Northumberland Libraries Writers Aloud

Our group meets every Saturday afternoon for a virtual creative writing 'get to together' on Zoom. Hosted by experienced tutor and writer, Gilly Beckett, there are fun exercises and prompts for writing and the opportunity to share your work with the group. Or you can just listen

Homework (optional) for our next session on June 18th What is Gothic literature ?

Notable authors:

Mary Shelley. Frankenstein 1818

Edgar Allen Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher 1886

Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights 1847

Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre 1847

Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1886

Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray 1890

Bram Stoker. Dracula 1897

Essential elements:

Mystery and fear - graveyards, gloomy castles, a frightening monster

Unnerving atmosphere - old castle with mysterious past and secret underground passages

Supernatural and Paranormal activity - vampires, werewolves, eerie shadows, howling winds

Omens - a cursed family

Nightmares - emotional distress

Villain

Anti-hero - handsome gentleman becomes anti hero through immoral pursuits

Romance

Damsel in distress - vulnerable character desired and degraded.

During the nineteenth century ‘supernatural' meant many things. The difficulty in defining what the term meant exactly is what made it so appealing.


Could you write a supernatural story - set in this Century?

Word count - circa 700 words

Happy Writing!

Gilly

Happy writing!

Gilly

For further details on joining email Gillyannebec@hotmail.com