Birmingham-based Tindal Street Press has enlisted the help of acclaimed authors including Helen Cross and Catherine O’Flynn for a summer school of intensive creative writing.

The two-day masterclasses, to be held over four weekends in July and August, will cater to a range of skills from first-time writers to experienced authors moving into a new genre, such as short story writing or crime fiction.

The masterclasses will help new writers put pen to paper and give practising writers the opportunity to present their projects at workshop sessions.

Cross, whose My Summer of Love was made into a successful feature film, and O’Flynn, author of Costa-winning What Was Lost, are among four authors who will join Alan Mahar, Tindal Street’s publishing director, to deliver the courses.

Mahar said: “This is a chance for first-time creative writers to those more experienced and wanting to try their hard at a new genre. Regardless of where they are on the creative journey, they’ll find their abilities benefit from professional advice, and attending one of our weekend workshops can guide them towards something they can be proud of.”

Cross, who lives in Birmingham and has written three novels, said: “Every writer needs to learn and practise their craft, find and strengthen their creative voice. This masterclass programme offers an invaluable opportunity for writers to take risks, explore and develop.”

To add to the creative atmosphere, the summer classes will be held in Room 101, known affectionately as The Orwell Suite, at Tindal Street’s home at the Custard Factory in Digbeth.

The masterclasses will also act as a taster for Tindal Street’s upcoming weekly masterclasses, which were piloted successfully in January, and recommence in September 2012.

Established in 1998, Tindal Street Press is an independent publisher of literary fiction with a reputation for excellence, with three books listed for the Booker Prize in the last nine years.

* For more information and to apply for a place on a course, please visit www.tindalstreet.co.uk/masterclasses.