FINE-TUNING their creative talents, Midhurst Rother College year seven students enjoyed an inspirational visit from ‘Gothic’ author Elisa Marcella Webb.

Elisa, who is currently a PhD student at Kingston University studying creative writing, gave a talk about her first novel, Darkling Park, a Gothic adventure for young people set in a South London graveyard.

She also explained how she became a writer and encouraged the students to write stories themselves as an especially good way to deal with the stresses of being a modern teenager.

The former head of department at a top London school, she left after suffering a severe bout of clinical depression but found a new life, recovery and therapy in the written word, after signing up for a creative writing course.