The Founding of Arvon
A Memoir of the Early Years of the Arvon Foundation

The Arvon Foundation is a charity running residential writing courses at centres across England. In an informal, creative atmosphere, novice writers have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced, published authors. In this lively memoir, John Moat recalls, how in 1968, he and John Fairfax created Arvon as a reaction against what they saw as a staid, dogmatic approach to teaching poetry. The infectious energy and idealism of those early days led to the rapid spread of their ideas and the establishment of the courses into a self-sustaining, funded enterprise.

Today, the Arvon Foundation is one of the country's most famous and prestigious creative writing organizations. The extensive list of authors who have taught at Arvon courses reads like a comprehensive 'who's who' of contemporary British literature and includes such diverse names as Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Andrew Motion, Arnold Wesker, Ted Hughes, Ali Smith, Ian Rankin and Will Self. This is an inspiring story about creativity, imagination and self-discovery.