Martyn Bedford - Writer

A fun week was had by all (I hope!) at Lumb Bank last week when fifteen aspiring novelists gathered for a residential writing course, which I co-tutored with the excellent writer and all-round lovely person, Catherine Johnson.

The five-day course at the Arvon Foundation‘s centre in Heptonstall, West Yorkshire (the former home of the poet, Ted Hughes), focused on young-adult fiction and was aimed at more advanced writers who already have work-in-progress. The participants travelled from all parts of the north of England – and from London in several instances – to take part in workshops, individual tutorials, talks and readings . . . and to enjoy plenty of great food (and drink).

The group produced a wide variety of impressive work during the week – either from their own novels or in response to the writing exercises we set – and the Friday-night showcase was a real celebration of their talent and an inspiring way to round off the course.

The special guest on the Wednesday evening was Sarah Crossan, winner of the 2016 Carnegie Medal and one of the most feted of the current crop of leading YA authors, who spoke engagingly and with bracing honesty about her career as a writer and her passion for writing fiction in verse. It was a privilege to work with Sarah again (we shared a stage at the Ilkley Literature Festival a few years ago) and to work with Catherine for the first time.

This was my ninth stint as a tutor at Lumb Bank and my 14th Arvon course in total, having taught three at Totleigh Barton, in Devon, and two at The Hurst, in Shropshire. I also tutored at the Scottish equivalent, Moniack Mhor, last year. If you haven’t been on a residential writing course I can highly recommend them – they’re certainly great fun to tutor! Here’s a link to the Arvon website.