Upcoming Events
7th July – Alison Binney
Poet and teacher Alison Binney helps us dust off our metaphors and similes with a fun, friendly workshop. Even if you don’t think of yourself as “a poet,” you may discover tools that transform your prose. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of
4th August – Robin Bennett-Freebairn
Robin Bennett-Freebairn is a local author of the fact-based What A Year To Be Born! series that offers insights into social history. Robin has successfully pioneered bookselling this “perfect birthday gift” on Etsy, a platform rarely associated with literature. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE
Summer Social
The date for this is still to be decided, depending on the venue, which is usually the home of one of our members.
1st September – Julian Sedgwick
Julian Sedgwick is an award-winning children’s and YA author. His books draw deeply on East Asian culture. Tsunami Girl, a prose-manga hybrid, was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2022. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of your membership. Our events start at
15th September – Flash Fiction Evening
We’re still running our popular flash fiction competition evening, but outside a General Meeting date to give the opportunity for more talks and workshops. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of your membership. Our events start at 7.30pm and are held at: Hartington
6th October – Short Story Anthology Launch 2026
We’re launching the next short story anthology – the 2025 launch was such a hit, we’re doing it again (with enough Prosecco this time!). We’re hoping to add a mini-workshop too. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of your membership. Our events start
3rd November – Kate Rhodes
Author and poet Kate Rhodes joins us to discuss her work, including the Isles of Scilly Mysteries – shortlisted for the Crime Novel of the Year Award 2018 as well as long-listed for the 2021 Dagger in the Library award. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for
Where and When
Our monthly events are held at:
Hartington Grove Meeting House
91-93 Hartington Grove
Cambridge
CB1 7UB
Non-members are welcome to attend most events, at a charge of £3. Please contact our chairman if you would like to come along.
If members have any suggestions for speakers you would like to hear at our writers’ events, please contact our events officer.
Recent Events
1st June 2021 – Flash Fiction Competition
Competitors bring a printed copy of their anonymous entry to the meeting, word limit 250
4th May 2021 – Workshop
How do I blindside my reader without completely cheating them? How do I lay a trail of clues without my plot becoming predictable? This workshop is designed to help you answer those questions and more. We will be covering the five different types of foreshadowing, including Chekhov’s gun, prophecy, flashback, symbolic foreshadowing, and red herring, discussing examples in literature and
25th February 2021 – Short Story Competition Judging Event
*** Note that the date for this meeting has changed *** Our competition Rosemary Hayes is an author and creative writing tutor. She came to writing from a background in advertising, marketing and publishing. Working intermittently for Cambridge University Press from 1986-2001, one of her jobs was to run a national children’s writing competition, The Cambridge Young Writers’ Award, which
1st September 2020 – Andy McDonnell
Andrew McDonnell is the course leader for the English Literature and Creative Writing degrees at University Centre Peterborough where he undertakes research in Literary Theory, English Literature and Creative Writing. His debut poetry collection, The Somnambulist Cookbook was published by Salt in June 2019. It is a series of poems that examine the quality of disappearance, how memory interferes with
30th April 2020 – Flash Fiction Competition
* Due to the coronavirus this competition is held as an online event * Note that this event has been brought forward. It is a members only competition. Here are the rules: One piece of fiction per member, which must not exceed 250 words. It must have a title of not more than 10 words. This is not
3rd March 2020 – Annual General Meeting
There will be reports on the past year's activities, All existing officers are willing to stand again, but if you fancied a turn at a post, this would be welcomed. Following the practice started last year, the meeting will choose the theme for then 2021 Short Story Competition. After the formal business Hannah Hooton, our Publicity Officer, has devised a
4th February 2020 – Short Story Competition Judging Event
The annual Short Story Competition is judged this year by Una McCormack who has given us a presentation in September, 2018. Una teaches Creative Writing at Anglia Ruskin University. She is an expert on Science Fiction and Fantasy, author of a number of tie-in novels to Star Trek and Dr Who.
3rd December 2019 – Jane Carter Woodrow
Jane Woodrow is a local writer, writing for TV, eg, In Suspicious Circumstances, The Bill, The Thieving Headmistress etc. Also she is a criminologist and crime author appearing on news programmes, documentaries and factual dramas about serial killers. Her books "Rose West: the Making of a Monster" and "After Evil" – telling the true story of a 17-year old whose mum was murdered by the Yorkshire
5th November 2019 – The Art of Illustration
Amanda Hall is an award-winning illustrator, renowned for her wonderfully decorative and colourful children’s book illustrations. She excels at capturing the visual worlds of different cultures, their peoples, animals and landscapes as well as their spiritual traditions. Amanda will give us an introduction into the art of illustration and talk about her latest book, ‘Out of this World’, is the
1st October 2019 – Workshop: importance of style over substance
This workshop is for debating the idea of whether an exciting story is better or worse than a stylistically strong story – or whether they are equally important?
3rd September 2019 – Interactive Storytelling
Hannah Hooton will give the presentation "Interactive Storytelling: The Art of Reader Engagement", which explores different creative writing techniques that help to give our readers a more personal and immersive experience with heightened emotional impact. Hannah is the author of eight indie-published novels, writing both adult equestrian romance and Young Adult paranormal mystery, with two number one Amazon bestsellers within
4th June 2019 – Flash Fiction Competition
This is a members-only competition. A few rules to make this a successful event: Stories must be no longer than 250 words. They must have a title, which is not part of the word count. Bring a printed copy of your story to the evening. It must not bear your name. Stories will be read by one of two readers