Some grants are available towards the cost of fees for those on low incomes, the unemployed, students and pensioners. Enrolment offers you a copy of the AWP Chronicle , published six times a year, and a job placement service. Although this is probably the largest organisation dealing with the teaching of writing in the world it should be noted that the flavour is distinctly American. This course aims to make students better writers, and to improve their chances of publication. Working with peers and tutors who are established and working authors, students are encouraged to create a significant body of writing.
Workshops allow experimentation in genre, form and literary approaches.
In the last two years, one former student has received a prestigious Gregory Award for new poetry, one has been given a contract for three novels by Fourth Estate, one has been offered a contract for a novel by Picador, and several have had work read or performed on BBC national radio. It's not resting on its laurels, though. This course takes as its starting point the fact that the demands on professional writers has changed enormously over the last few years. It covers the use of multimedia, Web design, image editing, and page lay-out that any jobbing writer has eventually to get to grips with. There is still space within the course to look at literary writing, screen writing and so forth.