Eurasian Creative Guild just confirmed I’ll lead a masterclass this autumn: “Narratives of Luxury and Identity in a Globalised World.”
I’m excited and slightly terrified.
The masterclass will explore how luxury industries shape contemporary identity formation. Using my five published novels as case studies, we’ll examine how brand management psychology, digital platforms, and global consumer culture create new narrative possibilities for fiction writers.
Marta Brassart from ECG proposed this back in spring. She’d been watching how my work evolved from Polished Edges (2022) through Luxury Labyrinth (2023), Eastern Empire (2023), Omnichannel Hearts (2024), to The Influencer’s Canvas (2025). Each book examining different aspects of how luxury, technology, and identity intersect.
“You have unique access,” she said. “MBA in luxury brand management plus years working in the industry plus literary craft. Most writers have one of those things. You have all three.”
The masterclass targets UK writers, both emerging and established, who want to write about contemporary consumer culture without falling into obvious critique or celebration. How do you examine luxury as psychological system rather than just aesthetic surface? How do you make brand management interesting as narrative material?
I’ve read excerpts from my books at ECG events before. Always surprising how audiences respond to the luxury industry angle. They recognise the psychology even if they don’t work in those sectors. The performed identity, the gap between brand promise and actual experience, the way consumer choices become identity markers.
This masterclass formalises that work. Turns observation into methodology other writers can use.
What I’ll cover: using business structures as narrative architecture, incorporating digital platforms as literary form, mining professional expertise for fictional material, writing about globalisation from insider perspective rather than distant observation.
Practical exercises based on luxury industry psychology. How positioning strategies work as character development tools. How brand narratives reveal cultural anxieties. How consumer behaviour patterns generate plot.
Since meeting Marta in November 2022, ECG has become essential infrastructure for my work. The Guild connects over 3,200 creative professionals across 73 countries. They organise festivals, competitions, international exchanges. Real literary network, not just networking.
This masterclass is my chance to give back to that community whilst developing my own teaching practice. I’ve led workshops before (Cardiff in February, Stories & Surfaces discussions) but this feels different. More focused, more aligned with my specific expertise.
Late Autumn 2025. London. Teaching writers how luxury industries create narrative opportunities rather than just thematic material.
Can’t wait.
— Writer Julia Zolotova
