When you read a really excellent novel, you may find yourself wondering how the author was able to create something that will stay with you for a long time, or how, as an aspiring author yourself, you could ever write something so captivating.
The reality is that much of what you need to write original and compelling fiction is already within you: the remembered material of your own life. However, fiction-writing is more than autobiography - it requires you to adapt and extend your remembered material through the exercise of your imagination. Learning how to work with both memory and imagination will greatly enrich your writing.
In this masterclass with Professor Jem Poster and Dr Sarah Burton, founders of the master’s degree course in creative writing at the University of Cambridge, you will critically examine the nature of memory and imagination, and explore the creative chemistry of their interaction.
Through discussion, with scheduled time for Q&A, this workshop will enable you to gain knowledge and confidence, using your own experiences, emotions and observations as a starting point for the creation of imaginative fiction.
This class is suitable for all aspiring fiction-writers, from beginners seeking guidance, to more experienced writers looking to sharpen and energise their practice.
Course content
- The uses of memory
- Minding the gaps: the limitations of memory
- Filling the gaps: the role of the creative imagination
- Showing and telling: leaving space for the reader’s imagination
This course is for
- Beginners who are looking for a foundational understanding of how to approach their writing
- Experienced writers who want to refresh their practice
- Anyone who wants to learn more about the potential of memory and imagination in creative writing
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 December 2021.
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 December 2021.
Course Details
- Date: Friday 21 May 2021
- Time: 6pm-8.30pm (BST)
6.00pm BST | 7.00pm CEST | 10.00am PDT | 1.00pm EDT
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.
You will be sent a link to the webinar two hrs before the start time. Please email masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have not received the access link within one hour of the scheduled start time.
All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible but please contact us at masterclasses@theguardian.com if you have any queries or concerns.
Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website
