Faber & Faber

The Faber Academy in London (October 2008) :

Tobias Hill, Sarah Hall and Andrew Motion present London’s first Faber Academy Creative Writing Course

Thursday, 30 October to Sunday 2 November 2008

6 Fitzroy Square, London W1T 5DX

* See also: The Faber Academy in Paris (27/11/08-30/11/08) - details here

GREAT WHITE LIES
or
Do Tall Stories Make Great Novels?

If truth is stranger than fiction, are truth and fiction opposites? Where should fact end and fiction begin? Are good novels the whitest of lies?

Over four days in the magical rooms of 6 Fitzroy Square, yards from the former home of Virginia Woolf, Tobias Hill and Sarah Hall examine the role of poetic licence in novel writing, the rewards of research, and the contrasting roles of naturalism and the unnatural in fiction. Also included in the course will be a guest appearance from Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, who will talk about his own experiences of creative writing followed by a Q & A. 

Course cost: £500 / €630 (price inclusive of VAT)

The course includes:

•    4 days intensive tuition by Tobias Hill and Sarah Hall (10am-5pm)
•    A guest talk by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion about his own experiences of creative writing followed by a Q & A
•    A complimentary Moleskine Notebook
•    A daily artisan lunch
•    Regular coffee breaks
•    Optional evening activities arranged by the Faber Academy including a glass or two of wine on the Friday evening
•    A handy course pack including London recommendations
•    A special discount off Faber books purchased at www.faber.co.uk

About the Tutors

Tobias Hill is the hugely acclaimed writer of three previous novels, Underground (1999), The Love of Stones (2001) and The Cryptographer (2003), as well as three award-winning collections of poetry and Skin, a collection of short stories, which won the 1998 PEN/Macmillan Award for Fiction. Born in London in 1970, Tobias Hill has won many awards for his writing and was made the inaugural resident poet at London Zoo in 1998. He is also the Royal Society of Literature Fellow at Sussex University. His new novel, The Hidden, will be published by Faber in January 2009.

Sarah Hall lives and works in Cumbria. Her first novel, Haweswater, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize; her second, The Electric Michelangelo, was shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize and her most recent novel, The Carhullan Army, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Her work is translated into ten languages.

Andrew Motion was appointed Poet Laureate in 1999, and is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, University of London. His novella, The Invention of Dr Cake, was published in 2003 and was described as ‘brilliant and almost hallucinatory vividness’ (Sunday Telegraph), and ‘amazingly clever’ (Irish Times). His memoir, In the Blood (2006), was described as ‘the most moving and exquisitely written account of childhood loss I have ever read’ in the Independent on Sunday.

About Faber

Faber and Faber is the last of the great independent publishing houses in London. We were established in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber and our first editor was T. S. Eliot. Among our list of authors we are proud to publish five Booker Prize winners and eleven Nobel Laureates. We are particularly well-known for our unrivalled list of modern poets and playwrights, as well as for publishing writers of prize-winning fiction and general non-fiction. [more]

About Fitzroy Square

Fitzroy Square is one of the finest squares in London and the only one designed by Robert Adam. It is named after Charles Fitzroy, 4th Duke of Grafton, who commissioned Adam to design the houses for a new London square in the late 18th century. Many famous artists, writers and statesmen have lived in the square, including Victorian Prime Minister Lord Salisbury and writers George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf.

To make a booking:

Contact Patrick on either patrickk@faber.co.uk
or telephone +44 (0) 207 465 7682.
Alternatively, write to Patrick Keogh, Faber and Faber Ltd, 3 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU.

Places are strictly limited, so book soon to avoid disappointment.

Related Authors:

Sarah Hall; Tobias Hill; Andrew Motion