‘Once the most basic necessities of air, water, food and shelter are met, I don’t believe it is possible to live for long without enchantment of some kind’ – Patrick Curry
Enchantment, as a concept to counterbalance that of modern disenchantment, is on the rise. Narrative and words are both powerful sources of enchantment; as writers, we can bewitch our readers, transport them, fill them with wonder and lead them to deep meaning.
As well as exploring the philosophical idea of enchantment, this 12-week course (with a 2-week break for the festive season) will take you on a tour of enchanting techniques in fiction writing, such as creating wild and strange settings, invoking ritual, using the fantastical to spark wonder or apprehension, and of course, casting a spell through language and rhythm.
We’ll read and discuss texts by authors such as Susanna Clarke, Shirley Jackson, Mervyn Peake, Alan Garner, Taiye Selasi, Angela Carter, Irenosen Okojie, and more. For each topic on the course, there will be writing exercises to help you develop your own mastery of the methods of enchantment.
Enchantment in fiction is not just for fantasy writers! All the techniques we’ll cover can be applied equally to realist writing, or to fiction that haunts the spaces between the real and the fantastic. If you are drawn to the poetic or lyrical in fiction, strong voices, speculative and fantastical fiction, the gothic, baroque, folk horror, folklore, imaginative or landscape-based writing, you will find inspiration here.
This course is suitable for all writers who would like an in-depth exploration of writing as a form of enchantment, and who feel ready to share their work and both give and receive peer feedback.
Course Outline
- Five assignments, including reading material, discussion prompts, writing exercises and further recommended reading
- Ten sets of peer feedback on your work (two for each writing assignment)
- Detailed written feedback from the course tutor on a final submission of up to 2,000 words
- Q&A session with Zoe Gilbert
- An online writing community, lasting beyond the end of the course
This course is twelve weeks long and asynchronous – so you can log in and add to the discussion whenever you want. There are weekly ‘windows’ of when you should read assignments, upload your work or offer and receive feedback. Your course tutor, Zoe Gilbert, will upload a new assignment every two weeks for the first ten weeks. This will include texts to read and discuss, teaching from Zoe, and writing exercises. You will have a week to respond to each writing exercise and upload your work to the group. Group members then have a week to give feedback on at least two other participants’ work; this is an integral part of the course, learning from close reading and commenting on others’ writing. In the final fortnight of the course, you will have the opportunity to submit a longer piece and receive written feedback from Zoe, as well as joining her for an (optional) author Q&A.
Course Timetable and Content
Week 1 (September 24th): Assignment: Introduction to Enchantment – philosophy, theory and fiction
Week 2 (October 1st): upload work, give and receive feedback
Week 3 (October 8th): Assignment: Wonderlands & Strange Havens – the enchantment of place
Week 4 (October 15th): upload work, give and receive feedback
Week 5 (October 22nd): Assignment: Marvellous Worlds & Strange Intrusions – the enchanting fantastic
Week 6 (October 29th): upload work, give and receive feedback
Week 7 (November 5th): Assignment: Folklore and Customs, Old and New – ritual that enchants
Week 8 (November 12th): upload work, give and receive feedback
Week 9 (November 19th): Assignment: The Spell of Language – enchantment by voice
Week 10 (November 26th): upload work, give and receive feedback
Week 11 (December 3rd): optional author Q&A with Zoe; submit a final piece
Week 12 (December 10th): receive detailed written feedback on final submission
Learning online
The course will take place online, in a closed group on a platform called Slack. You’ll need to have internet access but not on particular dates. Slack is easy to use, and we’ll provide you with full instructions and guidance before the course starts. On Slack, we won’t have scheduled live chats, but there will be plenty of opportunity to interact with Zoe and the other course participants in discussion threads, throughout the twelve weeks.
Time commitment
To allow for reading, writing, online discussion and giving feedback to other writers on the course over the first 10 weeks, this relatively intensive course needs a minimum commitment of about 4 hours per week. The fortnight break over the festive season allows for some catching up, as do the final two weeks of the course, when you will submit work and receive feedback from the tutor.
