To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.
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Zoe Heller’s Notes on a Scandal: a lesson in economy, not a single word wasted. John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: the near-perfect symmetry of masterly plotting. Carol Ann Duffy’s Echo: form meets meaning as trios of words rebound between stanzas. As all writers know (and sometimes overlook, as we rush to formalise […]
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For more than 10 years, Adult Learners’ Week has celebrated the benefits of lifelong learning, recognising the achievements of outstanding individuals and the impact of innovative learning projects across the country. Adult Learners’ Week encourages participation in adult learning and helps shape the debate about adult learning. This year, OCA is encouraging students to nominate a […]
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Reykholt, Geysir, Gullfos, Arnastap, Bru, Stykkishōlnur, Spákonufell, Smirlabjargarvirlgun In 2009, OCA tutors Liz Cashdan (creative writing) and Pat Hodson (textiles) spent the month of August on a NES residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland. Now, a new book of poems and images, ‘Iceland Stories’, which includes a sequence by sound artist Jessica Rowland, is to be published, inspired by […]
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Mark Charlton completed his OCA studies and graduated with a first class degree in September 2012. His first book, Counting Steps, Journeys into Landscape and Fatherhood is published by Cinnamon Press this month. Mark blogs regularly at Views from the bikeshed and has just tutored at Ty Newydd, National Writing Centre, Wales with the acclaimed travel writer Rory Maclean. Here, he […]
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Major movements forward in the development of poetic form have often been achieved by abandoning accepted conventions. The Romantic poets’ parting with the heroic couplet and Walt Whitman’s no-rhyme, free-verse revolution are two examples. Vision and courage propel creative change, and artists working in many forms learn from what preceded them. Degas and Renoir were […]
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11am Saturday morning: fear – of what to write, of whether any words will come, of writing well enough; of reading aloud scribbled sentences to a critical audience of strangers. 14 writers are gathered in a room in Ilkley, the top of the moor just visible through the window, on the second day of the […]
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Flagship of the literature world The Arvon Foundation works with only three higher education partners each year. OCA is privileged to be one of them. Our next residential week with Arvon is taking place between Monday 25 and Saturday 30 March 2013. Arvon has many prominent writers as friends, patrons and supporters. The list includes […]
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Let’s start with a confession. I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey. Well, not from cover to cover. But I’ve read enough over people’s shoulders to know I want more, especially now I realise it’s not the sequel to Sebastian Faulks’ Second World War French Resistance novel Charlotte Gray. It will be all mine to […]
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On Sunday, an old friend and his wife came to lunch at short notice, bringing with them his 85-year old mother, Doreen, who has recently been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia. To get to our house, they had to drive for an hour and a quarter: a regular outing for the young and […]
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