Robyn Drury - The Art of Life Writing

In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore life writing – biography, memoir and all forms of non-fiction writing written in the authorial first person ‘I’, including travelogue, nature writing and reportage.

The workshop will focus on both the technical aspects of these forms, from finding a voice to establishing plot, structure and chronology, and the process of publication.

Each attendee should have a work in progress that they would be happy to discuss (it need not be a finished manuscript, but to get the most out of this session, participants should have an established idea that they are working towards), and one aspect of the project that they are finding challenging. Are you struggling to find a distinctive narrative voice, for example, or to construct the timeline of your work? Is there a central event you’re struggling to write about, or an ethical consideration you’d like guidance on?

In a supportive environment, we’ll use these ‘problems’ as a starting point for a dynamic discussion of how to approach writing first-person non-fiction and how to avoid its pitfalls. Please note this is a workshop for writers of non-fiction, not fiction authors writing novels in the first person.

More about Robyn:

Robyn Drury is Editorial Director at Ebury, the non-fiction division of Penguin Random House UK. She acquires, edits and publishes books by a range of authors, including national treasures like Michael Rosen, Clare Balding and Caitlin Moran, and award-winning memoirists, journalists, and historians. She has a particular passion for great non-fiction writing in the first person. Before joining Ebury, she worked as a literary agent and before that as an independent bookseller, and now she splits her time between the PRH offices in London and sunny St Leonards.

We are able to offer one free place on each of our workshops for a writer who is on a low income/unemployed and struggling with the cost of living. Please apply via email to info@hastingsbookfest.org and confirm your reasons for applying and which workshop you'd like to attend. Places will be offered on a first come first served basis.