Are you approaching nature writing through a personal lens? Have you considered the different forms memoir writing can take?
Author Ben Masters (The Flitting) will delve into combining nature writing with memoir. He will share insight into the journey of his own book The Flitting, from conception, to the writing process to publication, and offer advice on how to write personally about the natural world.
Ben will also explore hybrid writing - his book is a blend of lots of different forms: nature writing, memoir, essay, novelistic writing, literary biography, cultural criticism. He'll give advice on how to go about mixing modes and forms, and how to organise such a diverse mixture of materials into a cohesive whole.
The session will end with a brief Q&A, so come ready with your questions!
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.
Ben Masters is the author of a novel, Noughties (Hamish Hamilton, 2012), and a book of literary criticism, Novel Style (Oxford University Press, 2017). He teaches literature at the University of Nottingham, specialising in modern and contemporary literature. His literary journalism has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Guardian, New York Times, Literary Review and Five Dials.
His hybrid memoir The Flitting was published in 2024 by Granta Books and Tin House. When Ben Masters’ father, a dedicated naturalist, is confined to the house with inoperable cancer, he is unable to follow the butterfly season for the first time since his childhood. His son must become his connection to the outdoors. Blending natural history, pop culture, and literary biography, this unforgettable memoir charts a terminal summer when butterflies become a way for father and son to talk about masculinity, memory, identity, generational differences, and, ultimately, loss and continuation.
Photo (c): Tom Clark
The workshop fee of £20 (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 [email protected] 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.
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Accessible to All
- It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
- Writers & Artists has made one bursary place available for this event as part of our accessibility scheme. Please visit our bursaries page to find out how to apply for a bursary to the event.
- Payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on [email protected] 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 [email protected]
