Creative Writing Masterclass: Writing Memories Together

Write creatively with a friend or family member.

This masterclass is uniquely designed for two people: you and your family member or close friend. Booking 1 ticket reserves you two spaces.

Join us for a creative writing masterclass uniquely designed for you and a family member or close friend. Using collaborative exercises based on shared memories and family tales, award-winning author Jarred McGinnis will help you find a way to write those funny, profound, chaotic stories that shape your lives together.

Throughout the day, participants will learn techniques for drawing out memories and some expanded pieces of creative writing based on one or two memories. We will spend time on the issues of craft when writing from memory. We will see how the successful memoirist makes use of the novel’s narrative and descriptive techniques to make their story more fully-realised. We will spend time on the importance in writing of using all five senses, dialogue, and detail. We will work on the effectiveness of evoking place and historical context by bringing in examples from contemporary British and world literature. We will also address the ethical issues when writing about family and real people.

This Masterclass is led by Eccles Institute Fellow and author Jarred McGinnis.

His debut novel The Coward won the First Novel Prize in France, and he is the recipient of the Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer’s Award. His latest novel, There Is No Meant to Be, will be published by Harvill Secker in 2026. Jarred regularly teaches creative writing for Arvon, Spread the Word and the National Centre for Writing, and has previously taught with First Story and Goldsmiths University. He is the winner of the Eccles Institute's Hay Festival Global Writer's Award.