A world-leading course in two powerful genres dealing with today’s greatest challenges.

Offers you the skills and experiences to become a published writer of books, articles and online.

Taught remotely and part-time over two years, to fit around your lifestyle.

Over two years of mainly evening sessions, you'll be immersed in the world of great nature and travel writing, with talks from top authors and editors, seminars from our seasoned tutors, creative friendships with your peers and an exploration of both the classics and the cutting edge in our genres.

You'll write extended pieces of up to 4,000 words, essays on critical topics, and a final Portfolio of up to 18,000 words. You'll also learn about the commercial aspects of getting published, organising writing trips, establishing an online presence and building a writer’s career.

A highlight of the course is our practical approach to becoming a working writer. This includes making actual pitches to real newspapers and magazines, based on an independent field trip which you will make in order to experience writing on the road for real.

By the end of the course, you'll be prepared to operate as a professional-quality writer in our genres. By then, many of our students have already appeared in highly respected newspapers, magazines and websites.

Our students come from all backgrounds, ages and levels of experience and skill. Some want to build a writing career and others are happy with a life-affirming hobby. We welcome all of these and see them as contributing to the richness of our learning and writing.

The 2025-27 course begins with a three-night in-person residential event in Bath, for which you will need to find your own accommodation. After this, it will be taught online, usually on weekday evenings, and will end in September 2027.

Overview

We aim to give you the skills and knowledge to become a working writer, alongside an understanding of current issues in our field.

You’ll study:

Exemplary writers in our genres and what you can learn from them

The history and context of contemporary and historical nature and travel writing

Issues in non-fiction, including representation, writing from reality, presenting issues and transforming lived experience into compelling stories

How your own writing works and where you want to take it.