Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 17th Jun - Sat 22nd Jun, 2024
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
Unlock Your Story with Myth and Folklore
From Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris to Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans and Loki: A Bad God’s Guide series by Louie Stowell, myths and folklore provide the starting point for so many fantasy novels. As humans, we are embedded in a web of shared stories, handed down through the generations. Those stories can be recombined in infinite ways and as writers, we have the power to keep them alive, just as the stories sustain us.
Join Joanne Harris and Louie Stowell to explore how themes and characters from myths and folklore can help you unlock your own story. We’ll be looking at how to mine pre-existing stories to create new ideas and how to create your unique contemporary spin on old tales.
Tutors
Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) is the award-winning writer of over 20 novels, plus short story collections, novellas, non-fiction, screenplays, game scripts and libretti. She writes across a number of genres, from literary fiction to psychological thriller, non-fiction, folklore and fantasy. Her 1999 novel, Chocolat, was adapted as an Oscar-nominated movie in 2000, and in 2018 she co-wrote an original musical, Stunners, with Howard Goodall. She holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, an honorary Fellowship of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and is a Fellow of the RSL. She works from a shed in her garden, and still plays in the band she first joined when she was 16.
Louie Stowell worked in children’s publishing for 15 years before becoming a full-time writer. Her debut novel for children, The Dragon In The Library, came out in 2019, followed by two more in the series, The Monster in the Lake and The Wizard in the Wood. In 2021 she published Otherland, a middle grade novel (very) loosely based on Spenser’s Faerie Queene, with a touch of Queenie from Blackadder. Translated into 30 languages and counting, Louie’s bestselling and multi-award-winning Loki: A Bad God’s Guide series began in 2022 and, if she has anything to do with it, will go on for many years. She also writes short stories and writes and draws comics. Louie lives in Hackney with her wife, Karen, her dog, Buffy, and a nameless creepy puppet that is probably cursed.
Guest Reader
Kevin Crossley Holland has won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, and he is a well-known poet and translator. His Arthur trilogy was translated into 25 languages, and he is the author of The Penguin Book of Norse Myths and Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor and Loki. He has retold British folktales in Between Worlds and translated Beowulf from Anglo-Saxon, collaborated with many leading composers and artists, and lives in North Norfolk.
Fees
The full fee for this course is £725. This includes your accommodation in a single room with shared bathroom, all meals, hot drinks and snacks from Monday afternoon until Saturday morning, and your tuition. For more information about the practicalities of our courses and retreats, please visit our About the Courses page.
A limited number of en-suite rooms are available, which can be booked in advance for a £50 surcharge. We will also reserve an en-suite room for anyone who may need it due to a medical condition. This will be offered out as an upgrade nearer the course start date if it is not needed.
A limited number of Twin Room places are available at a discounted price of £675 per person. When booking a Twin Room place, please tell us in the comments box which gender you are and which gender(s) you are comfortable sharing a room with. This information will remain confidential.
A deposit is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The balance payment of £595 is due six weeks before the course begins. Refunds are not always available – please read our Terms & Conditions to for full details about our cancellation policy. If you would like to pay the full amount in advance, please call our booking office on 01463 592 828 or email info@moniackmhor.org.uk.
Bursaries are always available, and you also have the option to pay in instalments. If you have any problems paying online, or wish to discuss paying in instalments or applying for financial help, or would simply like assistance, please contact us by emailing info@moniackmhor.org.uk or phoning us on 01463 592828.
Access
Please let us know in your booking form if you have any access requirements, for example a ground floor bedroom and / or access to a step-free accessible shower room. We also reserve one en-suite bedroom per course for anyone who may need this due to a medical condition. For more information about access to our courses, please visit our Access page.
Terms and Conditions
Please read our Terms & Conditions before booking.
Bookings
This event is fully booked. Please email info@moniackmhor.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.