Creative Writing Programme blog page
Welcome to the Creative Writing Programme blog. We share regular writing tips and tricks from our tutors, reading recommendations, news about writing competitions and publication submission opportunities and success stories from your fellow CWP students and alumni. To stay up-to-date with the programme, subscribe to our newsletter.
Creative writing masterclass: improving your dialogue
This workshop we will look at some of the ways to improve your characters' dialogue to make it work harder ‘Lots of people really enjoy writing dialogue.’ ‘And people love reading it.’ ‘It’s hard to get it right though, isn’t it?’ ‘Begorrah, it is, to be sure.’ ‘For...
Creative Writing Masterclass: Creating Memorable Characters
When we think of great works of fiction – and our favourite books – it tends to be the characters that linger long after the intricacies of plot have faded: Scarlett O’Hara, Nazneen Ahmed, Scrooge, Elizabeth Bennet, Baby Kochamma and so on. What is it that makes these...
Masterclass: The Creative Act – how to boost your creativity
We often freeze at the vast space or the volume of the blank notebook or computer screen and doubt ourselves. In this masterclass on Saturday 25th November, we will look at ways to boost our creativity. We'll start by listening to how other writers and poets encounter...
Autumn creative writing masterclasses
The Creative Writing Programme has launched a series of one-day workshops in November and December for writers wanting to focus on a particular area of their practice. From creating memorable characters and improving your dialogue to boosting your creativity and...
Join us for our student and alumni readings evening
Join us on the evening of Thursday 26th October 2023 at Kemptown Bookshop, Brighton to hear a selection of readings from students past and present and meet fellow writers over a glass of wine. Book your ticket here. The Creative Writing Programme (CWP) offers six...
Five Minutes With alumna Lisa Fransson
This month Lisa Fransson's debut novel The Shape of Guilt is published, with a launch at Brighton's Waterstones bookshop. Lisa took the Creative Writing Programme from 2014-2016. Here she talks about her writing life. When do you first remember wanting to be a...
Five minutes with: alumna Sue Wallace-Shaddad
Sue Wallace-Shaddad took the Advanced Poetry Workshops in 2022 and earlier this year Clayhanger Press published her collection Sleeping with Clouds, a collaboration with artist Sula Rubens. Here she talks about her poetry journey. When do you first remember wanting to...
Hannah Vincent’s top five writing tips
With schools reopening this week, there's a definite new-term vibe in the air - which is the perfect opportunity to commit to a new writing routine. Here novelist, short story writer, playwright and CWP tutor Hannah Vincent offers her top five writing tips. Write...
Five Minutes with Bridport Prize runner-up Sheereen Khan
Sheereen Khan was a runner up in this year’s Bridport memoir competition. An alumna of our creative-non-fiction course, here she talks about her writing life. I’ve always written something. I come from a family of journalists and my father was always writing academic...
Kate Bradley publishes third novel
Kate Bradley's third novel The Sisterhood was published by Simon & Schuster this spring. An alumna of the Creative Writing Programme, here she talks about how the course set her on course to publication. When do you first remember wanting to be a writer? I think I...