Milford SF Writers' Workshop 2010

MILFORD 2010

Dear Writer,

You are cordially invited to join the Milford SF Writer’s Conference, held at the Trigonos Centre in Snowdonia. The dates are Saturday 18th September to Saturday 25th September 2010 inclusive (leaving on the morning of Saturday 25th).

If you’ve attended a previous British Milford, you will know more or less what to expect and can go straight to the booking form. If not, then a brief introduction may be in order. Milford is a gathering of professional authors, loosely linked by science fiction or fantasy writing. It is not a school for beginners, and there are no ‘teachers’ or ‘students.’ However, neither is it an elitist in-group: we welcome new participants, and invitations are extended to authors who have only sold the minimum requirement of 1 published piece as well as those among us who only dimly recall what rejection slips look like (HAH! – ed). Writers who have not attended a previous Milford are particularly welcome.

The conference has been a regular, more or less annual event since 1972, drawing members from Britain, Europe, America and Australia. Over the years it has settled down to a comfortable workable format: demanding and exhausting, with much hard work being done, but it’s also convivial, with a lot of sitting in the bar and talking about doing hard work. It’s thus a social as well as a literary event.

Here’s a brief generalised programme of the week:

* Saturday: turn up late afternoon, bringing manuscripts for discussion during the week. There's no programme, but around mid-evening we convene and get to know one another over a meal.
* Sunday to Thursday: the main working days. Morning is the time to read manuscripts and prepare notes. Afternoons are workshop sessions, at which the day's quota of material is discussed as forthrightly and constructively as possible, with fairly strict time limits to encourage brevity and allow even the shyest member's voice to be heard. Evenings are for more relaxed conversation and discussion, punctuated by occasional silly literary games.
* Friday: depending on the workload, this can be the time for a further workshop, a semi-formal discussion, exploring the vicinity of the centre, or just resting. In the evening we unwind with a special dinner.

The centre

Trigonos is situated on the shores of Lake Nantlle in Snowdonia, among the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park. It is about 10 miles from Caernarvon, which is accessible from Bangor railway station by a frequent bus service. Full travel details will be sent to participants. The centre is comprised of an old Victorian house and converted barns, and has a committed approach to sustainable land development and environmental restoration.

The centre runs many courses and workshops, and there may be smaller other groups during the time that we will be there. It is full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) and caters to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, and can cater for vegan guests also. The centre grows much of its own organic produce.

Costs: for the whole week, you will pay £440 (minus your deposit)- a flat rate for:

- accommodation
- full board (plus tea/coffee breaks)
- meeting room hire


What you have to bring:

- 1 or 2 pieces of unpublished work, not exceeding more than 15,000 words in total. Please bring sufficient copies for each participant, in usual manuscript format UNLESS you circulate these as email attachments in advance. One of these copies is also to be handed to the Chair (Jacey Bedford) or Secretary (Liz Williams) on the night of arrival so that we can organise the reading schedule, but you’ll get that back. The progress reports will keep you informed as to the number of participants, so you’ll know how many copies to bring.

A typical Milford has anything from 10 - 15 participants, and works best with a full timetable and minimal slack - this year there will be a ceiling of 15 members on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, plus a waiting list which you can join by paying the registration fee and room deposit. The treasurer will hold this until the booking is either confirmed or cancelled.

To book, please complete the enclosed form and return it to Liz at the above address, with a cheque or sterling money order, made payable to Milford SF Writers' Conference for a total of £100 (£95 pound centre deposit; deductible from your final bill, and £5 conference registration fee. Regulars will note that the deposit has risen in price: this is because Trigonos have had a number of no-shows and although they know Milford well, they have had to institute a blanket policy of all deposits up front. Since Milford is a non-profit organisation, we need to make sure that we have enough in the coffers to pay this initial lump sum). Late cancellations will mean a loss of deposit. At least one progress report, with members’ names and further information (such as how to get there!) will be issued in the summer/early autumn.

Hope to see you there!

The committee:

Sue Thomason (Chair)

Jacey Bedford – Minister without Portfolio

Liz Williams (Secretary) – mevennen(at)hotmail.com

Steve Kilbane (Treasurer)