Faber Academy Sign Up Information

Perfecting your plot and protagonist

Our Christmas writing clinic - send us your questions!

While we''re on the subject of writing hurdles, we''ve got something special lined up during the week beginning 14 December. Every lunchtime on Twitter, one of our Writing a Novel tutors will be on hand to answer your trickiest writing conundrums. Wondering how to make your main character more likeable? Or how to write realistic dialogue? We can help!

Send us your questions - no problem too big or small - to academy@faber.co.uk. And join us on Twitter at 12 p.m., 14-18 December, and we''ll answer as many as we can. 

Leone Ross on characterisaton

Getting Started: Beginners'' Fiction (online): 4 January - 28 February 2021

Fantastic worlds and how to write them

Fiction Skills: Research (2 - 29 November)

Autumn reading recommendations

NEW: Writing Short Stories with Lucy Caldwell

(27 January - 14 April 2021)

Keep going: how to power through your draft

Ask S. J. Watson

Introducing... Writing YA and Writing Lives

We''re excited to announce the launch of two new online courses, Writing YA and Writing Lives.

Writing Lives is a one-week live course led by Richard Skinner, which will look at the many ways to write about your own life and other people''s. In specially designed daily sessions, Richard will use a combination of group discussion, individual exercises and curated reading lists to take you through some of the best examples of life writing from both fiction and non-fiction, and to get you thinking about how to apply those techniques to your own work. The course takes place 14-18 September. 

More information >>

Writing YA is an eight-week flexible course with bestselling YA author L. A. Weatherly. We''ll look at developing authentic characters, finding a fresh and relatable voice, and the importance of pacing and structure in making every word and scene count. Each week features downloadable tutor notes and recorded lectures, guided reading and analysis, practical exercises and prompts to keep you writing, as well as live Q&As with your tutor and a special guest YA author. It will run from 23 November until 31 January. 

More information >>

Head of Faber Academy Joey Connolly said, ''If you had to choose two genres that have defined the landscape of publishing over the last decade, you''d have to point to YA and life writing. It''s a delight to be able to present these fresh new approaches to learning to work in these exciting literary spaces.''

Novel London Prize 2020

We''re very pleased to be one of the sponsors of this year''s Novel London competition. Novel London is a literary platform that has supported and showcased over eighty writers since 2015, including Not The Booker Prize-winner Winnie M Li, JJ Bola, New York Times bestselling novelist Laxmi Hariharan, Saiswaroopa Iyer, Dr Nat Tanoh and Emeka Egbuonu. This year''s festival will be taking place online and there are ten days left to submit your novel (published or unpublished) for prizes including mentoring and bespoke coaching.

For more information and submission details, visit Novel London''s website.

Alumni news

Congratulations to Julie Owen Moylan, whose debut novel The Butterfly Waltz was acquired at auction by Clio Cornish at Michael Joseph, and to Chlo? Ashby, whose Wet Paint was pre-empted by Rachel Neely at Trapeze. We''re absolutely thrilled for you both!

Are you a Faber Academy graduate with publication or prize news? Drop us a line on academy@faber.co.uk - we always love hearing from you.

In conversation with: Joanna Briscoe and Holly Race

Summer online courses

Looking for a short course to give your writing a boost this summer? We''ve got three new online options that may be just the thing:

Our summer reading recommendations

Alumni news

Lots of lovely alumni announcements brightened up our lockdown - huge congratulations to: Victoria Scott, whose novel Patience will be published next year by Head of Zeus; Susannah Wise, whose This Fragile Earth was snapped up by Gollancz; Saara El-Arifi, whose The Final Strife was the subject of a fierce five-publisher auction in the UK and a major pre-empt in the US; and Sophia Spiers, who was announced today as one of the six inaugural participants of the Madeleine Milburn Mentorship Programme with her novel The Hypnotherapist.

And a very happy publication day to Matson Taylor, whose debut novel, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, was published by Scribner this week, and announced as a Radio 2 Book Club pick.

Well done all - we''re extremely proud of you!

Are you a Faber Academy graduate with publication or prize news? Drop us a line on academy@faber.co.uk - we always love hearing from you.

View in browser

It''s been a challenging year to say the least, and one in which many of us have found comfort - or a welcome escape - in writing. If you''re looking for a gift for someone, or something for yourself, all of the courses below take place online at the beginning of next year - a great start to a creative 2021, no matter which tier system we find ourselves in.

All of the courses can be gifted - book a place using your own details and then just drop us a line at academy@faber.co.uk to let us know the name of the person who''ll be attending.

We''ll be back in January with more articles and exercises to keep you writing - thanks so much to everyone who''s been in touch this year. Keep going, you''re all doing brilliantly.

The Faber Academy team x

The perfect stocking filler