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Course description
On this highly-praised nine-session course (covering ten weeks with a mid-term reading week) you will explore elements of writing craft and technique through the close reading of short stories and novel extracts, essays and articles, while being inspired by weekly writing exercises and lively discussion. You will submit your own work, and receive supportive, constructive feedback – from your fellow workshop members and the course tutor, in the form of an extended feedback/editorial report – twice per term. Our Writers Workshop - Developing Your Craft programme is suitable for both experienced writers and those just beginning their writing journey, and for those writing in any form, although we recommend that participants are able to dedicate at least two hours a week – outside the sessions themselves and their own writing practice – to reading, writing exercises and other preparation.
About the tutor
James Young is a writer from Belfast. His short stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Stinging Fly, Wasafiri, and Honest Ulsterman, and been shortlisted for the Sean O'Faolain, Wasafiri, Fish, and Bath prizes. He is the editor of Short Fiction literary journal, and holds an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, University of London. He is also a translator, and the winner of the 2022 Peirene Stevns Translation Prize. His translation of The Love of Singular Men, a novel by the Brazilian author Victor Heringer, was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards John Leonard Prize and the ALTA First Translation Prize, won the 2024 Jabuti Prize for the best Brazilian novel published abroad, and was runner-up for the Society of Authors First Translation Prize. Previously a journalist, he has written for Rolling Stone, The Observer, The Independent, Sports Illustrated and many other publications and sites. He is the founder and director of The Hastings Writers Workshop.
Photo by Kate Stanworth