What makes a great opening? In this writing workshop, we’ll look at the openings of great short stories, novels, essays and memoirs to explore how they work and what they promise to a reader. With Hope & Anchor co-founders and novelists Sarah Leipciger (Moon Road) and Peggy Riley (Amity & Sorrow) you’ll leave with new writing as well as new approaches to rewrite your work with fresh eyes. Suitable for all levels of writing experience, including none.

What makes a great ending? How can stories fulfil the promise of their opening by reaching conclusions that feel inevitable as well as surprising? In this writing workshop, we’ll consider how stamina and structure can help us reach those final words: the end. With workshop leaders Sarah Leipciger and Peggy Riley. Suitable for all levels of writing experience.

How can we put more drama in our writing? In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the techniques playwrights use for the stage: dramatic structure, beats and tactics in dialogue, spectacle and surprise. Led by Hope & Anchor Writing’s Peggy Riley, novelist, playwright, and lecturer in drama. Suitable for all levels of writing experience, including none.

There are 3.3 billion active gamers in the world. What can games teach writers about action, choice, and agency in the creation of plot and characters?  In this writing workshop we’ll explore the techniques used to create compelling games, including an interactive session of collaborative storytelling, to help your writing feel more playful. With Hope & Anchor Writing’s Peggy Riley, lecturer in digital literature and narrative design, and Game Master Bethany Climpson. Suitable for all levels of writing experience, including none.

Take your notebook on a creative walk. This walking workshop invites you to gather materials from the streets, noticing details, capturing observations and sparking ideas for your writing. Using a range of techniques and prompts, we'll explore different spaces and atmospheres on foot, then spend some time developing the results of our wanders into a piece of writing. Please dress appropriately for the weather, wear sensible shoes for walking and bring a portable notebook. 

Richard Skinner is a walker and a writer, sometimes both at the same time. For his ‘Spiritual Landscapes’ workshop, Richard will show and discuss his poems written while walking in The Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and on the Pennine Way. Using these poems and others as models, you will then explore the spirituality of walking in your own work.

Examining the resilience of the human spirit in life, death, insanity and love, Angel Dye will help you conjure your own villanelle in the vein of Sylvia Plath and Dylan Thomas, in a fun engaging workshop appealing to all levels.

Are you a local writer? Want to meet like-minded souls? Come to this free and friendly chat to learn about writing groups and opportunities for your writing in East Kent. With local authors Peggy Riley and Ellie Pilcher. Tea and biscuits will be available.

An all age hands on workshop exploring the delights of nature. Hear about saints, serpents, unicorns and narwhales. Write a poem inspired by Robert Macfarlane's 'The Lost Words' Invent your own stories or draw a picture inspired by what you see. Bring your own natural finds for show and tell (you can take them back with you). All welcome, especially those of us who still remember the junior school nature table. Children must be accompanied but adults you will have fun!

Beethoven wrote music when he was deaf, Derek Jarman made his film Blue when he was blind and built a paradise garden in a desert. I found a mythical apothecary in a hospital bed. Sometimes we need to look at things from a different angle. After years of teaching this truth in art, come and explore with me different ways of telling a story: what lenses we can we use to view the world, what objects can inspire and what happens if we shuffle the order. Bring your trusty notebook and enjoy the freedom of playing and experimenting with form.