Folklore Short Story Course
With Sophie Parkes
Price: 175.00
Discount Price: 125.00
Those receiving benefits or with protected characteristics.
About the event
Folklore can show us exactly what it means to be human, laying bare what we believe, and what we value. In fiction, folklore can provide both intrigue and clarity.
In this short course, you will work on your own short fiction while learning how folklore can influence narrative voice, plot, place, character, and time. We will examine folk tale and folk song for inspiration, and learn more about contemporary legend, rites of passage, custom, and mythical creatures.
Over the duration of the course you will work on two or three short stories, with your favourite published in a Comma Press ebook.
WE WILL COVER
- What is folklore? Definitions, considerations. Exploring our own folklore
- Folk tales, with an interrogation of narrative voice
- Contemporary legend, sometimes otherwise known as urban legend
- Folk song, with the appearance of a folk singer
- Rites of passage and custom
- Mythical creatures
WHEN & WHERE?
Online Via Zoom. 6.30-8.30pm on Mondays:
October 7, 21
November 4, 18
December 2, 16
PLEASE NOTE Classes are capped at 15 places to ensure a high-quality experience.
PRICE
£175 per ticket (+Booking Fees - or feel free to email George below to avoid booking fees) which covers 6x sessions including detailed feedback and publication in a Comma Press e-book anthology.
PLEASE BE AWARE: We cannot offer refunds for cancellations made within 30 days of the course start date.
Considering signing up?
We make our courses as accessible as possible: they span the UK and take place routinely throughout the year; you don't actually need any previous experience - just enthusiasm for short story writing; and you only need a pen, paper, laptop/computer, and internet access in order to take part and keep in contact.
Our Course Graduates
Past participants on our Short Story Courses have gone on to be published by the likes of Penguin, Canongate Books, The Best of British Fantasy, Granta, and Ambit Magazine, have work reviewed in the The Guardian, The Irish Times, Lit Hub, Sunday Express and Metro and recognised by awards such as the The Brighton Prize
Sophie Parkes is currently studying for a PhD in creative writing and folklore at Sheffield Hallam University, for which she won a Vice Chancellor's Scholarship. You can read more about her research here. Her novel, Out of Human Sight, was shortlisted for the NorthBound Book Award at the 2021 Northern Writers' Awards and was published by Northodox Press in 2023. In 2017, Sophie won the Arvon Award at the Northern Writers’ Awards for her collection of short stories influenced by English folk song.
Sophie's interest in specialist music, particularly folk music, has seen her publish the official biography of one of her all-time musical heroes, Eliza Carthy. Wayward Daughter (Soundcheck Books) came out in 2012 and the title of the book was later used by Eliza to name both an album and her big band. Sophie continues to write about music and musicians for an array of titles, including Songlines and Rock'n'Reel.
Sophie is an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching on both BA and MA Creative Writing programmes. She is also a frequent facilitator of creative writing workshops in the community, leading workshops for The Portico Library, Saddleworth Literature Festival, The Tameside Health and Wellbeing College, and Tameside Libraries, amongst others. She also founded and continues to run Mossley Writers and in 2021 won an Arts Council England grant for The Tameside WordShop, a year-long programme of creative writing workshops for Tameside writers. You can watch the film about the initiative here.
