Anatomy of a Story with Lucy Caldwell

Part of the Brunel University New Writers Programme

Creative Writing Workshop: Anatomy of a Story

In this unique masterclass, award-winning author Lucy Caldwell will talk you through the writing of a story, which participants will be sent in advance, from the very first spark to the final edits. Lucy will discuss where ideas come from, how to decide what form a story wants to take, and the specific technical challenges of this story. She will also discuss good editing practice, and how to know when your story is finished. There will be plenty of time at the end for your own questions, about this story and about writing in general.

About Lucy Caldwell

Belfast born, Lucy Caldwell is an award-winning author of four novels, four collections of short stories, plays and radio dramas. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018, she was the editor of Being Various: New Irish Short Stories in 2019. Her numerous awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Commonwealth Writers’ Award (Canada & Europe). In 2021 she won the BBC National Short Story Award with her story “All the People Were Mean and Bad” and in 2022 she was the recipient of the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award for the second time in 2024. Her latest short story collection, Devotions, was published in April 2026 to great critical acclaim.

About this programme:

Brunel University is a very proud partner of the Nero Book Awards and the Nero New Writers Prize for unpublished writers. With the New Writers Programme, our aim is to support as many aspiring writers as possible with an online series of free creative writing workshops, and publishing webinars.

If you would like to develop your writing craft, learn from incredible authors, and understand more about how publishing works from industry experts, this series is for you