You will explore crucial techniques and approaches that allow you to translate your own experience of wildlife and landscape into prose or poetry, paying particular attention to the role of acute observation as a way of harnessing the imaginative voice. You will consider ways to convert sensory experience into stories of contemporary relevance.

In addition to writerly discussion about ‘voice’ and wider environmental issues, with daily excursions into the stunning grounds of The Hurst you will be steeped in natural abundance. Watch birds before breakfast, take woodland walks in the dark and observe different species of moth. There’s even a chance of meeting the pine martens that call this wonderful place home.

Karen Lloyd is the author of Abundance: Nature in Recovery (Bloomsbury, 2021) which was longlisted for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation in 2022. She teaches on Lancaster’s MA in Creative Writing and is writer in residence with the University’s Future Places Centre. 

Mark Cocker is an author of creative non-fiction, a journalist, naturalist and a writing tutor. He writes or broadcasts on nature in a variety of national media and recently completed 35+ years as a country diarist for the Guardian and Guardian Weekly. His forthcoming book One Midsummer’s Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth (Cape) comes out this summer. 

Guest: Jasmine Donahaye

Dates: Monday 21 - Saturday 26 August 2023
Location: The Hurst, Shropshire
Cost: Single room: £925 Concessions: £647.50

Further info and to book here