Arvon Turns 40

Listen:

Synopsis:

Novelist Mavis Cheek examines the birth and development of the Arvon Foundation, the creative writing centres that were founded 40 years ago in an obscure North Devon village by a group of poets.

The original course took a group of 16-year-olds and expected them to live and work like writers. Galvanised by a workshop with Ted Hughes, the Foundation took off and, in doing so, arguably gave birth to the modern Creative Writing movement.

Broadcast:

1. 18 Nov 2008
   11:30
   BBC Radio 4