What’s your gender inclusion policy?

Our workshops/courses/retreats are inclusive and supportive safe spaces for all marginalised genders, all women and all nonbinary, agender and gender variant people. Our spaces are not open to people who identify solely or primarily as men. Please respect this policy. If you have any queries regarding our gender inclusion policy, please don’t hesitate to ask.

What structure do workshops/courses follow?

Most courses follow a five week or one day format. The two hour workshops are one-off ad-hoc sessions on a range of subjects. The six-week format is a course of six sessions of weekly two-hour sessions.

The one-day workshops are an intensive session for those who can’t commit to or access the six-week format. For the six-week Write Like a Grrrl series, each workshop will have a specific topic focus (such as dialogue, setting, plotting or editing) and will usually involve a mixture of discussion, exploring extracts of other writers’ works, and practical writing exercises. While there is recommended reading and suggestions for activities between sessions, these are not essential or mandatory. All materials will be provided, so all you need to bring is a paper and pen, or computer/tablet device if you prefer writing that way. We sometimes deliver other workshops in different formats, or focusing on specific subjects, but these will be listed in the event description, and you can get in touch if you have any questions.

Can I take part if I write poetry?

You’re very welcome. Everything you learn on the Ignite course is transferable to poetry but there is a dedicated poetry course too. You can always contact the course leader via the contact page

Will I have to share my writing?

Not if you don’t want to! In ‘Ignite’ – the first Write Like a Grrrl course – there is no expectation or pressure to read aloud or otherwise share your work. In the follow-on courses, there is some peer workshopping and feedback of participants’ writing, but this will always be chaired and supported by the workshop leader to make sure all feedback is given in a constructive, valuable way, and you’ll always be given lots of notice so you can choose whether to participate and prepare accordingly.

What if I can no longer attend?

Payments are strictly non-refundable, but they are transferable. If necessary, we will support you in trying to find someone you can transfer your place to, including via our waiting lists and social channels. However we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to find a buyer for your place. In some cases, we may be able to defer your place to a future workshop. But again, this is not guaranteed and is subject to availability and course type.

Can I take part even if I’ve never written before?

Definitely! We have lots of writers take part who haven’t written since school. Our sessions are designed to suit a wide range of experience levels, and our tutors are always happy to answer questions if anything comes up that you don’t understand.

Can I take part if I write non-fiction?

Absolutely. All the topics, skills, tools and techniques covered in the course are definitely transferable to non-fiction writing. We’ve had participants take their course to support their screenwriting, memoir, comedy writing and much more.

What if I can’t afford it?

We believe in inclusivity, and pride ourselves on offering courses that are much, much more affordable than many other creative writing workshops. We price our sessions in line with fees you might expect from adult education providers such as community colleges. However, we do have a small number of subsidised places allocated for those who could not otherwise take part, though this is subject to availability and not guaranteed. Please get in touch via the contact page if you believe you might be eligible and want to discuss this further.

I’ve not had any emails from you

Most communications issues that happen are due to overzealous spam filters and other mailbox settings. We recommend adding [email protected] to your address book, whitelist or safe senders list (different email providers may use different names for this feature, but hopefully you know what we’re on about) before booking. If you’ve whitelisted us, checked your junk folder and still have concerns about missing emails, please get in touch with us via the contact page being sure to include: the name and email address you used to book, along with the date(s) and location.

What age must I be?

WLAG is for adults as defined by UK Law.