The Writing School: A memoir

Clever, funny and captivating The Writing School is a memoir told by way of a fictionalised account of the author's time teaching a residential writing course deep in the British countryside. A highly original book about writing, writers and what drives us to want to put lives into words . [Extract]Perhaps there was an element of envy in what I hoped was mostly a protective instinct towards my students. I was drawn to write about the circumstances of my own life but had always felt it wouldn't be possible to do that without betraying or upsetting my family. I feared the instincts of a writer might overpower the instincts of a daughter, a sister. The idea that we can write about the events that shape us and not hurt other people in the process was appealing - I couldn't see a way to do it, though[quote]'Both extremely funny and deeply sad, The Writing School examines how and why we tell our own stories. It's beautifully written and fabulously readable' Lissa Evans 'Both extremely funny and deeply sad, The Writing School examines how and why we tell our own stories. It's beautifully written and structured, compelling, wise and fabulously readable' Lissa Evans'The Writing School is an extraordinary book. It is funny, exhilarating, heart-breaking and passionate. Its delicate pulsing themes are held like a bird in the writer's confident, gentle hand' Katharine Norbury'Life, with its unexpected troughs and highs, the disciplines of teaching a creative writing course and the shadow of a family tragedy provide the focus for a memoir that brims with humour, honesty and intelligence. The Writing School taught me a lot' Elizabeth BuchanA creative writing course is a chance for reinvention. When author Miranda France sets off to teach at a residential writing school in a remote valley, she expects to meet a group of aspiring writers with the usual mix of hope and unrealised ambitions, talents and motivation.Tensions are bound to emerge over the course of the week they spend together: personalities will clash, egos will need to be tamed or gently encouraged. What France doesn't expect, as she takes her tutees through a series of exercises designed to help them explore different aspects of their writing, is that a ghost from her own life will join them.As the daily drama of the writing school unfurls, so memories resurface concerning a death that profoundly shaped the author's world when she was a teenager. Soon France's memories interweave with her present task of thinking about writing and storytelling, and she too becomes a student: asking, what is to be done with our memories of those we have lost? What is behind the urge to put lives into words? And is it ever right to tell another person's story?A delightful and unusual blend of storytelling and memoir, packed full of literary anecdote and insight from the author's own experience as well as that of other writers and poets, The Writing School is a moving and often very funny book about why people write, as well as being a uniquely generous masterclass on the art of writing itself.