Welcome to our new season of exciting events in 2019!
| 15th Jan 2019
Dorinda Cass: Writing plans for the year and work in progress. Announce Arthur Hastings Competition |
12th Feb 2019 
Dorinda Cass: Sharing Valentine’s Day Writing. Love it or loathe it, Valentine’s Day can inspire humour, pathos, or cynicism. Could you write a sonnet or a story of unrequited love? Will it be a happy ending? |
| 12th March 2019
Results of the Arthur Hastings Competition with Judy Woodroffe (Judge) |
| 9th April 2019
An Aspect of Poetry with Judy Woodroffe |
| 7th May 2019 Descriptive Writing and Prompts with Lesley Young
Announce Nikki Barker Competition |
| 4th June 2019: Special guest George Cromack on ‘How to write an attention-grabbing opening and first page’
Follow George on twitter @MadBasil |
9th July 2019 Results of the Nikki Barker competition with Judy Woodroffe (Judge). Members will share their entries. |
| 13th August 2019 – Jeevani Charika / Rhoda Baxter – Author.
Jeevani Charika writes multicultural women’s fiction. She was born in the South of England, but spent her childhood in Sri Lanka, with short forays to Nigeria and Micronesia, before returning to settle in Yorkshire. She did a DPhil in microbiology at Oxford and ended up working in university technology transfer. All of this, it turned out, was excellent preparation for becoming a novelist.
This Stolen Life – Jeevani Charika – out now! Jeevani also writes romantic comedies under the name Rhoda Baxter. Her books have been shortlisted for the RoNA awards, the Love Stories awards and the Joan Hessayon award. She is a member of the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors. See more about her at: www.rhodabaxter.com
Jeevani loves all things science geeky. She also loves cake, crochet and playing with Lego. You can find out more about her (and get a free book by signing up to her newsletter) on her website: www.jeevanicharika.com
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| 10th September 2019
Results of the Leslie Richards competition with Julie Fairweather (Judge). Entrants will read out their stories. |
| 8th October 2019
“Tell me the truth about life”. In celebration of National Poetry Day (3rd October 2019) with Lesley Young. This is National Poetry Day’s 25th birthday so expect balloons! The theme for this year is “Truth”. |
| 12th November 2019 – tbc |
| December 2019 – no meeting |
Past Sessions
20th November 2018
Dorinda Cass; FLASH Fiction
Bring along your ideas – maximum 500 Words on any theme.
If you are happy to read it to the group on the night, that would be great. If you’re not, that’s fine as well. The main aim is to have fun writing!
23rd October 2018
Our special guest and speaker is the Writer Glenda Young
http://glendayoungbooks.com
https://www.thepeoplesfriend.co.uk/2018/05/07/writer-of-the-week-glenda-young
25th September 2018 – Monologues Evening / special guest Rosie Larner
28th August 2018
Judy Woodroffe presents the results of the Leslie Richards competition – reading of members’ entries
Tuesday 31st July 2018
A Writers’ Miscellany – facilitated by Dorinda Cass
This session is going to be a mix of writers’ tips and help. Dorinda would like us to bring along something to share with other members and our guests – wise writing advice from a writer you admire, a website link to something writing related, a helpful crib sheet or hand-out that you’ve come across, or if you have a a particular skill, pass on some useful advice – how to set up a blog, how to set out your writing, how to publicise yourself. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tuesday 3rd July 2018
Lesley Young presents the results of the Nikki Barker Competition – reading of members’ entries. And we will announce the Leslie Richards Competition (Judy Woodroffe)
Tuesday 5th June 2018
First half of the evening: Anne Morley discusses her publication; ‘Curiosities from Scarborough’s Children’s Charities’
Two tin trunks labelled ‘Scarborough Amicable Society’ were dumped at our house. I blew the dust off the old Minute Books and allied documents to find a real treasure trove from a forgotten world. Coincidentally I was given a pivotal contact, David Moore in Australia was researching his great-grandfather in Scarborough, an early secretary of the Society would you believe! I was hooked.
As a result we have a full-blown journey through Scarborough’s fascinating history meeting real people who walked the same streets as we do today. A guide to the three inter-linked charities, Scarborough United Scholarships Foundation, the John Kendall Trust and the Scarborough Amicable Society simply grew and grew.
Tostig, Roundheads and Cavaliers, Thomasine Farrer, Robert North, the Rowntree family, the Woodalls, fossil hunters, neglected children, shipwrecked sailors, a variety of clergymen and dozens more emerge from the pages. We travel to the cotton mills of Lancashire, to Chesapeake Bay and Tasmania. Did you know that a mariner from Scarborough almost made it to Australia six years before Captain Cook landed there? You’ll have to read the book to find out who he was . . .
And after coffee . . .
Members and guests can share some of their current writing and writing issues.
Also on 8th May 2018, Lesley Young will be announcing the Nikki Barker Competition: ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ award 2018 – for members.
The theme is: A Fairy Tale for our Times
Critics and writers have frequently presented Fairy Tales as neglected, spurned, on the point of being lost (Newton, 2015). My intention is to encourage a revival of the Fairy Tale, by bringing old traditions to the fore in this century.
Your story could take the form of
- A re-write of a fairy tale already in existence that would be applicable to modern life, Or
- A brand new tale of your own imaginings
Notes: Fairy tales are not just for children, and of course do not need to include a fairy! In the original Danish, fairy tales were known as ‘fantastical tales’, so I’m looking forward to reading some creative entries! Please see below for some background information on the historical context of fairy tales.
Please feel free to add illustrations – any words on these will not be included in the total word count.
1,000 words; normal competition rules apply (see competition rules page)
Entries in: 5th June 2018
Results and reading of entries: 3rd July 2018
Tuesday 8th May 2018
Mandy Sutter, Novelist and Writer, will talk about her new book; ‘Bush Meat’ which was published in October 2017, and about the process of Life Writing. Read more about her on her website by clicking here:
Mandy Sutter
Tuesday 10th April 2018
Dorinda Cass will be facilitating this evening’s session and has prepared a set of writing exercises for us to attempt in preparation. It would be good if you could have a go at all of them, but if you don’t have time, just one or two will be fine.
The idea is to see what different writers come up with given the same brief.
Tuesday 13th March 2018
The main theme of the evening is to find out the results of the Arthur Hastings story competition, where members read out their entries and the winner is revealed!
Members and guests who didn’t enter the competition are invited to bring along a piece of writing of around 500 words to share if they wish. It can be a poem, a story, or a non-fiction piece.
13th February 2018
Felix Hodcroft will talk about different forms of poetry. Those attending will be encouraged to try writing some poetry on the night.
http://www.valleypressuk.com/author/55/felix_hodcrof
16th January 2018
Our first session of 2018 is a ‘work sharing’ session. Please bring along anything you’ve written recently – it could be a story, a poem, a travelogue, non-fiction or something that forms part of a longer piece of writing you are working on. Approximately 1,000 words only please. We’ll read the pieces and, if you wish, you can specify any constructive feedback that you would find helpful.
