Life Writing – A 5 Night Retreat

£2,250.00 PRICE

Speaker: Frances Wilson

Frances Wilson is an award-winning biographer and critic who has taught life-writing courses at The Faber Academy, Guardian Masterclasses, The British Library, The Oldie, the Cheltenham Literary Festival, Arvon writing retreats and The How to Academy. She also has twenty years experience of one-to-one mentoring.

Next Course: February 6, 2025
Enroll now

Find the Holy Grail in a Magical Five-Night Life-Writing Retreat in the heart of Camelot Country

‘There’s something here that clears your eyes. I wish you could feel this place, just let it seep into you. There’s a goodness here’ – John Steinbeck, of Bruton

Writing requires escape, stimulation, and a sprinkling of magic, all of which the Giant of American Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men, discovered in the Somerset market town of Bruton. Listed in the Doomsday Book as Briuuetone, meaning ‘Vigorously flowing river,’ Steinbeck came here in 1959 – three years before winning the Nobel Prize – to absorb the atmosphere for his updated version of the greatest story-cycle in the language: the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table.

Steinbeck’s time in Bruton was the happiest of his life and the writing he achieved here, he said, was his best. Guided by the spirit of Steinbeck, we have therefore chosen Bruton as the perfect English setting for you to unleash your own story-telling potential.

Limited Spots Available – Reserve Your Place Now!
Join us from 6th to 11th February 2025 and immerse yourself in an unforgettable writing experience.

Five-Night Life-Writing Retreat

Though a combination of morning masterclasses, optional one-on-one tutorials, and early evening workshops (to be taken with a glass of wine), this five-day magical mystery tour is designed to unlock the art of life-writing.

Frances Wilson’s courses are never, however, just about putting pen to paper because to write about your life requires opening windows, freeing the imagination, finding the right size and shape for the tale you want to tell, and – most importantly – getting to know your principal character!

This means finding your voice (your speaking voice is not the same as your writing voice), uncovering your plot structure (Comedy? Tragedy? Quest? Rebirth? Overcoming the monster?), locating your major turning points, and digging deep into the memories that count. Much of our time will therefore be spent talking, exploring, and planning the work that lies ahead.

 

No 1 Bruton

A Georgian Retreat: No 1 Bruton’s Boutique Luxury, Culinary Delights, and Artful Adventures in Somerset

The course will be based in No 1 Bruton, an elegant Georgian Townhouse, medieval forge and row of cottages transformed into a twelve-bedroomed boutique hotel with a courtyard and garden designed by Penelope Hobhouse.

The hotel restaurant, Blair, masterminded by chef Sam Lomas, offers farm to table food served in an old ironmonger’s shop, and we can also recommend eating at The Newt, Hauser & Wirth and The Three Horseshoes.

Glastonbury Tor is a twelve mile walk along the River Brue (there are local buses and trains as well), and the world class gallery, Hauser and Wirth Somerset, is closer to home off the High Street.

Hauser & Wirth

A Five-Day Retreat of Voice, Memory, and the Spirit of Place

Limited Spots Available – Reserve Your Place Now!

Join us from 6th to 11th February 2025 and immerse yourself in an unforgettable writing experience.

Itinerary:

Day 1

Welcome

Drinks, welcome dinner, settling in.

Day 2

Fact or Fiction?

Fact or Fiction?

Memoirs are true, but they are not affidavits. To explore a deeper truth, many memoirists write fictionalised versions of their lives, while fiction writers might base their novels on true experiences. This first session will explore the differences between fictionalised autobiography and autobiographical fiction, as well as looking at the other forms – essays, poems, scrapbooks – that your story can take.

Day 3

Voice and Character

Voice and Character

In a memoir the voice of the narrator is the central character. It is your voice that keeps the reader glued to the page, or that makes us want to throw the book out of the window. What is the difference between our spoken and written voices; and how do we find the best voice for the tale we have to tell?

Dine at The Chapel

Day 4

Genius loci

Genius loci

‘Yesterday something wonderful . . I climbed up to Cadbury — Camelot. I don’t think I remember an impact like that. Could see from the Bristol Channel to the tops of the Mendip Hills and all the little villages, Glastonbury Tor and King Alfred’s towers on the other side . . . I walked all around the upper wall. And I don’t know what I felt but it was a lot like those slow hot bubbles of molten rock in a volcano, a gentle rumbling earthquake of the Spirit . . . Made the hairs prickle on the back of the neck‘ – Steinbeck.(A Life in Letters, 629).

Writing a description of a place is not the same as capturing the spirit of that place. A description is what we find in a brochure or guide book, but the spirit of a place is its intangible quality, or magic. In this masterclass we will explore ways of transporting your reader without resorting to cliché or the language of tourist boards.

Day 5

‘I remember, I remember’

‘I remember, I remember’

Having a good memory doesn’t mean that you will write a good memoir: many memoirists have no memory at all. Memoir is about how rather than what we remember, and today’s lecture will focus on the differences between episodic and narrative memory and the ways in which a single memory can capture the story of a life.

Day 6

Checkout

Breakfast and checkout

Enjoy a final breakfast before checkout, departing with new skills, fresh memories, and inspiration to carry your writing forward.

Meet Frances Wilson

Frances Wilson is a celebrated biographer and critic with extensive experience in life-writing. She has taught at prestigious institutions like The Faber Academy, The British Library, the Arvon Foundation and How To Academy. With over 20 years of mentoring experience, she has judged literary awards including The Man Booker Prize and The Goldsmiths Prize.

Her award-winning biographies include The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth, How to Survive the Titanic, and Burning Man: The Ascent of D.H. Lawrence.

Limited Spots Available – Reserve Your Place Now!

Join us from 6th to 11th February 2025 and immerse yourself in an unforgettable writing experience.

Enroll now