Author: Peter

I'm a retired civil servant in Surrey, UK and long-time blogger. These days I'm spending more time writing stories and doing other creative stuff

The British West Indies Regiment

Feb 12, 2026

Croydon Writer David Gleave has an interesting book out. It tells the story of black soldiers from the Caribbean who served their King and country in World War One. Nineteen died at the training camp in Seaford, Sussex, and are commemorated at a cemetery in the town. Others served with distinction in Egypt, Palestine, East Africa, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and in a few cases, in Flanders.

The story of their service has never been told and, until now, has been a forgotten chapter in history. David’s book aims to rectify that, and offers a fascinating insight into a neglected aspect of the war.

It’s Love at Croydon Writers

Feb 10, 2026

Lots of non-members have expressed an interest in our Writer of the Month competition – so for February we are opening it to all comers. Only members who enter will get to vote on the winner, though! There is no prize, but entries will be published here.

The theme for the February contest is “Love”. Unrequited love, forbidden love, love against all odds, love over the airwaves… let your imagination decide. There are no limits other than a word count of 750 words for prose, 7 or 8 verses for a poem. Non-fiction, memoir, or part of a screenplay etc are all welcome too. 

The deadline for entries will be Friday 21st February: send them to Stella at:

Writer of the Month

Jan 31, 2026

January’s Writer of the Month competition was won by Martin Domleo with his poem “Sparkie”! Congratulations to him.

Read all the entries here:

2601 WTOMDownload

The theme for the February contest is ,of course, “Love”. Unrequited love, forbidden love, love against all odds, love over the airwaves… let your imagination decide. There are no limits other than a word count of 750 words for prose or 7 or 8 paragraphs for a poem. Non – fiction or part of a screenplay are welcome too. 

The deadline for entries will be Friday 21st February: send them to Stella at:

Meeting on 9 February

Jan 27, 2026

On 9 February Dr M A Moss (Mostafa) will talk to us about his latest book, recently published. This is the fifth in his Drops of Reality series, a collection of tales from a doctor’s surgery.

Time permitting, there will also be a chance to read short pieces and get feedback, facilitated by Stella.

This meeting will be in our usual place, but we are thinking of trying out other venues – any suggestions or preferences would be welcome.

10 Ways to Get Going again

Jan 18, 2026

By Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

January is tough, and it can be difficult to get back in motion, so here are some timely ideas provided by the Novelry. Five suggestions for overcoming writer’s block and five for finding new inspiration.

Faridah is the young writer, born and brought up in Croydon but proud of her Nigerian heritage, whose first novel Ace of Spades shot to best-selling success and a place on the New York Times Top Ten.