Join bestselling author Barbara Erskine - The Lady of Hay - to learn about researching a historical novel in our one day writing workshop.
There is much fascination and surprise to be found in historical research. Whether you are an established writer of historical fiction, a beginner or just a lover of history, the subject is addictive and rewarding.
Barbara will share her own experiences of what she has learned and failed to learn over her years of writing history-based novels and encourage an informal discussion about the intricacies and pitfalls involved; the excitement and danger of diving down rabbit holes; the best ways of channelling a passion for meeting the real or imagined inhabitants of the past: when to take short cuts and when that can spell disaster; how to pull up messages from hoofbeats and gas lamps and stones; the fine line between fiction and biography ; whether it’s better to use books or on-line sources and much more.
And maybe there will be talk of ghosts . . .
In this workshop you will have the opportunity to learn how to do the following:
Form a range of hand embroidery stitches
Apply fabrics together using fusible webbing
Attach beads and sequins in embroidery
Make simple cords and tassels
Stitch shisha (traditional Indian mirror-work)
Attendees will need basic sewing skills and embroidery kit with needles etc. Sequins, mirrors and other materials will be provided.
Come and make a foraging basket which you can use to collect fruit, vegetables or flowers.
This workshop runs all day with breaks for tea and coffee and lunch.
Please feel free to bring a packed lunch or have lunch in our cafe.
All materials provided.
Sunday Times bestselling author Anne O'Brien was born in West Yorkshire. After a BA Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Master's in Education at Hull, she lived in East Yorkshire as a teacher of history. Today she has sold over a million copies of her books in the UK and internationally. She lives with her husband in an eighteenth-century timber-framed cottage in the depths of the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire. The area provides endless inspiration for her novels about the forgotten women of medieval history.
Why write about medieval women? What is so special about Joan de Geneville?
Medieval women are for the most part invisible other than as wives, sisters and daughters of the men who rode out to war and manipulated power in their own interests. History was invariably written by men who had little interest in the role of women. But surely some of them, intelligent, well-informed and generally clever women, were involved and played a major role in their family history, and even in royal Court intrigue. These are the jewels of history waiting to be discovered and used in historical fiction. They deserve to be brought onto centre stage.
Why Joan de Geneville? The Mortimer family dominated the Welsh Marches in the Middle Ages, with their widespread ambitions, the often tragic consequences of their political choices, and their important marriage alliances. Joan de Geneville was the wealthy heiress wife of the notorious Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. A woman of courage, of resilience, she was also a woman imprisoned and betrayed. Could she survive the taint of treachery, for herself and for her children? A Court of Betrayal is her story.