At the March meeting of the Writers’ Circle, six members read their entries to this year’s Arthur Hastings short story competition. The theme chosen, by member Karen Bluck, was Oliver’s Mount – a well-known Scarborough landmark. As usual, members’ imagination led to a wide variety of stories – romantic, tragic, mysterious, ghostly and sci-fi. Members of a local reading group judged the entries, and the joint winners were Sue Grogan and Diana Campbell. Congratulations to both.
The next meeting will be on 14th April 2026, when member John Flower will lead the session: Writing Military History, fact or fiction.
Five lucky members of the Scarborough Writers’ Circle were privileged to be invited to attend Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s ‘library tour’ event at Newby/Scalby library on 25th February 2026. Poet Khadijah Ibrahiim joined him.
The event was opened by Isobel Nixon, Chair of Trustees of Newby/Scalby Library.
Sue: Khadijah opened with a poem about her schooldays in Leeds, transporting many of us back to our own time at school, and this was followed by other poems. Her style sang to me, while painting wonderful pictures in my head.
Simon followed, and he was quick to point out that Khadijah had already upstaged him with her colourful and vibrant outfit!
He read several of his poems, introducing them with his self-deprecating humour. His descriptions were stunning—at times, I closed my eyes, immersed in the poem.
Dorinda: Khadijah’s voice, delivery, and the descriptiveness of the poems were mesmerising. I found myself hanging onto every word. One described an older woman selling vegetables in Jamaica, and I could see and hear her vividly. From the start, Khadijah’s style was so friendly and approachable; she had us all relaxed and singing the gospel song, “Kumbya”.
I loved Simon’s down-to-earth manner and the rapport he built with us. His poetry has a beauty that lingers with me; the refrain in one of his poems is still going around in my head. There’s nothing like hearing poetry read by the writer of it.
His readings were interspersed with interesting and humorous stories and asides, and I found that adding in something of himself shone a sharper light on his poems.
Karen: I thoroughly enjoyed listening to both speakers. Their chosen words painted vivid images of places and experiences that I have not seen or heard of before. The sounds resonated in a delicious harmony. It’s an experience I will never forget.
Shirley: I loved my evening with Khadijah Ibrahiim and Simon Armitage at Newby and Scalby library. Khadijah took to the stage first and cut a striking figure, bedecked in jewellery, with her hair piled on top of her head. She was warm and funny, and her poems were quite lyrical. One of her poems in particular contained cultural references from my teenage years – Jackie magazine, top twenty on the radio on a Sunday night, Top of the Pops and Bay City Rollers – although I was more of a Slade fan!
Simon’s poetry was very rhythmic, and it was wonderful to hear his voice reading it. I loved the quirky ideas contained in his work, in particular a poem called “Causeway”, about a family crossing a causeway as the tide is coming in. After reading out his poems, he answered every question that was thrown to him with full, considered answers, revealing a lot about himself, his family and Marsden, the village where he grew up.
Jill: To be honest, I’d always thought Simon Armitage was a bit low-key — his voice quiet, nasal, with little resonance. But he came over as bold, witty and self-deprecating. He fielded the same old questions with enthusiasm. His poems were varied — funny, sad, apocalyptic. Working through the alphabet, he’s visiting libraries starting with N, O and P this spring. Next stop is Orkney. Isn’t that where people get murdered? Oh, no — that’s Shetland.
Khadijah Ibrahiim is a Leeds lass like me. And that’s where the similarity ends. I felt like a dull brown sparrow beside a flamingo when I went up to receive my raffle prize — her book of poems. She has charisma oozing from every pore. Though Yorkshire born and bred, she sang her poems with a lyrical Jamaican beat of calypso and reggae. She told of an old lady selling callaloo, a spinach-like plant. I’ll look out for some when I’m next in Leeds market.
A fabulous evening.
Judy: Two very different poets, each with wonderfully different actual and poetic voices, whose chosen poems were interesting and engaging. I thought they connected really well with the audience, and both seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves! Both made me laugh out loud with their comments, anecdotes and observations, and I felt we were given a privileged insight into how their poems came to be written.
It is certainly an evening I will remember!
It was altogether a very relaxed visit, and an entertaining evening made even more memorable by the incredible background work put in by the trustees, library volunteers, lighting technicians and musicians (Beth Mokrini and Rob Nixon).
At November’s meeting, the results of the 300-word flash fiction competition were announced and the ten entries were read to the group. The entries were judged by Dawn Treacher from the Promoting Yorkshire Authors group.
Joint winners were Ros Jones and Shirley Field. Third-placed writer is publicity shy, sadly!
The next meeting (9th December, Newby Library, Scalby Road, Scarborough. 7.15 start) will be an informal get-together with Christmassy drabbles (100 word stories) and nibbles.
The September session of the Writers’ Circle was well attended and focused on ‘The thin line between love and hate’. Led by Jo Nixon and Sue Grogan, members and guests discussed their own ‘loves and hates’, then skilfully looked for reasons to reverse their ‘hates’ and wrote a short paragraph.
The next meeting is on Tuesday, 14th October 2025, 7 pm for a 7:15 pm start. Newby Library, Scalby Road, Scarborough. Our guest speaker will be local writer and poet Wendy Pratt, author of the recently published memoir Ghost Lake. Visitors welcome – £4 meeting fee plus £1 to the library for refreshments.
The August Writers’ Circle meeting was well-attended for the results of the Shirley Waite Poetry Competition. Julie Fairweather spoke with affection about her friend, a local writer in whose memory the prize was created, and also read several of her poems.
The judge for the competition with the theme ‘Play’ was Ann Gibbon, local poet and workshop facilitator. The winner was Shirley Field for her poignant poem ‘Hope’, second place Dorinda Cass and third place Sue Grogan.
Ann introduced the group to a variety of poetry forms, from sonnets to cinquains and read examples of each. Finally, members enjoyed trying their hand at writing haikus and limericks, surprising even themselves with the results!
Photograph shows, Ann Gibson (LHS) presenting Shirley Field with the trophy.
Next meeting: Tuesday, 9th September, 7 for 7.15 start, Newby and Scalby library. Theme ‘Love & Hate’. Guests welcome – £4. Refreshments available for £1.
Jill Boyes started the session by presenting a selection of books ranging from fantasy, through autofiction, to those with purely factual content. Discussion around the whole spectrum from falsehood to truth (within the written word) took place.
Members were asked to compose a short story using a recent personal experience as inspiration. It was to be written in third person with an injection of fiction for dramatic effect. The stories were read out and critiqued in two separate groups.
After the break Sue Grogan explained how she enlivened her memoir by illustrating the tension within the most engaging scenes. Ros Jones told the group she had been advised to write her memoir as a piece of fiction and discussed the differences and similarities between her own life and her novel. Each member then described how they had placed themselves (consciously or unconsciously) in a piece of their own writing.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12th August when a well-known local poet, Ann Gibbon, will reveal the winner of the Shirley Waite Poetry Competition.
Guests are always welcome (for an entry fee of £4). Hot drinks are available at the break for £1.
At the June meeting of the Writers’ Circle, talented poet Rachel Glass led an entertaining workshop called People, Poetry and Play. The group read and talked about a selection of poems in different forms, all involving a character. In between each one, using prompts and suggestions from Rachel, members and guest set to enthusiastically, crafting their own poems on a variety of themes: the way somebody sounds, an imaginary character or someone they don’t know well, a relationship with a celebrity.
Rachel provided plenty of inspiration, and members are sure to use and adapt her suggested themes in future writing.
The next Circle meeting is on Tuesday 8th July 7 pm for 7.15 pm start at Newby Library, Scalby Road, Scarborough, when the topic will be to look at how much of yourself is injected into your writing.
At the Writers’ Circle meeting on 13th May, the group enjoyed an entertaining evening sharing views on the pleasures and pitfalls of historical time travel and time slip writing. The session was led by Liah Thorley and Dorinda Cass. Members shared a short piece of their recent writing that gave a flavour of a particular time in history.
The next meeting is on Tuesday, 10th June 7.00 for 7.15 pm at Newby Library, Scalby Road, when guest, local poet Rachel Glass, will lead a session on an aspect of poetry writing. Non-members (over 18) welcome. Cost £4.
At the April meeting of the Writers’ Circle, Karen Bluck introduced the topic ‘How to stir your Imagination’ using play memories from childhood.
Individual members spoke about their experiences of inventing games using random household gadgets, turning them into imaginary objects, and role play.
In small groups, members used those ideas to develop a variety of short stories. The session concluded with an entertaining discussion on the use of dreams as a potential source of ideas in writing craft.
The next meeting is on 13th May, when we will be having group discussions and doing short exercises about historical fiction writing, including time slip and time travel fiction.
Non-members (over 18) always welcome. Cost £4 per session.
At the last meeting of the Writers’ Circle on 11th March 2025, members read their entries to this year’s Arthur Hastings story competition. The theme, set by last year’s winner, Judy Woodroffe, was The Shipping Forecast. The seven entries used the theme in a variety of ways.
The judges, from a local reading group, chose Conversations with my Grandfather by Karen Bluck as the winner.
Many thanks to Judy, the judges, members and guests for an entertaining evening.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 8th April at Newby Library, Scalby Road. (7 pm for 7.15 pm start.) Non-members welcome (over age 18). Cost £4.00
Scarborough Writers' Circle 