Ways into creative writing: intensive

Sarah Leipciger’s most recent novel, Moon Road, was published with Doubleday UK and Penguin Canada in 2024 and has been optioned for film. Her debut novel, The Mountain Can Wait, was published in 2015, and her second novel, Coming Up for Air, followed in 2020; it was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Crown Award and has been adapted for stage with the Leipzig Opera House, to be premiered in spring 2026. She has had short stories shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, the Fish Prize and the Asham Award, and is a past winner of THIS Magazine’s Great Canadian Literary Hunt. She has also written non-fiction for The Guardian and The Toronto Star. Sarah has facilitated writing workshops across the country, including at literature festivals and men's prisons in London. She is an Associate Lecturer with the Creative Writing Department at Birbeck University, and Guest Tutor at Goldsmiths University.

Writer and visual artist Claire Collison was awarded the Women Poets’ Prize, 2018. Her first novel was a finalist in the Dundee Book Prize, 2005. Her poetry appears in magazines and anthologies, and has been placed in Winchester, Resurgence, and Hippocrates prizes. She has worked as subeditor for MAKE, the magazine of Women’s Art, and Arts Editor for Disability Arts Magazine. Claire was the first MaxLiteracy writer at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, and designs engagement resources, including for the Government Art Collection, National Maritime Museum, and Photographers’ Gallery. She has led creative projects within hospitals and schools, and with refugees and asylum seekers, vulnerable adults, elders, and young children. Her recent cross-disciplinary project, Truth Is Beauty was performed in venues across the UK. She is a founder member of Poets for the Planet.

Erica Buist has been writing features for the Guardian for over a decade. A memoir piece she wrote for Guardian Weekend ended up forming the basis for the first chapter of her debut book, This Party’s Dead. She has worked as a playwright for various theatre companies, an writer/ interviewer for the charity St Mungo’s, and is now working on her first novel. Erica has taught journalism at various universities including Cambridge, Goldsmiths, Lincoln, Exeter and Keele, and has led numerous courses with Guardian Masterclasses.

William Brady is a lecturer at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and is from Dublin. In 2019 he received his PhD in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin and has presented his research in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Croatia. He writes and lectures on contemporary literature, war writing, and psychogeography. A passionate Gaeilgeoir, he is on the committee of Conradh na Gaeilge i Londain, which promotes and organises events relating to Irish language and culture in London. He is also a contributor to the Nuacht Mhall podcast, which delivers news and current affairs at a gentle pace for learners of the Irish language.

KR Moorhead is a trans non-binary, neurodivergent writer and educator. Their novel, The First Law of Motion, was published by St Martin's Press in 2009. They lectured in Creative Writing for 14 years at the University of East Anglia, where they earned an MA in Creative Writing: Prose Fiction in 2007. KR also has a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Practice and Research, with a focus in feminist and other critical pedagogies. As a freelance creative writing mentor and facilitator, KR has launched FLUX: Trans* Writers Circle, a series of successful 'Crash Courses' in elements of writing and writing practice, and a programme of author and publishing industry professional events called An Audience With. They have facilitated sessions for Writers in Bloom, Beyond Form Creative Writing, Devotion Workshop, Norwich School of Creative Writing, and Oxbridge Academic Courses, and currently teach on Writing the Novel and the Writer's Portfolio for The University of Hull's online, part-time MA in Creative Writing.

Nicole Acquah is a playwright, dramaturg and a performer/devisor. . She has taught Playwriting at Royal Holloway University, and is a resident playwright and visiting lecturer at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Nicole's semi-autobiographical show For a Black Girl had successful runs at VAULT Festival and Camden People’s Theatre, and was later commissioned by The Curve, Slough. In 2019, she was seed commissioned by Nouveau Riche Theatre Company, to write a new show called Caste-ing which was developed by and performed at The Barbican. She has been commissioned by RCSSD to write several plays for MA Advanced Theatre Practice, including infomania (also selected for The Miniaturist’s new writing night) and Ophelia (workshopped and directed by Ayse Tashkiran). She holds a BA in Drama and Creative Writing, and an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice. Nicole runs theatre company Acquah&Co, focusing upon championing and celebrating Black British voices.

Eleanor Penny is a writer, essayist and poet. She won the Poetry London Competition 2020, the Verve Poetry Festival prize 2020, and was Highly Commended in the 2021 Forward Prizes. She has twice been shortlisted for Young People’s Poet Laureate. She is a former Barbican Young Poet, and an alumnus of the London Writers Awards 2021. She hosts the literature podcast Bedtime Stories for the End of the World. In her current project Albion, she is researching maritime histories of the UK. She teaches creative writing workshops with organisations including the Poetry School, Spread The Word and The Midnight Run. Her debut pamphlet 'Mercy' was published in 2021 by Flipped Eye. She is currently working on her first novel.

Tasha Kavanagh has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA where she studied under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. She has worked as a film editor on features including 'Twelve Monkeys', 'Seven Years in Tibet' and 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and has had 10 children's books published. Her debut novel 'Things We Have in Common' was published by Canongate in 2015 to critical acclaim and was shortlisted for major prizes including the Costa 1st Novel and Desmond Elliott Prize. She is currently writing her second novel.