Literature Wales is pleased to announce the reopening of the Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre, with the launch of its 2022 programme of creative writing courses.
Over 50 writers are featured in the programme, including several best-selling authors, laureates, and award-winning poets. The aim of the programme, which includes a range of weekend and week-long residential courses, is to help new and experienced authors develop their writing skills.
Throughout the year, we will continue to adhere to official guidance and put measures in place to safeguard writers from the potential risk of COVID-19, including issuing clear guidance and requirements for guests before arrival, implementing a new cleaning and fresh air protocol, and offering a more flexible cancellation policy to give customers greater peace of mind.
Nature and the climate emergency will feature strongly as a theme this year. Our Writing Wales course sees Mike Parker and Angharad Wynne leading walks to explore the land and its stories; editors of the anthology 100 Poems to Save the Earth, Zoë Brigley and Kristian Evans running a retreat, and poets Ailbhe Darcy and Susan Richardson will spend the week-long Poetry and the Climate Crisis course exploring the question: how might poetry help us to persist, survive or resist?
Health and well-being and writing for wellness will also be prominent in the programme, for instance our Yoga and Poetry retreat led by Mona Arshi and Laura Karadog exploring how both disciplines complement each other. Poets Patrick Jones and Damian Gorman will look at how writing can be healing, whilst Pamela Petro and Kumari Tilakawardane will look at the concept of hiraeth and how writing can ease the sense of longing.
Representation and equality within literature will also feature, as we look to reinvent the protagonist in a course for writers of all genres led by Kaite O’Reilly; and explore feminism in poetry and prose with Mari Ellis Dunning and Natalie Ann Holborow.
Some of our most popular courses and tutors will return including the Poetry Masterclass with Gillian Clarke and Carol Ann Duffy; a crime-writing course with Belinda Bauer, Sharon Bolton and guest reader Clare Mackintosh; and our Tales of the Unexpected course where Katherine Stansfield and Tyler Keevil will develop the tools needed to thrill, scare, and surprise your reader.
Two courses in 2022 will focus on writing for young audiences, with husband-and-wife team Helen and Thomas Docherty looking at writing and illustrating for children; and Patience Agbabi and Jasbinder Bilan tutoring a course specifically looking at creating characters of colour here in Wales.
Alongside our tutored courses, retreats are available to offer writers the time and space to start a new piece of work or to hit a deadline, whilst enjoying the peaceful surroundings and the homecooked meals provided by our experienced resident chef. Guest speakers and writers in resident from the publishing industry, including Abi Fellows, Gyamfia Osei and Rukhsana Yasmin, will be present at some of the retreats to run one-to-one tutorials and offer advice to those looking to take the next step towards publication.
If you’re looking for a writing holiday, we also run Nant – a recently refurbished Writers’ Retreat Cottage on site at the Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre. Formerly our warden’s cottage, the property has been redesigned and beautifully decorated to provide a peaceful environment for writers to retreat from everyday life and concentrate on work in progress.
All courses are available to browse and to book on our website: tynewydd.wales. For further information about Tŷ Newydd, or to enquire about any of our courses or retreats, contact Literature Wales: 01766 522 811 / tynewydd@literaturewales.org