Organised by The Guardian
Learn how to plan and write your family history to create a compelling story with critically acclaimed writer Nick Barlay.
Led by novelist Nick Barlay, author of the lauded non-fiction family history Scattered Ghosts, this masterclass covers the technical skills needed to make best use of your material, including characters, settings and dialogue.
Across the two days, you’ll learn how to develop your narrative, create a credible world using setting and description, and discover how historical detail and narrative dynamics can come together to reveal universal truths through particular family histories.
Course Content
- Your story and your readers
- The people of the story: character and characterisation
- The world of the story: setting and description
- Creating and using dialogue
- Narrative development: the dynamics of structure and plot
This course is for ...
- Anyone currently writing or planning a story based on events in their family history
- Writers looking to develop their skills and take their project to the next level
Tutor Profile
Nick Barlay is the author of four highly acclaimed novels and was mentioned among Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2003. In 2013 he published his first work of non-fiction, Scattered Ghosts, which tells the story of his Hungarian Jewish family over two centuries. He has also been a journalist, and wrote a long-running and popular series about London for The Times. Other writing ranges from short stories to award-winning radio plays.
Course Details
- Dates: Saturday 29 October and Sunday 30 October 2022
- Times: 2pm-5pm (Saturday BST, Sunday GMT)
- Event capacity: 25
This masterclass is available globally. If you are joining us from outside the United Kingdom, please use this time zone converter to check your local live streaming time.
2pm BST | 3pm CEST | 6am PDT | 9am EDT
You will be sent a link to the webinar 24 hours and 30 minutes before the start time. Please email masterclasses@theguardian.com if you do not receive the access link 24 hours before the scheduled start time. Please note that the time zone changes from BST to GMT on Sunday 30 October.
We aim to make all Guardian Masterclasses fully accessible. If you require any adjustments to enable your participation in this course, please get in touch with us at masterclasses@theguardian.com.
This event will be hosted on a third-party live streaming platform Zoom, please refer to their privacy policy and terms and conditions before purchasing a ticket to the class.
Once a purchase is complete we will not be able to refund you where you do not attend or if you cancel your event booking. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.