Meetings – Croydon Writers

11 May – Emma Darwin

Apr 27, 2026

On 11 May the award-winning writer Emma Darwin, author of The Mathematics of Love and A Secret Alchemy will speak to us about writing historical fiction. As well as publishing novels and well-received non-fiction, Emma teaches creative writing, in which she has a PhD. Read more about her and her work here. Her latest novel The Bruegel Boy was published in November, when it was the Times book of the month. The novel is a profound exploration of humanity, love, brotherhood, vocation, loss and reconciliation: she talks about the challenge of writing it here.

Members might also be interested in her longstanding blog This Itch of Writing, on Substack: https://emmadarwin.substack.com/. It’s a real treasure trove of discussion and advice.

The meeting starts at 7.30 in St Mildred’s Centre – details.

16 May – Lunch at the George

Apr 26, 2026

Stella is organising another lunchtime trip to the historic pub near London Bridge. Last time round we had a great time and even did a little bit of writing!

The George, owned by the National Trust, is London’s only surviving galleried pub, last rebuilt after the Great Fire. Dickens visited and mentioned it in his books.

The date is 16 May – if you are interested, please let Stella know – her email is:

25 April – Saturday meeting

Apr 22, 2026

We enjoyed our first Saturday morning meeting in the Clocktower café, which featured a lot of interesting discussion. We shared a review, poetry, and plans for future projects, and Peter read part of his attempt at writing in the style of P.G. Wodehouse.

It must have looked like an interesting session, because two people stopped by to ask if they could scan the QR code on our notice!

13 April – Manny Gaskin

Apr 1, 2026

At our 13 April meeting, Manny Gaskin gave a very interesting talk about his writing journey. Manny is an award winning Architect as well as a Community Artist and Poet from Wallington, and currently the dynamic Chair of Sutton Writers. Among other creative works he has published a number of books of his poetry and drawings, most recently Cloud Sofa: A poem for our inner dreamer which is a playfully speculative set of reflections on the destiny of sofas abandoned in the street.

It was good to meet one of our friends from Sutton Writers (now in their fortieth year) and we plan to talk about co-operative projects in the future.

Welcome to St Mildred’s

Mar 10, 2026

We are changing the venue for our regular evening meetings: in future it will be St Mildred’s Centre. Details here.

Annual General Meeting

Mar 10, 2026

At our AGM on 9 March we reviewed the year and agreed a number of proposals. We:

recorded a vote of thanks to Mike Jackson for his long service as Chair and co-chair and sent our best wishes for his ongoing recovery,
recorded another vote of thanks to Ethel Corduff for her years of essential work as Treasurer and a mainstay of the organisation,
approved the accounts and reports,
elected a new committee:
- Chair: Nikki Aduba
- Secretary: Stella Howells
- Treasurer: Nimmi Channa
- Committee members: Jo Bodley, Ethel Corduff, Jeremy Dixon, David Gleave and Peter Hankins,
agreed to change our regular evening meeting venue to St Mildred’s, and look at the possibility of Saturday morning meetings,
reviewed our programme for the coming year.

Minutes are here…

CW AGM — 09 March 2026 copy Download

Dr Moss presented us with a signed copy of his latest book and spoke about his writing, paying generous tribute to both the late Michael Round and Mike Jackson.

2603 AGM Agenda Download

2603 AGM Review of the Year Download

2503 agm minutes Download

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.

12 January – Writing workshop

Jan 5, 2026

Our 12 January meeting was a session on short stories. Our planned facilitator was unfortunately unwell, but we looked at the advice given by successful writers and discussed our favourites.

Christmas Party

Dec 9, 2025

Thanks go to Ethel for organising a very successful Christmas Party! We met old friends, exchanged intriguing gifts, and struggled with Mike’s quote-based quiz. A good time was had by all!

Merry Christmas!

Croydon Writers

Founded 1945

Category: Meetings