Study Visit: Stephen Moss

Open College of the Arts
We Are OCA
Published in
2 min readJan 11, 2017

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Join Stephen Moss in conversation on the 18 February in Taunton.

Moss is an award winning producer responsible for BBC Springwatch and other programmes; he is also the author of some 30 books with his latest publication being Planet Earth 2. Presently he teaches the Travel and Nature Writing M.A. at Bath Spa University.

Although essentially a Creative Writing study day, it is open and beneficial to students from every creative discipline as we all need to write to support our work.

We will begin with a talk about a genre sometimes referred to as the ‘New Nature Writing’ that has roots in the work of the poet John Clare and The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White. A more recent defining work is J.A.Baker’s The Peregrine while more contemporary examples include The Unoffical Countryside by Richard Mabey and the more recent Being a Beast by Charles Foster.

Moss’s exotic sounding book Wild Hares and Hummingbirds is in fact a record of wildlife encountered in a Somerset village. Travel writing will also be considered; Tom Fort’s The A303: Highway to the Sun is an example and describes adventures along a road that some might travel to reach this workshop.

As well as an introductory talk, there will also be a walk along the River Tone and a practical session. As always, context needs consideration and students are encouraged to consider critical approaches to this subject.

This study day is taking place at The Brewhouse Theatre situated on the banks of the River Tone in Taunton, Somerset

For anyone interested, there will be a light lunch meeting beforehand at The Boat House next door to the venue; please mention this if interested when booking a place beforehand. Reserve your place by emailing enquiries@oca.ac.uk

Originally published at WeAreOCA.

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