Writing place & building worlds (October 2026)

Masterclass:

Writing place & building worlds

October 17, 2026

Join us to learn how to bring your fictional worlds to life on the page.

We’ll look at how to research and recreate real places and eras, as well as how to completely imagine new worlds, planets, moments or societies.

This full-day masterclass is designed for all writers but will be particularly useful for people writing speculative fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, historical romance or crime – any genre that involves either accurately presented realist settings, or imagined places, futures or pasts.

What you’ll learn:

• The importance of place
• How setting supports story
• Steps to create an entire universe or society
• How to research historical or distant settings
• How to include findings (or not!)
• How to put into words what you see in your mind
• Tropes and reader expectations of key genres.

We’ll also make time for:

• Exercises and tips to use in your writing
• Questions and discussion.

It will include teaching, writing exercises, conversation, bad jokes, and possibly Tim Tams.

 Fiction depends for its life on place. In other words, if you could set your story anywhere else, you haven’t given your story a strong enough sense of place.

 – Eudora Welty

Who’s it for?

This masterclass is for emerging writers, people in the early stages of their writing careers, or any writers who are interested in sharpening their ability to create vivid settings or imagined worlds. That includes people writing for middle-grade, young adult or adult readers.

It will work best for writers with an existing project or concrete idea to which you can apply what you learn.

Details

Date and times: 

October 17, 2026

9.30am to 4.30pm

If you’d like to know more, get in touch here.

Where:  The beautiful new community centre at Balam Balam Place, 15 Phoenix St, Brunswick

Here’s a map to help you find it.

Cost: $215 or $195 concession.

This includes all tuition, morning and afternoon tea, handouts and resources. You’ll also become part of our writing community, with events, writing sessions, challenges and regular resource updates.

This class is designed for small group learning, so group size and ticket numbers will be limited. Don’t miss out.

Your teacher

I’m Kelly Gardiner, and I’ve published 12 books – most set in the past – and numerous short stories and feature articles. I write crime, science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction for readers of all ages. I taught writing at university level for many years, and now teach in community settings and run my own writing retreats and masterclasses.

You can read more about my writing and about my teaching here.

To find out more, get in touch.

 It’s place that interests me—and the social and economic situation in a place—how people live, how they make their living, the culture—but the story comes from place.

 ― Annie Proulx

Note: I realised belatedly that the original date for this clashed with Melbourne Writers Festival, so it’s been postponed to later in the year.