Workshops
About our events
Our programme is for writers as well as readers, whether you’re already six novels in, or picking up a pen for the first time. Our intimate workshops and masterclasses are typically 60, 90, or 120 minutes long and are for groups of up to 20 people at a time.
Individual event listings give an idea of what experience level is recommended. Come along for the unique opportunity to be coached and inspired by leading writers, wherever you are in your writing journey.
Covering a vast array of topics and styles, this year’s programme of 30 workshops features everything from Catherine Coe on writing for children, to Sally Hayden on war reporting, while Polly Barton hosts a roundtable problem solving session for translators.
To delve deeper into our Changing Your Mind theme, why not let Sarah Stein Lubrano teach you how have more open conversations, or Emily Kasriel guide you on the art of deep listening.
Or for something completely different try ‘Junk Journaling’ with bookbinder Rachel Hazell, using Tarot as a writing tool with Jill Dawson, or join Emma-Lee Moss (AKA Emmy the Great) to explore the power of songwriting to tell personal stories.
List of Events
Shared Reading with Open Book
Join Open Book Lead Readers for an informal and relaxed shared reading session. Each session will explore a chapter from a debut book from…
Close Read with Open Book: The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín
Join Jess Orr and Claire Urquhart from Open Book, a charity organising shared reading and creative groups, as they lead a warm, lively…
Non-Fiction Reporting: A Workshop with Sally Hayden
Orwell Prize-winning journalist Sally Hayden (This is Also a Love Story) leads you through how to turn non-fiction reporting into a book,…
Graphic Novels with Lizzy Stewart
Lizzy Stewart (author-illustrator of the breathtaking, genre-defying books The Wreck, Alison, and Walking Distance) introduces you today to…Creative Non-fiction: A Workshop with Katie Goh
Kickstart your creative nonfiction writing project with Katie Goh – writer, editor, and author of Jhalak Prize-shortlisted memoir, Foreign…
How to Write the Future: A Workshop with Saleem Haddad
Join filmmaker and Floodlines author, Saleem Haddad, to explore how, as writers, we can imagine the future in times of turbulence and…
The True Power of Story: A Novel Workshop with John Yorke
If you’ve always wanted to write a novel but are struggling to structure your work, make your ideas leap off the page, or even just get…
Nature Journaling: A Workshop with J C Niala
J C Niala (The New Eden) is an award-winning writer, environmental historian, and anthropologist specialising in human-nature interactions;…
Junk Journaling: A Workshop with Rachel Hazell
Explore the Festival’s overarching Changing Your Mind theme through the art of junk journaling: transforming discarded ephemera into…