Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre in Inverness-shire has good news to share with Scotland’s writing community. It has just got the kick-start it was hoping for to its funding quest for a new-build student residential block and is now embarked on a mission to raise the rest of the funds.
Moniack Mhor has been awarded £264,000 by the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery funding towards the £430,000 cost of upgrading facilities at the Writers’ Centre. The proposed improvements include more single rooms, improved disabled access and improved communal spaces. The upgrading is an essential part of the Centre’s aims to increase involvement with local writers and writing groups, and to strengthen links with schools, while continuing to build on its reputation as Scotland’s centre for creative writing.
Moniack Mhor is the only dedicated creative writing centre in Scotland. It is situated at Teavarran, on the summit of an ancient road, which runs east from the village of Kiltarlity, near Beauly, to the township of Abriachan, which overlooks Loch Ness. It has been operating for some 12 years, offering mainly taught courses, many in association with the Arvon Foundation. More than 2500 students have taken part in these courses, with an age range of from 15 to 93. As well as local people, students have come from a wide area across the UK as well as from Europe, North America and the Far East. Without fail, they praise the inspirational qualities of the location in the Scottish Highlands.
However the quality and flexibility of accommodation is not always viewed so highly. To meet the requirements of participants, to meet the needs of people with disabilities and to expand activities to match the opportunities that exist to develop creative writing skills and their contribution to Scotland’s artistic, social, educational and economic agenda, the Board decided that the centre must be enhanced and developed.
The Centre has a core provision of open residential courses for 5 days and nights (operating from Monday afternoon through to Saturday morning). These cover subjects such as poetry, fiction, short story, drama, novel, crime writing, writing for television, for radio, for screen, writing for children, travel writing and starting to write, and more. Each course is led by two tutors with a guest reader attending on one evening. The tutors are practicing authors and the courses provide an unparalleled opportunity for aspiring writers to work and learn. These courses are promoted and marketed in association with the Arvon Foundation. The pricing structure is set with Arvon and applies to courses at the different centres around the UK, but bursaries are available to offset the cost where there may be difficulty in meeting the full fee. In addition the centre runs courses, in a similar format, for school pupils, school teachers, writers groups and others interested in developing some aspect of creative writing.
Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council enthuses:
‘Moniack Mhor has established itself as a haven for writers at all stages of their careers, both for its outstanding location and for the excellent quality of the tuition. Improving its facilities will allow Moniack Mhor to build on its considerable success by accommodating a greater range of writers, offering a range of new events for local, Highlands-based writers, and providing better educational opportunities for younger writers in particular.’
The project will enhance and expand the current facilities at Moniack Mhor and the range of activities they support. The aim is to move to operating on a full year-round basis, offering a wider range of courses outwith the main Arvon season (June to early October). The new building will provide custom designed accommodation for disabled people and will allow tutors and readers to extend their stay at the centre to take part in sessions and readings in schools, libraries and other locations and to work with local writing groups.
Moniack Mhor’s aspirations will allow an expansion in activity, with the introduction of further partnership courses, workshops, masterclasses and retreats. Annual numbers of participants are projected to grow by 46% in the first three years.
Moniack Mhor is actively working to complete its required funding package and is in discussions with the Highland Council, Inverness and Nairn Enterprise and a number of private Trusts and Foundations.
