Department of English Courses

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Dates: 08/10/2025 - 03/12/2025

Location: Room G.H03, University of Bristol Arts Complex, 7 Woodland Road, BS8 1TB.

8 week course, (no class 29 October)
Wednesdays, 2 pm to 4 pm

You will be introduced to a variety of approaches to memoir and life writing through a discussion of different texts, and we'll do writing exercises to explore your material in a confidential space. There will be opportunities to share your work and get feedback if you wish.

Every week, we'll do exercises to explore aspects of the craft of writing, including how to progress and structure your writing, how to develop an individual narrative voice, mapping your plot, and how to integrate non-fiction material. Can dialogue be included/created? What kind of source material can be used? How do we navigate the vagaries of memory and differing points of view? Do we need to get the permission of others? If you want to write about your life and engage in lively discussions with other writers, then this course is for you.

Each term's teaching is designed anew, so that former students can continue to attend ongoing courses and find fresh stimulus. There are always different aspects and more layers of your writing to explore!

Dr Rachel Bentham has been Royal Literary Fellow at several universities, is a prize winning poet and script writer. She wrote the first radio docudrama broadcast on BBC (blending interview material and fiction) and subsequently has had numerous docudramas and stories broadcast on Radio Four. She has several published poetry collections and currently teaches at Bristol and Oxford Universities.

Please see detailed description for the refund policy.

Contact Info:
English-Lifelong@bristol.ac.uk
0117 455 8271

Wednesdays, 6 pm to 8 pm

This is an introduction to nature writing for students wanting to study this genre in a practical way and develop a portfolio of writing for publication or broadcast. During eight weeks of sessions, together with recommended reading and self-directed study, we will explore forms of nature writing such as journaling, fieldnotes, short-form and long-form essays, video/audio essays, ecopoetry, environmental journalism and writing as activism.

We will discuss the role of writing in the Anthropocene and our relations to Nature through natural history, protective conservation, restorative ecology, rewilding, ecosemiotics, personal experience and autoethnography, ecocriticism, ecophilosophy and post-humanism. At the end of the course, students will have amassed a collection of writing useful for taking the next steps in their nature writing practice.

Dr Paul Evans is a freelance writer and broadcaster with considerable experience in (print and online) environmental journalism, radio documentaries, docu-dramas and teaching creative writing.

Dates: 08/10/2025 - 03/12/2025

Location: The first and last sessions will be on campus at the University of Bristol Arts Complex, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TB and the remainder of the sessions will take place online via Teams.

Contact Info:
english-lifelong@bristol.ac.uk
0117 455 8271

Dates: 08/10/2025 - 10/12/2025

Location: Room G.H03, University of Bristol Arts Complex, 7 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TB

8 week course, (no classes 29 October or 19 November)
Wednesdays 6 pm to 8 pm

Poetry Now uses excerpts from recent poetry collections as a springboard for discussions about the current craft and context of contemporary poetry, as well as for prompts for your own work. Each week will include in-class exercises and dedicated time to work on your own pieces, culminating in a celebration session of reading and feedback.

Please note there will be two breaks in this course and therefore no classes on 29 October (half-term) or 19 November (reading week). Additional reading and tasks will be provided for students to do at home during reading week.

Dr. Suzannah V. Evans is a poet, researcher, and educator. Her debut full poetry collection is Under the Blue (Bloomsbury Poetry, September 2025). She is the author of Brightwork and Marine Objects / Some Language, and the editor of All Keyboards are Legitimate: Versions of Jules Laforgue (Guillemot Press). A chapter of her work appears in Carcanet’s anthology New Poetries VIII. Her poetry has been awarded the Ivan Juritz Prize for Creative Experiment and a Northern Writers’ Award, performed at international festivals, and broadcast on BBC Radio. She holds an AHRC-funded PhD in modern poetry and has taught literature and creative writing widely in higher and adult education.

Please see detailed description for the refund policy.

Contact Info:
English-Lifelong@bristol.ac.uk
0117 455 8271