WOTM – a new beginning

There has been a muted response to Writer of the Month this time round, and the committee has decided that a different format may fit more easily with our aims.

So we are working to set up a replacement for it – Writers’ Forum – which will provide members with an opportunity to submit a piece of writing for peer review. This will replace the competitive emphasis of Writer of the Month with a collegiate, developmental and productive one.

Look out for further news!

13 April – Manny Gaskin

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.

Annual General Meeting

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…

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.