Teaching
I am an experienced teacher of Creative Writing, working within Higher Education (HE) settings and in the community.
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Since 2020, I have taught Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching on both the BA and MA programmes. Since 2023, I have also taught Creative Writing at Leeds Arts University to undergraduates at all levels.
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I have also designed and delivered a range of standalone workshops and short courses in the community. Recent examples include a short course on the subject of writing short fiction with folklore for Comma Press; a 'Weird Women' workshop for Levenshulme Old Library; and historical fiction for The Portico Library, Oldham Libraries, and Tameside Libraries and Culture.
I’ve worked with new and experienced writers, adults and young people, and on all kinds of topics and genres: from historical fiction, to lockdown, to short story writing to Christmas! I also founded Mossley Writers in 2016 (see below for more).​
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The sessions have been pretty well perfect for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the stimulation and challenge. The balance of looking at other published work and having a go at an exercise worked very well, and hearing from the other participants was really great fun. Iain, participant
Sophie’s creative writing sessions are always fun, friendly and very well structured. Participants always gain in confidence with their writing and take away lots of ideas and inspiration after attending one of her sessions. Stephanie Hogan, Neighbourhood Librarian, Tameside Libraries and Culture
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Mossley Writers
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Sophie founded and continues to lead Mossley Writers. This friendly, inclusive group meets on the third Tuesday of the month, at The Vale, Mossley's beautiful arts space, 7.30-9.30pm. We welcome all kinds of writers, at all stages of their career. A typical Mossley Writers get-together includes critiquing members’ work, writing together using fun and thought-provoking writing exercises, and – of course – tea and biscuits. There is a small monthly fee to cover the hire of the space at The Vale.
In 2022, Mossley Writers worked with Mossley Town Council on Write About Town, a series of readings, posters and workshops celebrating the town's 50th anniversary of being twinned with French town, Hem.
In 2021, Sophie won an Arts Council England grant to run The Tameside WordShop, a year-long programme of free writing workshops for Tameside writers. You can watch the film about the initiative here.
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In 2019, Mossley Writers completed our first group project: A Worthy Mossley Man, an anthology and exhibition of our writing about John Knight, Mossley resident and prominent figure in the 1819 peaceful demonstration that became known as the Peterloo Massacre. You can read some of our work on this dedicated website.
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