Stories can entrance, engage, even possess us. Every one of us has a story to tell; factual or fictional, cool documentary or heartfelt family journey, practical travelogue or sparkling flight of the imagination. But to become an accomplished storyteller one needs time, a conducive environment, and a sensitive guide to direct and refine individual talent.

In October best-selling author Rory MacLean is returning to Berlin to lead an exclusive, two-day creative non-fiction writing workshop. Participants will be guided and supported on their creative journey. Both amateur and professional writers are invited to join. No experience is necessary. The only requirement is the passion to tell a story.

The course will include morning talks on the craft of narration and introductory workshops on gathering material, note-taking, voice and structure. Rory will underline the importance of writing from the heart, using honesty and personal experience to fill one’s creative work with feeling and excitement. Afternoons will be dedicated to exercises and, if possible, one-to-one discussions or project pitches, helping to draw out individual skills. Together Rory and the participants will unpick the transformation of our ordinary encounters, epic journeys, family histories and imaginative quests into prose. Whether you aspire to writing journalism, a blog, memoir, personal essay or documentary, take this rare opportunity to work with one of the Reader’s favourite writers and most popular tutors.

Rory MacLean is the author of more than a dozen books including the UK top tens Stalin’s Nose andUnder the Dragon as well as Berlin: Imagine a City, a book of the year and ‘the most extraordinary work of history I’ve ever read’ according to the Washington Post.

He has won awards from the Canada Council and Arts Council of England and written about the missing civilians of the Yugoslav Wars for the ICRC, on divided Cyprus for the UN’s Committee on Missing Persons and on North Korea for the British Council.

His works – wrote the late John Fowles – are among those that ‘marvellously explain why literature still lives’. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he divides his time between the UK, Canada and Berlin.www.rorymaclean.com

This workshop is now full but you can EMAIL hello@thereaderberlin.com to put your name down on a WAITING LIST.