Max was, until very recently, a Consultant Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund, mentoring and guiding writers at all stages of their academic careers. He is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Newcastle University and was a Winston Churchill Memorial Fund Fellow in 2003. He is the author of more than thirty academic journal papers and monographs (see publications page).
He has previously won the Elizabeth Longford Award (for The Prometheans) and the Roger Deakin Award (for In the Land of Giants). The Prometheans was a Guardian Book of the Week in 2009.
Max Adams was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for three years, coaching students in writing skills, technique and style. With long experience as an editor, mentor and creative artist working with almost every kind of writer from special-needs film-makers to primary school poets, life-writers and academics, Max brings all the experience and skills of a professional writer and Royal Literary Fund Fellow to on-demand 1-2-1 coaching and to group training in writing skills for correspondence, documentation, front-end literature and advertising.
Max designs and delivers writing workshops, immersive programmes and writing retreats for academic staff in all subject areas but particularly in STEM disciplines and in history and archaeology. These foster creativity, impact and self-development among doctoral, post-doctoral and mid-career academics wishing to explore their writing careers and, especially, take advantage of current opportunities and challenges in the REF and TEF.
Max has also worked with second-career professionals such as sportsmen and women, the military, police officers and others who need to develop and hone their writing skills. One such initiative is the The Writing Coach scheme which Max has developed specifically for individuals working in these sectors. Those who have benefited from the 1-2-1 mentoring offered in the scheme include a gold-medal-winning paralympian writing his second biography; an international cricketer composing racing tips; an international rugby player who wrote a Six Nations blog; and a statistician with an eye on a career in journalism.
All writers, regardless of their experience, benefit from one-to-one mentoring and coaching. Whether it is to sort out that niggling doubt about the apostrophe or semi-colon, develop your individual writing voice or to tighten the clarity of expression, writing coach sessions can empower your ability to express yourself effectively, to reflect your real qualities. Group tasters and small-group sessions can be organised to suit. The Writing Coach scheme also provides advice on commercial aspects of writing such as finding an agent, presenting a manuscript and working in a variety of formats including screenplay, article and TV scripts.
‘What a truly fantastic experience. I really cannot enthuse about it enough. The combination of Max and Trevor as facilitators – so different and yet superbly complementary – was simply perfect. I feel privileged to have attended and I will ensure that my institution is made aware of what a brilliant opportunity this is for all academic staff.‘ – A Life Sciences academic
For more information on Max Adams’s availability and on the various options for using the Writing Coach service, contact write.stuff@yahoo.co.uk