Creative Writing

This course will cover various ways of reimagining climate crisis and explore the process – and the challenges – of writing fiction on the climate crisis, and how to negotiate horror and hope in the face of a challenging environmental future.

Classes involve reading and discussing examples of climate fiction or “cli-fi”, followed by practical workshop exercises. This four-part series will look at imagining both utopian and dystopian climate futures and how to write about our present and near-future reality in a way that engages and connects readers to the biggest challenge facing humanity and nonhuman species.

This course would suit both beginners and more experienced writers who have an interest in the climate crisis and writing fiction.

Number of Meetings

4

Course Leader

Bernadette McBride

CRN 25157/CREA000

Course Fees

Although this course follows on from Writing Novels and Short Stories: Getting Started, it is open to writers of any level who are already working on a story or novel that they wish to complete or improve. We will cover more advanced elements of plot, theme and style, as well as the processes of editing and publication. Classes will follow the same format of reading, discussion and workshop exercises, and include opportunities for students to share their own work for critical feedback.

Number of Meetings

10

Course Leader

Emma Segar

CRN 24997/CREA000

Course Fees

An in-person walking and place writing workshop across the Georgian Quarter of Liverpool. This meeting will cover various ways of writing “place” from how we think about a place to how we feel it.

We will take in the tomb of William Mackenzie on Rodney Street, Falkner Square, some places of interest on Hope Street, and curious graves in St James Gardens at the Anglican Cathedral. To think about what makes the soul of a place? Liverpool is a city well-known for its diversity and vibrancy, which is reflected in its architecture, statues and hidden symbols and stories woven into the tapestry of its streets. Learn to write about a place on the go and gain knowledge of place-writing basics from Psychogeography to emotional geography to Flâneurism.

You’ll need to bring a notepad and pen along.

Number of Meetings

1

Course Leader

Bernadette McBride

CRN 25158/CREA000

Course Fees