The first Pen and Plough workshops have now come to an end and we will be publishing some of the participants writing in the coming weeks. We are now looking into funding for further creative writing programmes for land workers.
Please email engl-penandplough@bristol.ac.uk if you would like to join the mailing list for these events.
A special welcome to visitors who have accessed the website after watching Patrick on Landward!
Pen and Plough is a new creative writing programme designed to support farmers and land workers who have stories to tell.
Using an informal mix of group sessions and one-to-one mentoring over the course of six weeks (with around 1.5 hours contact time with the tutors per week), the programme will provide advice and encouragement for aspiring rural writers, particularly where their stories emerge from a close engagement with farming and land management.
Friendly, flexible and carefully focused to support new writers, Pen and Plough aims to encourage farming voices which might otherwise go unheard.
Organised and delivered by published authors Emily Diamand and Patrick Laurie, the programme is free to join and will launch in mid-March 2021. Numbers are limited, but we are keen to work with a wide range of participants from across the UK. No previous writing experience is necessary – we only ask that you share our enthusiasm for stories and rural roots.
To find out more about the Pen and Plough writing programme and to register your interest, get in touch at engl-penandplough@bristol.ac.uk by midnight on the 28th February. Please include in your email a short paragraph about why you would like to join the course.
Emily Diamand is an award-winning writer and Royal Literary Fund Fellow. She has worked with many hundreds of aspiring writers in group and one-to-one sessions, and has led writing programs in schools, libraries, festivals, online and even a wildflower meadow.
Patrick Laurie is a hill farmer and writer from Galloway. His book Native was shortlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing, and his “Bog Myrtle & Peat” blog has around 30,000 visitors each year.
Patrick Laurie 
Emily Diamand
The programme is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is delivered in collaboration with the University of Leeds and the ‘Tipping Points’ project, which comes under the umbrella of the Landscape Decisions programme (see the About page for further details).
The Pen and the Plough 
This is a brilliant idea. I use bees as a way of communicating to a wider audience and part of my new exploration with beekeeping is encouraging people to see them as an easy subject for blogs and newsletters rather than focussing on honey!
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I’d be interested in any future events you may be running if you could include me on your list please.
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Thanks Christine. Would you be able to email me at engl-penandplough@bristol.ac.uk and I will let you know about forthcoming events? Many thanks, Pippa
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