In this session with creative writing professors and novelists Jem Poster and Sarah Burton, we’ll discuss the importance of place in fiction-writing, addressing such matters as factual research, remembered and imagined spaces and the creation of atmosphere.

The session will be informal, aimed at anyone with an interest in writing, and allowing plenty of time for participants to put questions to the speakers afterwards!

About Jem & Sarah:

Jem Poster is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University; he is the author of a collection of poetry, Brought to Light (Bloodaxe, 2001) and two novels, Courting Shadows and Rifling Paradise (Sceptre, 2002 and 2006). A third novel, Eliza Mace, written in collaboration with Sarah Burton, was published by Duckworth in 2024.

Sarah Burton, founder and former Director of Cambridge University’s MSt in Creative Writing, is the author of Impostors (Penguin, 2000), A Double Life: A Biography of Charles and Mary Lamb (Penguin, 2003) and The Strange Adventures of H (Legend, 2020), shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association  Debut Crown Award.

Jem and Sarah are also co-authors of a handbook for fiction writers, The Book You Need to Read to Write the Book You Want to Write (Cambridge University Press, 2022); a companion volume, The Prompts You Need to Help You Write the Book You Want to Write, will be published in December 2025.