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The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
that promotes creative writing. Arvon is one of
Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
's National Portfolio Organisations. Andrew Kidd is the Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Cumper is Chair of the board of trustees.


History

Arvon was founded in 1968 by two young poets,
John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...
and
John Moat Roger John Moat (11 September 1936 – 16 September 2014) was a British poet, and co-founder, with John Fairfax, of the Arvon Foundation The Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom that promotes creative writing. ...
. It runs residential writing courses at writing houses in three rural locations: Totleigh Barton, a 16th-century manor house in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
; The Hurst, a manor house in
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, which formerly belonged to the playwright
John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...
; and the former home of
Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
, Lumb Bank, a 17th-century mill-owner's house hear
Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
the organisation established Arvon at Home, an online offering of courses. Due to its success, Arvon at Home is now considered a permanent "fourth house." The courses and writing retreats, some open to all-comers, others specially organised with schools or partner charities, provide space and time to practise writing with guidance from published authors. The charity also operates grant scheme for low-income writers. Ruth Borthwick was Chief Executive and Artistic Director from 2009 to 2019. She was succeeded by Andrew Kidd, a former publisher of
Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...
and managing director of
Aitken Alexander Associates This is a list of the major UK literary agencies, by order of the year of their establishment, including selected notable clients. Literary agencies See also * List of largest UK book publishers References {{DEFAULTSORT:Uk Literary Agencies ...
and co-founder and chair of the
Rathbones Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...
. Each of the writing houses has its own director, while Richard Haseldine is the CFO and Operations Director. Its national office was formerly at Free Word, a centre for literature, literacy and free expression in
Farringdon, London Farringdon is a small district in Central London, the southern part of the London Borough of Islington. The term is used to describe the area around Farringdon station. Historically the district corresponded to southern Clerkenwell and the small ...
. Free Word closed in May 2021 with its resident organisations, including Arvon, vacating. As of June 2021, Arvon's national office is based out of Clerkenwell Workshops. Its registered office is now its Lumb Bank location.


Competition

The Arvon Foundation previously ran the biennial Arvon International Poetry Competition, which was first judged in 1980 by
Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
,
Charles Causley Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a British poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, especi ...
,
Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.
and
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...
. In 2010 the judges were
Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...
,
Elaine Feinstein Elaine Feinstein FRSL (born Elaine Cooklin; 24 October 1930 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator. She joined the Council of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Earl ...
and Sudeep Sen.


References


External links

* * {{Use British English, date=November 2020 Creative writing programs Charities based in London Organizations established in 1968 1968 establishments in England