Writing Course Gift Vouchers: Give a Writer Time, Craft and Company
A writing course gift voucher: the gift that opens a gate
Most gifts for writers are objects: a notebook, a fountain pen, a mug with a clever line on it. They are lovely, and most of them end up in a drawer. A writing course gift voucher is a different kind of present. It gives someone a season of their writing life back, with a New York Times bestselling author reading their pages closely and a small class of writers from around the world walking the same path beside them.
Kathryn Aalto’s students often arrive having circled their writing for years, waiting for permission to take it seriously. A gift voucher is that permission, handed over by someone who believes in them.
Where a writing course gift voucher can lead
The recipient chooses how to spend it. The Footpath is the gentlest way in: two-hour live masterclasses in narrative nonfiction, taken singly or as a week, designed for beginners and anyone returning to the page after a long absence. Term-length courses, including Narrative Nature Writing, Memoir and The Art of Narrative Nonfiction, build real craft over four months, with guest authors joining from Level 2 onward. One-to-one mentoring offers sustained editorial guidance on a book or collection of essays. The Retreat into the Devon Countryside offers three days of writing, teaching and candlelit evenings in the Devon hills.
A £50 voucher buys one Footpath masterclass. £250 covers the full Footpath week with some to spare. Larger amounts go toward term-length courses, mentoring and the retreat.
What makes these courses different
Classes are capped at sixteen, so every writer is known and every piece is read. Kathryn responds to students’ pages in her own hand, in the margins: syntax and cadence, structure, pacing, and the moment a piece loses its nerve. Students name this more often than anything else as the thing that changed their writing. They join from six continents, and many stay on for course after course, forming reading partnerships and friendships that outlast the term.
Kathryn Aalto is a New York Times bestselling author, garden historian and master teacher of narrative nonfiction with thirty years in the classroom. Her books include Writing Wild and The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh, and she has taught at universities in the United States and Britain before founding The Narrative Life®.
How the writing course gift voucher arrives
Every gift voucher is printed on a card, signed by hand by Kathryn Aalto, and sent by post: something real to hold, unwrap and keep. It is valid for [period] and can be used on any course, masterclass, mentoring package or retreat.
Hand-signed cards take a little time to prepare and post, so please allow at least ten working days for delivery, and order early for Christmas. For last-minute gifts, overnight delivery is available, though a little lead time is always appreciated.
Gift voucher questions
Can the recipient choose their own course? Yes. They browse the courses and classes and write to Kathryn for a code at check-out.
Can it be used for the Devon retreat or mentoring? Yes.
When should I order for Christmas? By December 18 for standard post. Overnight delivery is available after that, but earlier orders are warmly encouraged.
Can I buy one for myself? Why not?