Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon 24th Nov - Sat 29th Nov, 2025
All Day
Location
Moniack Mhor, Kiltarlity, Inverness-shire , IV4 7HT
The Cathedral of Mist: Writing Historical Fiction
For writers with a special interest in historical fiction, the week will be a chance to start new projects or push on with work in progress. What are the challenges and pitfalls of this type of writing? How do we evoke the past without falling back on cliche? What kind of research is needed? How do we get inside the minds of people whose circumstances were so different to our own? Through workshops, discussions and tutorials, we’ll explore a type of storytelling that remains hugely popular with readers, that inhabits genre but also transcends it. No particular experience will be assumed by the tutors, simply a genuine excitement about the form and a serious desire to start getting the words down.
Tutors
Andrew Miller is the author of ten novels from Ingenious Pain (1997) to The Land in Winter (2024). He is a winner of the Costa Book of the Year and has been shortlisted for the Booker prize. His work is translated into over twenty languages.
Lucy Jago’s debut adult novel, A Net for Small Fishes, was Bloomsbury’s lead publication for Spring 2021 and is in development as a film. She is currently working on her next novel for Bloomsbury and creating a series of short films about landscape as described by our greatest writers. Her first book, The Northern Lights, won the National Biography prize and has been translated into eight languages. Lucy is also collaborating on soundscapes for a variety of art installations. She is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Society and lives in Bruton, Somerset.
Guest Reader
Anna Frame is Communications Director at Canongate Books. An award-winning publicist with more than 15 years’ experience, she has run a wide variety of campaigns and events across almost every genre, with career highlights including Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun, Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan’s Faith, Hope and Carnage, and Ruth Ozeki’s Women’s Prize-winning The Book of Form and Emptiness. Twice-shortlisted at this year’s British Book Awards for work on books by Miranda July and Len Pennie, she is also a recipient of the Booksellers’ Association Sophie Christopher Publicist of the Year Award, former chair of the Publishers Publicity Circle, and a Trustee of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The publicity team she manages pride themselves on promoting Canongate’s titles creatively, collaboratively and effectively, with campaigns that put author care at their heart.
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 format and practicalities of our courses, tutored courses, and retreats, please visit our About the Residential Courses & Retreats 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 small single room with a skylight is available at a discounted price of £700. Please note this room does not have an ordinary window, only a small skylight.
A deposit is required to secure your place, which is non-refundable after a 14-day cooling-off period. The balance payment of £575 is due six weeks before the course begins. Refunds are not always available – please read our Terms & Conditions 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.