Wild Words in the Holloway: A Creative Writing Course

The mysterious, otherworldly nature of the holloways, with their towering trees and carved sandstone walls, has long inspired writers. Geoffrey Household used the sunken depths of Shutes Lane for the atmospheric finale of his bestselling novel Rogue Male. Later, Robert Macfarlane, captivated by Household’s work, followed in his footsteps to rediscover this ancient landscape and bring it to life in prose. Indeed, many visitors describe a walk down these holloways as a journey into a Tolkien-esque Middle Earth.

In this 3-hour creative writing course, poet and landscape writer Sarah Acton will guide you on a journey of creative exploration along these remarkable sunken paths. You’ll draw inspiration from the enchanting landscape, capturing its wonder in your writing. As you walk the paths, you’ll find moments for solitude and shared reflection, listen to selected readings, and explore where your writing might take you.

Sarah will keep the energy flowing with playful prompts and exercises designed to encourage deep connections with the landscape and your own creative process. Wild Words is a participatory workshop, offering opportunities to gather new ideas, share conversations, and craft poetry or prose that reflects your experience of these timeless places.

All levels and abilities from beginners to advanced writers welcome. Ages 12+ 

Feel free to bring your notebook and dress for the weather. We will walk a gentle distance from our classroom base to the Holloway and back which includes a slope that may be slippery. During the morning you may be walking for up to an hour in total with gentle pauses to experience stillness, listen, write and tune into the shared world outside with time at the beginning and end in our classroom base. 

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