Community

Teaching

“Writing was always the focus. Teaching happened by accident. Occasional invitations to speak at Birbeck, De Monteforte, and others led to validating a new undergraduate course at Southampton Solent University. That led to teaching on the MA Scriptwriting programme at Bath Spa. I discovered that teaching and writing are not separate. To explore the art with others is another way of revelling in it. The two illuminate each other.”

Robin now runs the MA Scriptwriting programme at BSU, and is an External Examiner for the MA Writing for Television course at Glasgow Caledonian University. Recent lectures and seminars include Reading University, Bristol University, and Royal Holloway. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has an MA in Critical and Creative Writing from Winchester University.

He collected his thoughts and reflections on storytelling in the light of teaching and practice into a workbook for Screenwriters, titled ‘The Art of Screenplays: A Writer’s Guide”. The book has been distributed and used in universities worldwide, was the handbook of the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course, and was described as ‘the most beautiful book ever written on scriptwriting’ by the esteemed mentoring platform Script Angel.

“Writing might seem like a solitary pursuit but it exists in the context of a conversation. All that’s gone before, all that’s happening now as text, performance, or the company we keep, bears upon the page before us.”

Jenny Saville Exhibition National Portrait Gallery August 2025

New Writing

Robin works extensively in support of new writing, as mentor, lecturer, workshop co-ordinator and lab facilitator. He tutors regularly at the Arvon Foundation, in Devon and Shropshire. He has mentored projects for Attagirl which helps to promote the female voice in cinema. Last year he joined their lab at the Sydney Film Festival, delivering workshops and seminars. He runs Scriptlab, a monthly table read in Bristol with tabb.cc and Producer Works. He offers mentoring, when time permits, via London Lit Lab. He is on the Scriptwriting Committee of the Society of Authors.

Robin’s next Arvon course will be the online retreat from 3rd to 7th November 2025.

Course details here