What makes a great novel? How is a novel woven together? How can we best appreciate works of fiction? Now’s your chance to have all of these questions answered!

The Book Festival has teamed up with the University of Edinburgh to create a new online course – How To Read A Novel. Perfect for teachers or for pupils studying for Higher English or an A Level in English Literature, the course will have you delving deeper into fiction.

During the course, you’ll discover four of the main building blocks of modern fiction – plot, characterisation, dialogue, setting – using examples from a range of texts including the four novels shortlisted for the James Tait Black Fiction Prize:

• A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker
• What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
• The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride
• The Sport of Kings by C E Morgan

The course begins on 24 July and runs for 4 weeks, culminating in the James Tait Black event on 14 August at the Book Festival at which the winner of this year’s fiction prize will be announced.

Why not get your whole class to sign up for the course as a summer project?

For more information, and to sign up, visit: www.futurelearn.com/courses/how-to-read-a-novel