In 2021, I ran the Academic Writing Programme at the university of Bristol. We had about 50 people sign up. In 2022, I did the same, and we had about 40 more. In 2023, the same again… and another 40. Along with other support (career development writing programme, support for the South West and Wales DTP, etc.) over the last few years, I’ve been able to support nearly 150 academics in and around Bristol.
150 is a good sized community, which makes it possible – now – to do more.
So, this year, in addition to the Academic Writing Programme, I’m doing a couple of extra things.
First, I’ll be running a writers’ retreat each month. These will be free1, and will be run in person on the Bristol campus (and probably online too). They’ll be full days, from 9.30 to 5, and are simply aimed at giving academics distraction-free time and space to write.
Second, I’ll be starting to use this blog more frequently, to share materials, thoughts, and resources for writing.
Over time, I’m hoping that these retreats and the network that gradually develops from the additional support, will become more or less self-sustaining, and we’ll see the emergence of a real community of practice.
I’ve been in touch with all those who have completed the academic writing programme to tell them about this… but I’m more than happy to add others if there are people who are interested.
If that’s you, then please get in touch with me directly.
🙂
- I’m doing these, actually, for free – as in, I’m not being paid for them by the university. That’s not as mad as it sounds. I believe there’s an appetite for these (and other writing support) but there’s a very real challenge in working out how academics (particularly early career researchers) pay for events when they don’t actually have any control over a budget. If the only way to assess audience is to run everything for free for a year and see… then that’s what I’ll do. If, after a year, no-one is really bothered, then I’ll stop. If there is a real hunger then I’ll, hopefully, have evidence that can support some kind of funding model. ↩︎
The Garage of Books 