Creative Non-fiction Retreat: Nature and Memoir Writing

Mon 16 September 2024 - Fri 20 September 2024
Tutor / Anita Sethi
Guest Reader / Cathy Rentzenbrink (Digital)
Course Fee / From £ per person
Genres / NatureNon-Fiction
Language / English

How do we turn fact and memory into a compelling narrative? How do we write about nature and our relationship to the natural world? How do we write places, people, journeys, and encounters with the more than human world from our own experience? On this week-long fully catered retreat with award-winning writer and author, Anita Sethi you will explore creative non-fiction in its various forms and how life writing can inspire us to think about our relationship to the natural world and our place within it.

During the retreat, you will be invited to attend two morning workshops with your tutor which will help you to develop your voice and hone techniques to support your writing process as well as one-to-one sessions tailored to your needs. Optional group walks around the stunning surroundings of Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre, nestled between the sea and mountains, will also be on offer during the week. You’ll also be joined digitally by acclaimed author and life writing coach, Cathy Rentzenbrink on the Wednesday evening for a special, encouraging and inspirational guest reader session. Ample opportunity will also be reserved for your own writing and reading, as you give yourself the gift of time and the space to think, relax, and explore.

You’ll leave the retreat feeling rested and motivated, and with a deeper understanding of creative non-fiction and a renewed appreciation of your natural surroundings, memories, and storytelling.

This retreat will focus on the genre of creative non-fiction, however those writing fiction, poetry and more – and looking to incorporate true stories or the natural world into their work – are all very welcome.

Tutor

Anita Sethi

Anita Sethi was born in Manchester and is an award-winning writer and author of the acclaimed book I Belong Here: a Journey Along the Backbone of Britain which won a Books Are My Bag award, and was nominated for the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing, the Great Outdoors Award and Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize for writing evoking a strong sense of place. She has also been published in the anthologies Women on Nature edited by Katharine Norbury, The Wild Isles, Common People, Seaside Special: Postcards from the Edge, and We Mark Your Memory among others. She has written columns, features and reviews for newspapers and magazines including the Guardian and Observer, the i paper, Independent, Sunday Times, Telegraph, FT, Sydney Morning Herald, BBC Wildlife, Vogue, New Statesman, Granta, Harpers Bazaar, Times Literary Supplement, Stylist and BBC Travel among others. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and her career highlights include going birdwatching with Margaret Atwood in the UK's oldest nature reserve.

 

Guest Reader

Cathy Rentzenbrink (Digital)

Cathy Rentzenbrink is an acclaimed memoirist whose books include The Last Act of Love (Pan Macmillan, 2015), How to Feel Better (Pan Macmillan, 2023) and Dear Reader (Pan Macmillan, 2021). Her first novel is Everyone is Still Alive (Orion, 2021) and Write It All Down (Pan Macmillan, 2022) is a friendly and down to earth guide to writing a memoir. Cathy regularly chairs literary events, interviews authors, runs creative writing courses and speaks and writes on life, death, love, and literature. Despite being shortlisted for various prizes, the only thing Cathy has ever won is the Snaith and District Ladies’ Darts Championship when she was 17. She is now sadly out of practice. 

 

 

 

Online Booking

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