Testimonials
110 of the students who've taken our creative writing courses now have major book deals. 94 of these deals come from our selective entry course alumni and 16 come from students who took our six-week online novel-writing courses. Here’s what our students have to say about us ...


Jessie Burton
‘Curtis Brown Creative is world-class. I will always be grateful for my place on the course.’
Bestselling and award winning debut novel The Miniaturist published by Picador, July 2014, winner of National Book Awards Overall Book of the Year 2014 among other awards. Second novel The Muse published by Picador, June 2016.


Jane Harper
‘If it hadn’t been for the CBC course, this book would not have been written, simple as that. It was such a turning point for me, not just in all the fantastic lessons and feedback, but also in motivation and actually realising for the first time that I could finish a novel. I will be singing the praises of this course for the rest of my life, and I’m so grateful for having the chance to be part of it.’
Debut novel The Dry was published by Little, Brown in 2017. The sequel, Force of Nature was published in February 2018.


Tim Glencross
‘The CBC Novel-Writing course was invaluable. The tutors were brilliant, and it was through Curtis Brown Creative that I found representation at Curtis Brown and now a publishing deal.’
Debut novel Barbarians published by John Murray, May 2014; shortlisted for the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best First Novel Award 2014, as well as for the Paddy Power Best Political Fiction Book of the Year 2015. His second novel, Hoffer, was published by John Murray in Spring 2017.


Kate Hamer
‘Workshopping the novel on the CBC course with people who were interested in the same things as me and took the writing process very seriously was invaluable. They would ask questions about characters’ motivations and query anything they weren’t clear about; and having that outside view coming in to what you’d done quite privately until then was just amazing.’
Debut novel The Girl in the Red Coat published by Faber & Faber February 2015, and shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her second novel, The Doll Funeral, was published in February 2017.


Janet Ellis
‘The course really helped me to put everything together. Writing into a void is lonely and a little scary- getting reactions (of any sort) really shaped and focused what I was doing. The support of the group and the experience, professionalism and encouragement of the tutors was a fantastic combination and prepared me brilliantly for the next stage.’
Debut novel The Butcher’s Hook published by Two Roads in February 2016. Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2016.


James Hannah
‘Thanks so much for your advice and encouragement; I doubt I’d have secured an agent for my finished novel if I hadn’t attended the Curtis Brown Creative course. More specifically, it seems that the quality of my pitch swung it for me, so tell that to the next crop!’
Debut novel The A to Z of You and Me published by Black Swan, March 2015. Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2015.


SD Sykes
‘My novel just wouldn’t have happened without attending the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course. The teaching not only improved my skills as a writer, but also taught me about the business of writing and publishing.’
Debut novel Plague Land and sequel The Butcher Bird published by Hodder & Stoughton, September 2014 and October 2015.


Catherine Chanter
‘Even stepping into the lift at the Curtis Brown offices for the first time gave me a wake-up call. This is a business: there are editors, publicity people, lawyers, agents, media rights… I hoped the Curtis Brown Creative course would empower me to come out as a writer who actually wanted readers. And it did. One hundred per cent.’
Debut novel The Well published by Canongate, March 2015.


Nicholas Searle
‘The tuition I thought was excellent – a big shout here for Chris Wakling – and focused on writing a real book that might even get published in the real world.’
Debut novel The Good Liar published by Viking, February 2016. Second novel, A Traitor in the Family, published March 2017.


Alice Clark-Platts
‘I have loved doing this course. I have gained a great deal from it, made some friends and been shored up in confidence as regards my writing.’
Debut novel Bitter Fruits published by Penguin, January 2015. The sequel, The Taken was published 2016.


Annabelle Thorpe
‘I’m one of those people who never wanted to do a creative writing course. You can’t teach it, or so I thought. How wrong was I? Everything I learnt – from the tutorials to the author’s talks to the fourteen amazing writers I shared the course with – made me a different class of writer. A huge THANK YOU to Curtis Brown Creative.’
Debut novel The People We Were Before published by Quercus, April 2016.


Lisa Williamson
‘I’ll be forever indebted to Curtis Brown Creative for giving me a much-needed boost of confidence exactly when I needed it most, and for gently pointing out that I might be suited to writing for young adults. Lightbulb moment! I now can’t imagine writing for anyone else.’
Bestselling novel The Art of Being Normal published by David Fickling books, January 2015; shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and nominated for a Carnegie Medal, among other awards.


Laura Marshall
The teaching and feedback I got on the CBC course from our amazing tutor Erin Kelly, as well as from Anna Davis and my fellow students, enabled me to look at my own writing with a critical eye, and to understand what was wrong with it, and how to make it better. It also gave me the confidence I needed to keep going, as well as an invaluable insight into the publishing industry. I would never have finished my novel, let alone be looking forward to publication in 2017, if I hadn’t done the course.
Debut novel Friend Request published by Little, Brown in July 2017.


Maria Grace
‘Anna particularly helped me. She really helped me to be objective with the story and structure everything to make the plot more dramatic for the reader. The students who were on the inaugural course with me that summer were an amazing bunch of people. Not only did they really help me with all the workshopping and genuinely constructive feedback, but they made my time with CBC unforgettable.’
Debut novel White Petals published by Firefly Press, June 2015.


Hannah Mary McKinnon
‘The CBC course was nothing short of fabulous. My classmates were incredibly talented both in their writing and at critiquing submitted pieces, and I still refer to the materials our brilliant tutor, Chris Wakling, shared. The course had a profound effect on both my writing and confidence, and it confirmed I want to continue making up stories for as long as I can. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity.’
Debut novel Time After Time published by Maze Books, June 2016. Second novel The Neighbors was published by Mira Books in March 2018.


Catherine Bennetto
‘Not only did we get this constant feedback but the weekly tutorials from our fabulous and supportive tutor, Chris Wakling, taught me vast amounts. The course was vital to completing my novel. I’m constantly recommending CBC to friends. Sign up! Get on with it! You won’t regret it one bit.’
Debut novel How Not to Fall in Love, Actually published by Simon & Schuster in January 2017.


Jenny Quintana
Curtis Brown Creative helped and challenged me in so many ways. From propelling me from my desk to travel to London every week, to gaining the insight of Erin and Anna, to receiving great feedback from my fellow students and meeting professionals from the industry. Not least, it was through the course I found representation at C+W and then a publishing deal.
Debut novel The Missing Girl published by Mantle, Macmillan in January 2018.


David Barbaree
‘There is so much I enjoyed on the course. The quality of instruction, invaluable feedback from my peers, insight into how the mysterious world of publishing works. More than anything, I appreciated the confidence it gave me to keep writing and finish my book. I will always be indebted to CBC and my classmates for this.’
Debut novel Deposed was published by Bonnier Zaffre in May 2017.


Caz Frear
CBC didn’t just set me on the path to publication, it pretty much steered me all the way, as the support, friendship, constructive advice and cheerleading continues even after you’ve left the boardroom for the last time. The rigour and high standards set by both the tutors and your fellow course-mates really stretches you and makes you question, not so much, “Can I write?” but, “Do I want this enough?” In my case, the answer to that question was a resounding yes and I owe CBC everything. Caz Frear’s debut Sweet Little Lies won the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition and was published by Bonnier Zaffre in July 2017.