L.P. Hartley wrote that “the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” When we write historical fiction, our narrative needs to take into account the conditions in the period it deals with - whether it reaches back across twenty years or two hundred.
In this weekend masterclass with Jem Poster and Sarah Burton, you will discover the fine art of bringing the past to life in fictional form. Through a combination of practical writing exercises and close reading of key passages from the work of well-known authors, this workshop will explore how you can avoid anachronisms and manage essential information, while immersing your reader in a compelling and convincingly recreated sense of a past time.
This course is for …
Aspiring writers of historical fiction - and writers of any genre
Beginners seeking guidance, as well as more experienced writers wanting to sharpen and energise their practise
Course structure
Understanding the past
Voices from the past
The uses of research
Beyond research
Q&A
Tutor profiles
Jem Poster is emeritus professor of creative writing, Aberystwyth University, and co-founder, with Sarah Burton, of Cambridge University’s master’s programme in creative writing. He is the author of two novels, Courting Shadows (Sceptre, 2002) and Rifling Paradise (Sceptre, 2006), as well as a collection of poetry, Brought to Light (Bloodaxe, 2001). He edited volume III of the six-volume Oxford University Press Edward Thomas: Prose Writings (OUP, 2018) and is co-author, with Sarah Burton, of a handbook for fiction-writers, The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, due out from Cambridge University Press in March 2022.
Sarah Burton’s publications include two biographies, Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar (Penguin, 2000) and A Double Life: a Biography of Charles and Mary Lamb (Penguin, 2003, shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year award); a children’s book, The Miracle in Bethlehem: A Storyteller’s Tale (2008); and a page-to-stage guide, How to Put on a Community Play (2011). Her novel, The Strange Adventures of H (Legend Press, 2020) has been an Amazon historical fiction bestseller. With Jem Poster, she co-founded Cambridge University’s master’s programme in creative writing and is co-author of The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write, due out from Cambridge University Press in March 2022.
You will be sent a link to the webinar 2hrs before the start time of 2pm (GMT).
Details
Date: Saturday 5 February & Sunday 6 February 2022
Times: 2pm-4.30pm (GMT), both days
Price: £249 & £6.83 booking fee
This masterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside the United Kingdom, please use this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.
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