2007 Crime Writing Course

From Sunday 25 March to Saturday 31 March 2007, esteemed UK crime fiction authors Margaret Murphy and Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award winning Ann Cleeves will be tutoring a "Crime Writing" course at Castle of Park in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

As you can see, Castle of Park is a beautiful place, so there's far more on offer than excellent teaching.  I recently received the brochure from Castle of Park, so I will share the following with you:

Margaret Murphy teaches on the MA in Writing course at Liverpool John Moores University.  Ann Cleeves runs the Harrogate Festival's "celebrated outreach programme".  Both have worked together before, and with students.

Course prices are all inclusive, which includes: transfers to and from Aberdeen; tuition; accommodation; all meals; complimentary drinks (to which there is a generous limit applied); local transportation (specified); live music on one evening. 

  The all inclusive charge for single occupancy of a room starts at just over £850 (incl VAT) for the week.  Shared occupation of double rooms/suites attracts a slightly smaller charge.  Non-participating partners are welcome and reduced rates apply.

In addition to the crime week, Castle of Park also offers the following for budding writers in 2007:

• Anita Burgh (April) - "Novel Writing - Release Your Potential"
• Sharon Kendrick ( May and November) - "Writing Romantic Fiction"
• Adéle Geras (September/October) - "Novel Writing with a Flavour of Romance".

All the creative writing courses are outlined on Castle of Park's site here.

Castle of Park also runs other courses for painting and photography.

I receive the brochure as I once booked a course there.  Alas, due to the necessary recovery period for a broken arm, I was unable to make it in the end.  However, others with whom I had booked had a really good time and I subsequently noted in the feedback comments that one of them had gone on to book a week for her and her writing group.

Unlike Arvon (a registered charity) and similar, it's all on tap and you don't have to lift a finger (in the kitchen, especially) apart from for the purposes of writing.  But Castle of Park does cost a lot more, although you can expect salubrious surroundings and to be treated like a lord/lady.

There is nothing better than a lovely secluded place in which to write.  There is nothing more worthwhile than the opportunity for constructive feedback on your writing and the experience of good tutors.  So, if you can treat yourself (and your partner), this may be the one for you...

But don't forget to add the costs of getting to Aberdeenshire - the "all-inclusive" package starts when you arrive.