This week’s workshop centred on writing dialogue. As usual, the class opened with a carefully selected reading and then developed naturally into a discussion about types of dialogue, literary styles and themes, options for writers and finally some writing exercises.

Greenhalgh is a deeply engaging tutor and the class progressed in a fun, lively manner. Dialogue seems to be a divisive topic that writers either find very easy or very difficult but the exercises and class discussions catered for all levels of experience. If you’d like feedback on your prose or poetry, Greenhalgh is a brilliant critic: fair and encouraging but not afraid to suggest drastic improvements.

This was the final workshop in this series of lessons for aspiring writers and the attendees have covered the four cornerstones deemed necessary by Greenhalgh. The collaboration between tutor and venue has come to an end but there are still plenty of inspiring courses running over the summer at New Writing South. If you’re interested in what they can offer, there’s an open day on June 15. It’s a wonderfully relaxed place to attend (or host) literary talks, workshops, rehearsals or training sessions and more information, along with their summer programme, can be found at www.newwritingsouth.com