THE FOUNDATION COURSES
• Intensive Foundation Course 2-day/3-night (Wednesday evening to Saturday morning) residential courses at Highgreen Manor in the heart of the Northumberland National Park, and Toftcombs in the Scottish Borders. This is a 'concentrated' version of the Foundation Course for those who can only get away from their desks for a shorter period of time.
• Full Foundation Course 4-day/5-night (Monday evening to Saturday morning) residential courses at Moniack Mhor near Inverness in the central Scottish Highlands.
The aim of both these courses is to discover how we can inject colour, personality and freshness into all our writing, business and personal. We explore the role of imaginative language, and the importance of stories and narrative writing, in successful business and brand communications. Personal development is fundamental to all creative writing and it is one of the aims of all Dark Angels courses.
INTENSIVE FOUNDATION COURSE
HIGHGREEN MANOR
NORTHUMBERLAND
28 – 31 MARCH 2012
(Wed evening – Sat morning)
TUTORS: Stuart Delves & Jamie Jauncey
PRICE: £1,495
(A limited number of places will be avalable, on application, at the special sole trader rate of £950)
SPECIAL INTENSIVE FOUNDATION COURSE
SIGTUNASTIFTELSEN
SIGTUNA, SWEDEN
15 – 18 AUGUST 2012
(Wed afternoon – Sat morning)
TUTORS: Stuart Delves, Jamie Jauncey & John Simmons
PRICE: £2,425
(A limited number of places will be avalable, on application, at the special sole trader rate of £1,500)
FULL FOUNDATION COURSE
MONIACK MHOR
INVERNESS-SHIRE
15 – 20 OCTOBER 2012
(Mon evening – Sat morning)
TUTORS: tbc
PRICE: £2,150
(A limited number of places will be avalable, on application, at the special sole trader rate of £1,250)
The courses consist of morning group seminars in which we discuss techniques and approaches and set exercises. One or two briefs are set for the course and afternoons are essentially set aside for writing. The main focus of the daily creative exercises is the world of business communications. But everyone is also asked to produce a personal piece of writing during the course.
On the Intensive Foundation Course there is an introductory session on the first evening. On the second evening the tutors will read from their own work, followed on the final evening by the students reading from the work they’ve done on the course.
On the Foundation Course the tutors hold writers' surgeries during the afternoons, giving each student the opportunity of a half-hour individual session. The evenings are given over to readings from the tutors and the midweek guest, an evening of music with a visiting musician, and on the final night, readings by the students themselves.
Highgreen Manor
Highgreen Manor, a Grade 2 listed building, is a Scottish baronial extravaganza built in 1894 for Charles William Bell, a Durham mine owner. The architect was W.J. Ancell of Clifford Inn in London. There has been a house on the site since at least the mid-18th century when coal and lead were mined nearby.
The Manor is at the centre of an estate that extends over 5000 acres of wild, open moorland. Farming remains the principal activity in the area and the estate has 3 separate farming enterprises. Around the Manor are houses and outbuildings that used to serve the home farm. The old farm workers are long since gone and their houses are now homes for families for whom the hectic bustle of town life holds no attraction.
Gradually the old farm buildings are being restored to house new enterprises at Highgreen which, since 2000, has been home to leading independent poetry publisher Bloodaxe Books, and to VARC which funds a yearly residency for visual artists as well special arts projects involving the local community.
For all other information about Foundation Courses please see Bookings & Travel.
Sigtunastiftelsen
The first capital of Sweden, historic Sigtuna is a small, pretty town on the shores of Lake Mälaren in Sweden, 50 kms north of Stockholm and only 16 kms from Arlanda airport. Sigtunastiftelsen is a beautiful and comfortable conference centre created in 1917 to house the Sigtuna Foundation, a private cultural foundation. The building is described as being ‘a cross between an ancient castle and a Tuscan monastery’.
This course follows the same format as other Intensive Foundation Courses, but we have created it specially to cater for the many native and fluent non-native English speakers in the Scandinavian business communities. As with all Dark Angels courses, we invite participants from communications, marketing, brand management, general management and the creative sector. We also welcome participants from the UK.
Moniack Mhor
Moniack Mhor is a traditional croft house commanding panoramic views over Highland landscapes with forest walks nearby. Close to Loch Ness, the house is surrounded by heather and silver birches and the table plateau of Ben Wyvis, one of Scotland's highest mountains. Kiltarlity village is four miles away.
Accommodation – Moniack Mhor has eight single and four twin rooms. On the Dark Angels foundation course everyone is guaranteed a room to themselves. Moniack Mhor has a hearing induction loop and the main work/living space is fully accessible.
