The Writing School: A memoir

(Paperback)

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'Fascinating, hugely entertaining, instructive in the best sense. I always thought that writing could not be taught, only reading, but this book made me reconsider. I read it in one sitting' Alberto Manguel

'Both extremely funny and deeply sad, The Writing School examines how and why we tell our own stories. It's beautifully written and structured, compelling, wise and fabulously readable' Lissa Evans

'The Writing School is an extraordinary book. It is funny, exhilarating, heart-breaking and passionate. Its delicate pulsing themes are held like a bird in the writer's confident, gentle hand' Katharine Norbury

'Life, with its unexpected troughs and highs, the disciplines of teaching a creative writing course and the shadow of a family tragedy provide the focus for a memoir that brims with humour, honesty and intelligence. The Writing School taught me a lot' Elizabeth Buchan

When author Miranda France sets out to teach at a residential writing school in the British countryside, she expects to meet a group of aspiring writers with the usual mix of hope and unrealised ambitions, talents and motivation. What she doesn't expect, as she takes her tutees through a series of exercises designed to help them explore different aspects of their writing, is that a ghost from her own life will join them.

As she thinks about the act of writing and storytelling, Miranda recovers memories concerning her brother's untimely death when she was a teenager, a grief that has profoundly shaped her life. What is to be done with our memories of those we have lost What is behind the urge to put lives into words And is it ever right to tell another person's story

Blending storytelling and memoir, packed full of literary anecdote and insight, The Writing School is a moving and often very funny book about why people write, as well as being a uniquely generous masterclass on the art of writing itself.

Reviews

Fascinating, hugely entertaining, instructive in the best sense. I always thought that writing could not be taught, only reading, but this book made me reconsider. I read it in one sitting -- Alberto Manguel
Both extremely funny and deeply sad, The Writing School examines how and why we tell our own stories. It's beautifully written and structured, compelling, wise and fabulously readable -- Lissa Evans
'Intellectually riveting but also slyly funny and, out-of-nowhere, heartbreaking. What an achievement. I loved every word of it' * Nathan Filer *
The Writing School is an extraordinary book. It is funny, exhilarating, heart-breaking and passionate. Its delicate pulsing themes are held like a bird in the writer's confident, gentle hand. Miranda France has created a brilliant, ephemeral eulogy for her beloved brother and a luminous gift for her reader -- Katharine Norbury, author of The Fish Ladder
Life, with its unexpected troughs and highs, the disciplines of teaching a creative writing course and the shadow of a family tragedy provide the focus for a memoir that brims with humour, honesty and intelligence. The Writing School taught me a lot -- Elizabeth Buchan
'A sheer delight - so warm, generous and funny. Every page moved me, or made me laugh' Irina Dumitrescu

Author Bio

Miranda France is a writer, translator, editor and critic. Her translations from Spanish include novels by Claudia Pineiro, Alberto Manguel, Liliana Heker and Sergio Olguin. She is a consultant editor for the Times Literary Supplement and a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. She lives in London.