Do you want to craft a coming of age story?
Join August Thompson (Anyone's Ghost) to learn how to use the familiar aspects of the coming of age genre to create something that both fulfils the reader’s emotional expectations and inverts them. Together you'll tackle the questions, how does one make a story as old as storytelling itself into something renewed?
Through writing exercises, open discussion and a dive into famous coming of age texts, you'll find out how to create a coming of age story that is true to your experience, yet not autofiction. You'll look at the key tools to build your story, from setting and season, to character and dialogue, to temporal cues like music and cultural references.
Plus August will share insight into his publication journey, and his own writing and editing processes.
This masterclass will take place online via Teams. It will also be recorded so if you are unable to attend live, you'll be able to catch-up and access the recording for up to two weeks after the event has taken place. The session will end with a brief Q&A, so come ready with your questions!
This event is being run in collaboration with Book Aid International, with proceeds from ticket sales will go towards their Generation Reader campaign.
August Thompson was born and raised in the middle of nowhere, New Hampshire, before he attended middle school in West LA. After surviving California optimism, he moved to NYC for his bachelor’s, studied in Berlin, and taught English in Spain for two years. He recently received his MFA at New York University’s creative writing program as a Goldwater Fellow.
About Book Aid International
By 2030, over a third of the world’s young people will be in Africa. Millions of them will have no books at all. That’s an estimated 733 million children and young people who could become future doctors, teachers, business leaders, writers and more.
But, for millions of children and young people in Africa there is a real risk they will not realise their potential and be able to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty, because they lack access to books and quality education. Together, we can get them the books they need.
Through Generation Reader we will work with our partners to scale up our vital work, creating access to books in even more schools, more public and community libraries and more universities across sub-Saharan Africa. We must act now to have an impact on the next generation of young people in Africa.
Proceeds from your tickets sales will go towards Book Aid International’s Generation Reader campaign. You can find out more, and donate further, here.
The workshop fee of £30 (incl. VAT) is payable in full online. Please note that payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
This is a live online event which will be presented using video conferencing software. Joining instructions and full guidance will be provided by the W&A Team a week before the event start-date. Please note, all event timings are in UK time.
To view our event refund and cancellation policy, please click here.
Accessible to All
- It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
- Payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
- At the speaker's discretion, event materials will be made available to attendees after the masterclass.
- A link to a recording of the masterclass will be circulated after the event. This will be made available to event attendees only, and for a time-limited period.
- If you'd like to receive a transcript of the session, please do let us know and we can circulate following the session.
- This event will include written text and visuals. Please contact us in advance so that we can make arrangements to be sure all documents appear in a format that works for you.
- If you’d like to attend but have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, then please email AccessWA@bloomsbury.com
