It has always been a goal of the Bury Lit Fest team to offer events for writers as well as readers; this year, we're achieving that dream!
 
We're delighted to be teaming up with Gold Dust Writer Mentoring to bring you a full day of Creative Writing Workshops brought to you by the fabulous Gold Dust mentoring team, founded by novelist Jill Dawson.
 
Invest in your future writing and save £50 on booking separately.
 
What you get:
3 practical sessions full of advice from professionals, focusing on the inspiration and determination that goes into a book and the nuts of bolts of writing it.
10 am Do You Have A Novel In You with Jill Dawson
11.45 am How To Write Memoir with Midge Gillies
2.30pm Structuring Your Novel with Louise Doughty
A panel seminar event with industry professionals that seeks to lift the curtain on the mysteries of publication and answers your questions on the options open to those who want to see their writing turned into a book:
4.30pm How To Get Published with Gold Dust Writers, Laxfield Literary Agency & Novel Experience Podcast
A delicious lunch delivered to the workshop venue provided by FOLK CAFE (served at 1pm at United Reformed Church) 
&
Any 2 Author Events at Bury Lit Fest 2025 (add any 2 x author events to your cart when buying the Gold Dust Writing Workshop Day and get them FREE)
 
Full Schedule:
 
10am United Reformed Church (Hall 1)
DO YOU HAVE A NOVEL IN YOU? with Jill Dawson
It is said that ‘everyone has at least one novel in them’, but how does one go about getting it out? Novelist Jill Dawson talks you through what it takes to write a novel and helps you form a plan to make your dreams of being published, a reality.
 
Jill Dawson is the author of twelve novels, one poetry collection and the editor of six anthologies of poetry and stories.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a Costa Judge, and taught creative writing in many different settings. Jill is the founder of Gold Dust Writer Mentoring.
 
11.45am United Reformed Church (Hall 1)
How To Write Memoir with Midge Gillies
How to tell the story of a life? Is it best to start at the beginning, middle or end? What are the advantages – or not – of a prologue? Memoirist and creative writing teacher Midge Gillies will look at structure and the many options for writing narrative nonfiction when it comes to memoir.
 
Midge Gillies specialises in mentoring and teaching memoir and creative non-fiction. She has worked with Gold Dust for many years and also teaches for Cambridge University and on a memoir course she designed for Granta. She has written ten books and her most recent, Atlantic Furies tells the story of the early pilots who raced to be the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. 
 
1pm Lunch - provided by FOLK cafe
A selection of sandwiches 
Sausage rolls
Scotch eggs
Scone with clotted cream and Folk compote
Two sweet bites
Tea, Filter Coffee or can of soft drink
 
2.30pm United Reformed Church (Hall 1)
Structuring Your Novel with Louise Doughty
Plot and narrative structure are the subjects that most often baffle new writers - with good reason - the architecture of your novel will sometimes seem to defy analysis - but in this practical workshop, bestselling author of ten novels Louise Doughty talks you through the principles of story construction, the usefulness of screenwriting models for novelists - and how to fix a plot that's going wrong.
 
Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter, out now in paperback from Faber & Faber UK Ltd. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted as a hit miniseries for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes including the Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the CWA Silver Dagger, along with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages.
 
 
4.30pm Unitarian Meeting House
How To Get Published
Jill Dawson - Gold Dust Writers, Emma Shercliff - Laxfield Literary Agency & Kate Sawyer - Novel Experience Podcast

Our day of writing workshops for aspirant authors concludes with this seminar with three industry professionals. Jill Dawson, author of twelve novels and founder of Gold Dust Writer Mentoring will be joined Emma Shercliff, literary agent at Laxfield Literary Associates (in association with Blake Friedman Literary Agency) and Kate Sawyer, author of three novels, host of Novel Experience Podcast and programme curator of Bury St Edmunds Literary Festival for a conversation that seeks to lift the curtain on the mysteries of publication and offer practical advice on the options open to those who want to see their writing turned into a book. They will cover the pros and cons of writing specific training, go into the nuts and bolts of the submissions process and explain the differences between traditional and author-led routes to publication. The event will leave plenty of time for audience Q&A, so if you’ve ever had a burning question about how a book comes to being, this is your opportunity to ask!