Time is running out to secure a spot in one of the excellent writing workshops at this year's South Warwickshire Literary Festival.

The 'local festival for local authors' will take place on Saturday 20 September at the Fold in Leamington Spa, and offers an "incredible" day of speeches and workshops.

At the core of the festival is the main hall programme, which will host a variety of talks, performances, and interviews with local authors and poets, as well as book stalls and general networking opportunities.

A varied programme of workshops is running as part of the Festival, with a range of areas to explore - whether you're already dabbling in that area or are looking for something new.

Festival Director Jacci Gooding hopes attendees will make the most of the workshops on offer this year.

She said: "Romance, memoir, and poetry are all popular genres when it comes to writing, so we've made sure to bring some real expertise onto our programme of workshops to help people take a deep dive into those areas and hopefully go away feeling inspired and ready to write.

Romance continues to be a popular genre for readers and writers alike, which is why it is the focus of one of the Festival workshops.

This workshop will explore classic romance plot beats, creating characters your readers will fall in love with, and incorporating deep emotion into your writing. It will also lean into romcoms, romantasy, and other genres.

The romance workshop will be led by Alison May, a published romance author and former chair of the Romantic Novelists' Association, as well as a popular returning author from 2024's South Warwickshire Literary Festival.

"But, places are limited…so don't delay when it comes to booking your spot!"

A varied programme of workshops is running as part of the Festival, with a range of areas to explore - whether you're already dabbling in that area or are looking for something new (image supplied)

Another popular genre is memoir, and if that interests you then the Writing About Real People: Memoir & Creative Non-Fiction Overview workshop will be ideal.

This workshop will explore the principal techniques that apply to writing about events and people from real life by means of group discussion, examples from literature, and writing exercises, all of which aim to equip attendees with practical advice and knowledge that they can take forward into their writing projects.

The memoir session will be led by David Muir, who has retired from his University post and spends some of his time writing fiction and poetry. He lives with his wife in Solihull and has been a member of Birmingham-based New Street Authors for ten years, since its inception.

A third staple genre is poetry, and you can travel around the World of Poetry at South Warwickshire Literary Festival this year, in what promises to be a whistle-stop tour through global poetry! In this workshop, you can explore poetic forms from three different continents, dive into example poems, and enjoy quiet writing time to craft your own responses to inspiring prompts.

The poetry session will be led by Emilie Lauren Jones, who was Coventry's first Poet Laureate.

Her words have featured on local and national radio and television, including two award-nominated television programmes. As well as performing, writing commissions, and participating in poetry projects, Emilie facilitates workshops for adults and young people.

Tickets to the workshops are £32, which includes admission to the main hall.

Tickets for the festival alone are £22. All ticket types are now available at www.southwarwickshireliteraryfestival.com.

South Warwickshire Literary Festival will take place on Saturday 20 September at The Fold, Leamington Spa.

Tickets for all events are now available online.

And don't forget to post about the Festival on social media using the hashtag #SWLitFest.