‘Imagining History’ is a programme of day-long workshops created specifically to give young people a chance to immerse themselves in historical places from the point of view of a writer.
Budding historical fiction writers of the future are invited to attend a day that aims to fire imaginations and inspire young people to explore past times and bring them alive through writing.
The workshops are part of an ongoing series of events being set up to support a new writing prize, the Young Walter Scott Prize, which is named in honour of the inventor of the historical fiction genre, Walter Scott.
The workshops, run by professional writers, arts educators and experts in creative explain to show young writers the inspirational potential of real-life places, land, people and events and therefore take place at sites of historical interest that provide a wealth of inspiration and hidden stories.
A combination of games and exercises drawn from arts and somatic education practices, as well as extended personal writing time, invites writers to develop their own research and exploration strategies.
The first at Drumlanrig is on June 14 for 11-15 year-olds with facilitators Carry Brown, Alan Craig Wilson and special guest cartographer/geographer Professor David Munro. The second is on June 16 for 16-19-year-olds
The prize, sponsored by the Duchess of Buccleuch, seeks to connect young people with their world by asking them to investigate their history, their environment and the stories of their people, and to write a piece of short fiction set before their own lifetime.
Two category winners will be awarded a travel grant of £500 each, and have their work published in a special YWSP anthology. Participants in the writing workshops will be encouraged to enter their stories for the Young Walter Scott Prize.
All workshops are free and run from 10.30am until 2.30pm. Places are strictly limited to 15. For booking: Alan Caig Wilson [email protected]
