Tag: croydon writers

It’s Beatrix Potter’s Birthday!

Jul 28, 2025

In a cozy burrow beneath an old oak tree, Peter Rabbit sat at a miniature wooden table, nibbling the end of a carrot thoughtfully. Around him were stacks of parchment, and ink pots made from hollowed-out acorns.

Outside, birds chirped and the wind rustled the garden leaves, but inside, Peter was lost in a world of his own creation — a tale of adventure, turnip heists, and cunning escapes from farmer foes. He called it “The Tale of the Bramblewood Bandits.”

Now and then, his cousin Benjamin Bunny would peek in, offering suggestions (“Add a hedgehog with a prickly temper!”), while Jemima Puddle-Duck stopped by to provide editorial advice (“You must revise the bit about tails — it’s all fluff!”). Peter was determined. He was going to enter the Michael Round Prize!

14 July Meeting

Jul 15, 2025

Jo Bodley led a lively flash fiction writing session on a warm summer evening. Jo, whose pieces have achieved success in competitions, gave an introduction to writing flash including some interesting hints on what makes good pieces.
Then we did an exercise, chosing the short limit of 100 words. Prompts included ‘Far and Wide’ (catchy title, that), ‘Then you were gone’, ‘Then the roof fell in’ and ‘My coffee cup’. We each produced and read two short stories – or in Mike’s case several, including some he had prepared earlier. Ethel read an excellent one from an absent friend.
Stella plans to include some of the results in the newsletter she is going to produce.

Michael Round Prize

Jun 1, 2025

The Michael Round Prize is now closed. The winner will be announced at our November meeting.

The competition…

  • was free to enter,
  • accepted stories up to 1,200 words on the theme ‘Far and Wide’,
  • offered prizes of £100 and £50
  • was open until 30 September 2025.

The full rules are here.

9 June – Open Meeting

May 31, 2025

Our meeting on 9 June was an open meeting, for sharing, reading work, and discussion. We read our work, which covered a variety of topics from the humble pressure cooker, a handbag, this “island of strangers”, childhood memories and death. 

A Croydon Writing Competition?

Jan 8, 2025

We are thinking of running a writing competition this year and would be interested in views. We provisionally thought that the competition should:

  • be called ‘The Michael Round Prize’,
  • be free to enter,
  • offer a first prize of £100 and a second prize of £50,
  • open for entries in June and close in September,
  • be open to anyone (ie not just members),
  • accept prose pieces between 1,000 and 3,000 words,
  • require pieces to be on the theme ‘Far and Wide’,
  • be judged by a panel responsible for producing a shortlist with final placings decided by a ‘celebrity’ judge (if we can get one),
  • require entries to be submitted by email, and
  • allow only one entry per person.

All of these points are very much open for discussion – let us know your thoughts in a comment, email, or at our next meeting.

Update: we discussed these suggestions at the January meeting. Members were broadly in agreement but thought the suggested theme sounded old-fashioned, and that a small entry fee was worth considering. The idea of a competition anthology was popular and members thought we might need to establish a competition sub-committee.

This will be discussed again at the February meeting – if you have ideas for a theme in the meantime, please email them to ecorduff@hotmail.com

10 February meeting

Jan 6, 2025

Jo Bodley performed her comedy routine to an appreciative audience.  Her quick-fire gags, infectious take on life, mental health and the horrors of the hospital ward were punctuated with clever use of props and audience participation. She had us in stitches!

The following Q and A session was lively, informative and funny. Jo outlined some of the many genres of comedy and gave a frank description of her journey through the process of becoming a stand -up comic. Favourite comedians were reflected on, with wide- ranging styles discussed. 

Members read self-penned pieces with a comic flavour. Phil’s take on the life of a fountain pen was thought-provoking, whilst Nikki ended the meeting in style with an extract from the inimitable Dorothy Parker. 

 Thanks to Jo for an uplifting session!

13 January Meeting

Jan 1, 2025

Simon led our January meeting, and asked members to bring along a pen portrait of someone to capture something of their character or story which we could share and discuss. Interpretations of a pen portrait varied and pieces in a range of different styles and interpretations were read, from brief biographies to evocative poems and a humorous obituary, Private Eye style.

Members also talked about progress with their latest projects, and the suggested competition.