Our 12 January meeting will be a workshop facilitated by Debs Torr on writing a short story, generating ideas and overcoming writer’s block.
Debs, now based in Bristol, has roots in South London. She has published short stories and articles and is currently working on her first novel with funding from Arts Council England. She has facilitated workshops for a range of different groups and is highly recommended!
The meeting begins at 7.30 in our usual place, details here.
The Daily Telegraph has a poetry competition. UK residents only, no cash prize but a year’s subscription, publication and performance in a short film. The theme is ‘Mothers’.
At last! Our congratulations, and thanks to everyone from all around the world, who supported our competition. You can hear an audio recording of the announcement here…
Stuart Wilks-Heeg has recently begun writing fiction. In his other life, he is a Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool. He lives in Crosby, Merseyside and, from 2023-25, he was the stadium announcer for Marine Football Club.
Fay has had a number of writing successes and a much greater number of rejections! She has now retired and wonders how she ever had time to go to work. Fay is concerned about environmental issues and is keenly green.
Celia Gatward – Missing
Celia Gatward is a passionate writer who loves crafting worlds and bringing characters to life. With a professional background in marketing and media, she has always found time to immerse herself in storytelling. Her writing has been featured in The Swan Theatre’s New Playwright Festival, and she has written three radio plays for Upstage Surrey Theatre Company, with another currently in production and a live stage play scheduled for 2026. Alongside her dramatic writing, Celia enjoys exploring short stories and poetry and continues to develop a children’s novel that she hopes will one day find its way to publication.
Benjamin Graham – Why Don’t You Just Keep Going
Born in a former mining community in Durham, England, Ben’s love of literature grew from reading the works of Joyce, Hemingway, Ginsberg and several other writers a teenage boy should really have no interest in reading.
After several years struggling to pay rent as a freelance journalist, Ben became a copywriter and editor in Edinburgh. He now divides his time between writing, reading, and frequenting the drinking establishments of renowned Edinburgh authors in the hope of finding some clue to their genius or, failing that, a good dram of whisky.
Katie Weatherford is an actress, writer, and director. She has been telling stories since she was a child. In 2023, she wrote and directed an award-winning short film, “The Murder Party: Offering Unconventional Solutions to Heartbreak.”
Katie is passionate about the art of creation and creating with kindness.
Judging in the Michael Round Prize is now complete, and all entrants have been sent an email letting them know (if you entered and haven’t heard, get in touch at the same email you used to enter).
But who has won?
The result will be announced at a special meeting on 10 November, where the entries that won first and second places will be read. Not to be missed – put it in your diary! (10 November, not December!)
Omnidawn’s Fabulist Fiction Contest, for chapbooks or novelettes, is back. ‘Fabulist’ is interpreted quite widely and this is for work of the unusual length of 7,500 to 17,500 words.
Hey look, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’ve all had problems when our stories require us to write about, well… sex. Myself, I find that the narrative either slips towards a biology text, or towards one of the less successful Carry On films. That’s if I can get any words down at all. I find myself suddenly approving of the Ancient Greek idea that all the action in a drama should take place off stage, and just be mentioned. Show don’t tell? Maybe not this time.
It’s OK: help is at hand. Natali Simmonds, who knows a thing or two about literary intimacy, has some helpful advice in Writer’s Digest.
Croydon Writers 