Croydon Writers

Structure in Non-Fiction

Jan 27, 2026

‘Structure in Non-Fiction’ is a free online workshop conducted by Damian Le Bas (author of ‘The Stopping Places and The Drowned Places), on 17 March. No charge, but you must book tickets.

Ethel at Ashburton Library

Jan 26, 2026

Ethel will be speaking about Irish nurses in Britain at Ashburton library at 11.00 am on 9 February. It’s free, but you need to book.

Details.

February Competitions

Jan 21, 2026

I have reorganised my lists of writing competitions and added ones with deadlines in February. I hope collecting all the details on one page is helpful.

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.

Tom Grass

Jan 14, 2026

The Tom Grass Prize is for stories with a sense of place and adventure. The top prize is £1,000 plus a conversation with a literary agent.

Ethel on the Radio

Jan 9, 2026

Our Treasurer Ethel Corduff was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on 29 December.

This was an item about Irish nurses in the NHS: Professor Louise Ryan (on the left of the picture) has recently published a book on the subject, and of course Ethel’s own book Ireland’s Loss, Britain’s Gain on the same subject is still available.

The programme is available to listen to on the BBC website

WOTM is back!

Jan 6, 2026

We are restarting our ‘Writer of the Month’ competition!

The theme this month is “Light and Dark”, fitting for this time of year and the times we are living in. Entries can be prose or poetry but should be short – flash fiction or a single stanza of verse. Entries should be a Word document attached to an email, or in the body of an email. Please send them to Stella at:

You will then be sent all the entries to read and asked to return your vote for the top three. The closing date will be Friday January 23rd and voting will close shortly afterwards. The winner will be announced and published on the website. There is no prize except recognition and we hope, a bit of motivation and inspiration!