Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.
February 2026 Modules
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Creative Writing: Making the Scene
Cluster
Spotlight
Candidate
As soon as we obtain enough interest in this class we will be in touch to work out a meeting time that works for the group.
Thank you for keeping your Blackberry availability up to date!
When you think about your favorite stories, chances are you conjure the memory of a scene: the charge of the Rohirim at the coming of the new dawn, Luke turning off his targeting computer as he flies down the trench, or when Ged finally acknowledges the identity of the shadow being that has followed him literally to the land of the dead. Stories are built out of scenes, and scenes like the ones above make stories memorable.
In this class, we'll look at how to build scenes that accomplish specific things, according to the needs of the author and the story. We'll practice achieving specific goals, advancing the plot, expanding a characterization, even providing an opportunity fo exposition. We'll do this through assigned exercises, andby looking at how to apply these skills to the students' own stories.
We'll read each other's scenes and use our Collaborative Feedback method to help one another to sharpen our work. We'll be writers together helping each other's stories thrive.
In this class, we'll look at how to build scenes that accomplish specific things, according to the needs of the author and the story. We'll practice achieving specific goals, advancing the plot, expanding a characterization, even providing an opportunity fo exposition. We'll do this through assigned exercises, andby looking at how to apply these skills to the students' own stories.
We'll read each other's scenes and use our Collaborative Feedback method to help one another to sharpen our work. We'll be writers together helping each other's stories thrive.
Precepted by
Christopher Bartlett
Exploring Tolkien's Letter to Milton Waldman
Candidate
As soon as we obtain enough interest in this class we will be in touch to work out a meeting time that works for the group.
Thank you for keeping your Blackberry availability up to date!
So, we’ve had a FIRST Tolkien’s Letters SPACE course – but what about SECOND Tolkien’s Letters SPACE course? And this time, we just focus on ONE letter?
In 2023, we were presented with a Revised and Expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, which gave us the opportunity for an even deeper dive into the life, the works, and the wonderful procrastinations of a much-loved author. Already a fan and scholar favourite, Letter 131 to Milton Waldman of Collins Publishers is now published in full and is one of the longest of the letters at around ten thousand words. The letter now also includes an attachment at the end, which is a list of individual tales with short descriptions, some of which were proposed by Tolkien for publication.
Designed to persuade Waldman to publish both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, Letter 131 provides remarkable insight into Tolkien’s mythology, and his belief in the interdependence of these two works. In this course, we will read through this letter in great detail, making the connections between the letter and the texts, and immersing ourselves in wonder that is Tolkien’s subcreated world.
In 2023, we were presented with a Revised and Expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, which gave us the opportunity for an even deeper dive into the life, the works, and the wonderful procrastinations of a much-loved author. Already a fan and scholar favourite, Letter 131 to Milton Waldman of Collins Publishers is now published in full and is one of the longest of the letters at around ten thousand words. The letter now also includes an attachment at the end, which is a list of individual tales with short descriptions, some of which were proposed by Tolkien for publication.
Designed to persuade Waldman to publish both The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, Letter 131 provides remarkable insight into Tolkien’s mythology, and his belief in the interdependence of these two works. In this course, we will read through this letter in great detail, making the connections between the letter and the texts, and immersing ourselves in wonder that is Tolkien’s subcreated world.
Precepted by
Dr.
Sara Brown