Writing Weeks and Retreats. We also have a full Arvon at Home online programme of Online Writing Weeks, Masterclasses, 1-1s and free How I Write events. Courses Overview

• Inua Ellams' Spring Season
• Residential Writing Week
• Online Writing Week
• Masterclass
• Masterclass Recording
• How I Write
• Online Five Week Course
• Residential Tutored Retreat
• Online Writing Day
• Residential Retreat
• Children and Young People's Events

Non-Fiction

• Starting to Write

Screenwriting

• Children & YA
• Short Story

Totleigh Barton

• Hebden Bridge

Online Writing Day: Short Story

Liberation through constraint

Residential Writing Week: Fiction

Discovering the writer within

Online Writing Week: Historical Fiction

Retrieving histories

Residential Writing Week: Screenwriting

Adapting from source to screen

How I Write: Yvonne Battle-Felton

Q&A and Reading

Masterclass: Starting Your Screenwriting Journey

Bringing your ideas to life

Non-Fiction , Other

Residential Writing Week: Life Writing with Coaching

Unlock the power of your personal story

Residential Writing Week: Playwriting

Writing for performance

Masterclass: The Poetry of Prose

Setting your prose alight

Online Writing Day: Non-Fiction

Using pictures to improvise better stories

Apr 29-May 4

Hypnotising your readers

Apr 29-May 3

Online Writing Week: Poetry

Poetry and its Hinterland

Fiction , Poetry , Starting to Write

Residential Writing Week: Starting to Write

Begin the journey

How I Write: Emma Must

Masterclass: nature writing.

Writing the wild

Fiction , Non-Fiction

Residential Writing Week: Non-Fiction

Vital natures

Clockhouse Retreats

Give your writing the time and space it deserves with Arvon’s dedicated Writers Retreat at The Clockhouse. The Clockhouse is open year-round, set in the grounds at The Hurst.

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Creative Writing – Ideas and Inspiration

This course is run over three weeks and is designed for learners to have a go at writing in a safe and relaxed space. The emphasis is on enjoyment and on using the prompts and ideas to try different ideas around writing. Learners are encouraged to share their ideas with the group if they feel comfortable.

Creative Writing is an excellent way to focus on yourself and your recovery. Whether you choose to write fiction or fact, the style in which you express yourself says so much about you. It is an excellent support for mental wellbeing as you can express thoughts and feelings and then choose to share with others if you feel this would be beneficial. Three topics over three weeks: Week 1 Letters Week 2 Faces Week 3 Weather

This course is open to anyone who is interested in writing – no experience necessary. Sessions are adapted to accommodate different levels and styles. These are very inclusive sessions designed to make everyone feel welcome.

The course will run for 3 weeks, on the following dates: May 9th, 16th and 23rd

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Crafty breaks: 15 of the UK’s best creative retreats

From pottery throwing to furniture upcycling, these arty breaks are all about learning new skills – or improving old ones – in lovely surroundings

Chair-making, Leicestershire

Spend a week in National Forest woodlands learning to craft your very own chair to take home with you, with Greenwood Days, experts in all greenwood crafts. All levels of experience are catered for – beginners will make a single bow Windsor or a continuous arm Windsor, while the more advanced can design their own or try a child’s chair or Welsh Windsor. All materials are included, as well as lunch and hot drinks. The site is on the Leicestershire/Derbyshire border and accommodation is not included – try The Boot Inn in Repton, a 17th-century coaching inn with microbrewery. Shorter courses include two-day stool making or basketry weaving. Windsor chair-making courses are £650, next available dates are 21-27 June, 31 July-6 Aug, 25-29 Aug, 4-10 Oct, greenwooddays.co.uk

Drawing, North Yorkshire

Learn how to create beautiful pen and ink drawings on this four-day art holiday in the North York Moors. Aimed at beginners, it teaches a range of styles and techniques designed to build confidence and enhance various skills, from composition to perspective. Based at Larpool Hall, a Georgian mansion in Whitby with views over the Esk valley, the tuition is mostly inside but taken outside if the weather permits. The joys of the coast and moors are on the doorstep. Various other options are offered, from Acrylics or Sketchbook Rambles in the Shropshire Hills to Animal Art in Northumberland . Introduction to Pen and Ink drawing in the North York Moors from £405, 25-28 Sept, hfholidays.co.uk

Wildlife photography, Dorset

Red squirrels, once found throughout the UK, are now very rare in England – but Brownsea Island in Poole harbour is home to a thriving population. On this two-night trip guests will explore the island and learn how to photograph the creatures in the coniferous woodland. Led by Emma Healey and Sean Weekly, the course is an opportunity to explore the island after the day trippers have left and take advantage of the best light of the day to build a portfolio of wildlife shots. In the evening there’s a review of the day’s work. £475pp including accommodation, transfers, most meals and tuition, wildlifeworldwide.com , next course 14 Sept

Clothes mending, West Sussex

West Dean College of Arts & Conservation near Chichester runs more than 300 arts and crafts short courses. It has a particularly wide range of textiles courses, from making belts and lampshades to weaving, embroidery, dyeing and printing. Those who have reconsidered their shopping habits over lockdown may enjoy the Mending Your Clothes course, in which textile artist Celia Pym teaches repair techniques – including darning and patching – on knitted and woven garments. No experience of needlework is necessary, and students are encouraged to bring their own items in need of repair: socks, jumpers, jeans, shirts and skirts. Accommodation options include the Grade II-listed main house – the former home of the surrealist patron and poet Edward James – and the vicarage, cottage and annexes in the 36-hectare (90-acre) grounds. £381 (course only ), from £196 for accommodation and meals, next course 20-23 Aug , westdean.org.uk

Modern Cross Stitch retreat, Bristol

Arena Travel’s Stitchtopia holidays range across knitting, crochet, quilting and embroidery. New additions to the UK programme include Stitch Yourself Happy retreats, which combine yarn and yoga or patchwork and pilates ( next retreat 27-29 Aug ), and Craft Sanctuary embroidery retreats (3-5 Sept). Another new option is the Modern Cross Stitch retreat in Bristol, led by Jamie Chalmers , AKA Mr X Stitch. It includes a guided walk of the city, taking inspiration from works by Banksy and other street artists, and three workshops for stitchers to create their own urban cross-stitch patterns using PCStitch or MacStitch software. The three-day break is based at the four-star Mercure Bristol Grand hotel, with a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and sauna. £525 for two nights (one night full-board and one night half-board), next course 22-24 Oct, arenatravel.com/craft-holidays

Celtic woodturning, County Armagh

Pádraig Carragher is a glampsite owner, woodturner and musician, and he combines all three for his Celtic Woodturning breaks. Guests stay at Bluebell Lane Glamping at the foot of Slieve Gullion in the Ring of Gullion area of outstanding natural beauty, near Newry. There is a choice of cottage, shepherd’s hut, three pods, tipi or safari tent. The three-night break includes a full-day beginners’ woodturning workshop, where participants make their own bowl from locally sourced wood, learning how to use a lathe, sharpen tools, sand and finish. There is also a break for a guided walk through the 11-hectare woodland surrounding the site, where Carragher identifies trees and explains how they are used in woodturning, followed by a night of traditional Irish music. From £238 , including lunch on the woodturning day, notintheguidebooks.com

Adventure skills and photography, Peak District

This new weekend trip is a chance to learn the art of adventure from a master: former Royal Marine commando Ian Finch. Finch has led expeditions all over the world, including a 2,000-mile canoe descent of the Yukon, and is also an outdoor photographer. Over two days of hiking in the Hope Valley, he will share his stories and explain how to plan your own adventure, from navigation to nutrition, footwear to first aid. The trip also includes a sunset photography session. Accommodation is a bunkhouse near Castleton . For those who would prefer more of a focus on photography, Much Better Adventures also runs adventure photography workshops on Dartmoor and the Isle of Skye . £285 for two nights, including most meals , next available course 22-24 Oct , muchbetteradventures.com

Creative writing, Shropshire, Devon and West Yorkshire

Arvon runs creative writing courses and retreats in three Writing Houses: the Hurst in Shropshire, the former home of the playwright John Osborne; Totleigh Barton, a 16th-century manor house in Devon; and Lumb Bank, an 18th-century mill owner’s house in West Yorkshire that once belonged to Ted Hughes. Among retreats with availability are Starting to Write Fiction at Totleigh Barton (12-17 July), Fiction at the Hurst (26-31 July) and Poetry at Lumb Bank (2-7 Aug). Future courses include playwriting, screenwriting and editing fiction. Most retreats involve workshops, one-on-one tutorials, readings or talks, and lots of writing time – guests have their own room with a desk. There are courses for all levels, from beginners to established authors. From £815 full-board, for the five-day Starting to Write Fiction course, queenofretreats.com

Pottery, Herefordshire

Eastnor Pottery is on the Eastnor Castle country estate , close to the Malvern Hills. Its one- and two-day pottery courses are, it says, “the perfect stress-relieving activity”. Day one is spent at the potter’s wheel, throwing small pots at first, then building up to bigger vessels and different shapes. Those staying for day two will learn how to add foot rings, join handles and attach other motifs, and paint their pots using under-glazes and decorating slips. One to four pots each (depending on weight) are chosen to be fired and glazed, and the finished pots will be delivered to you a month later. Potters can stay on the Deer Park Campsite overlooking the castle, whose fishing lakes are free for campers (£12 per tent, campervan or caravan), or book a holiday cottage in the grounds – or even stay in the castle itself. £150 for one day, £250 for two , eastnorpottery.co.uk

Natural dyeing, Pembrokeshire

Coppicewood College is a small charity promoting traditional woodland management, based in Cwm Plysgog Wood, Cilgerran, near Cardigan. Its main focus is a six-month woodland skills course, but it also runs about 50 short courses, in areas such as blacksmithing, coppicing, hedge-laying and green woodworking. Another weekend workshop focuses on natural dyeing. Participants explore the seven-hectare wood, gather plants to make botanical dyes, and create coloured samples on cotton yarn, wool yarn and fleece. They can also experiment with eco-printing using leaves and flowers. The price doesn’t include accommodation, but there are plenty of options in Cilgerran, including glamping at Fforest . £150 for two days, including refreshments, next course 26-27 June, craftcourses.com

Winemaking, Devon

Learn the art of winemaking on the Crush Course, over a weekend at the Dartington Trust near the River Dart in south Devon. Guests dive into the whole process, visiting a vineyard and touring the winery, getting their hands dirty crushing grapes, sampling different varieties, and come away with their own homemade bottle of sparkling vino. Led by the former head of wine at Waitrose, Justin Howard-Sneyd, and Duncan Schwab, one of the best-known winemakers in the UK, it’s an intensive, fun few days. Accommodation on-site is recommended (participants share meals and talk all things wine) and included. No prior experience is necessary. £425 residential half-board, 2-4 July , dartington.org

Jewellery making, Isle of Wight

Tiny Home Holidays, near Cowes on the Isle of Wight, runs day workshops in a lovely studio with a woodburner. Sessions cover everything from essential oils to pinafore aprons to bookbinding. One inspiring workshop involves making wire-wrapped jewellery from sea glass (naturally weathered glass found on beaches). Using copper- and silver-plated wires, participants will learn various techniques for wrapping sea glass – they can choose from the teacher’s wide collection of glass or bring their own found pieces to wrap. The price of the course includes a silver-plated chain to hang creations on, plus refreshments and a light lunch. Aspiring jewellers can make a weekend of it by staying in one of the four architect-designed, tiny off-grid homes – and perhaps going sea glass foraging on the Isle of Wight’s beaches. W orkshop only is £45, £ 340 for two nights for two , including the workshop, next course 25 Sept , tinyhomesholidays.com

Outdoor painting, Cornwall

The Newlyn School of Art runs a huge range of indoor and outdoor art courses. The three-day Sea and Coast course is suitable for beginners, runs throughout the year and is sure to blow away any lockdown cobwebs. Led by the young Cornish artist Kit Johns, participants will explore the coastal paths of west Cornwall, stopping to draw and paint at dramatic sites. Johns will share his knowledge of how to depict the sea, and the tools, brushes, paints, sprays and inks he uses. Budding artists will be encouraged to experiment, using different media and a variety of surfaces, including Johns’ trademark vintage maps. Food and accommodation aren’t included, but the school recommends places to stay on its website, including the boutique hotel Chapel House , a 30-minute walk away in Penzance (doubles from £170 B&B). £395, next course 27-29 July , newlynartschool.co.uk

Upcycling furniture, Stirlingshire

Gartmore House, an art, craft and activity holiday centre in rural Stirlingshire, is running about 20 craft holidays when it reopens in August, and more than double that in 2022. Breaks range from corsetry and millinery to photography and hill walking. New this year is the five-day upcycling furniture holiday, where participants learn how to give old furniture a new lease of life. Techniques covered include painting, distressing, stencilling, guilding, découpage, waxing and varnishing. Everyone brings their own piece of furniture with them (such as a small table, chair or box) to transform. There is a break from crafting on Wednesday afternoon for a scenic sail across Loch Katrine . From £ 849 full-board , next course 31 Oct-5 Nov , gartmorehouse.com

Storytelling, Forest Row, East Sussex

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