HISTORY

The format
Based on one advocated by Peter Elbow in his book "Writing Without Teachers" (OUP) and meant to:
enable learning
maximise personal control over the content of the learning, whilst
minimising the amount of time wasted in the process.

The group
Set up in the mid-90s to be an addition to the range of options open to people who set out seriously 'to learn to write' (mainly fiction). It was felt that structured courses, master-classes, evening classes and workshops generally, whilst having merits variously, short-changed on the potential for learning provided by unrestricted and interventionist input by writers on each others' work in a safe and supportive environment.

Our group was founded to provide a modus operandi conducive to accelerated self-learning despite the constraints of the workshop context.

Thus our sub-species of Teacherless Writing Class was born.