Upcoming Events
5th May – Emily Pedder
Emily Pedder, founder of The Book Edit and writing course leader at City St Georges and The Novel Studio, will be talking to us about the editing process and how to get your manuscript agent-ready. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of your
2nd June – Sue Moorcroft
photo credit: Silvia Rosado Photography We are delighted to welcome Sue Moorcroft for a seminar on ‘Tricky Writing Bits’! Sunday Times bestselling author Sue Moorcroft joins us to explore how to overcome the ‘tricky’ bits of writing commonly encountered in the craft. The evening promises to be practical, insightful, and motivating. Attending
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 discovertools that transform your prose. Attending in Person Members of Cambridge Writers may attend this event for FREE as part of your
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
7th November 2017 – Creative Writing Course with Cambridge Writers
Jane Phillips completed a two year MA course at City University, London – Creative Writing, Novels (Crime), in October 2016. Was it expensive – yes she says, was it worth it – yes again. What did I learn? I'll tell you in November she promises – with some handouts from the course. Les Brookes attended a couple of Arvon courses
3rd October 2017 – Emotional Resonance and the Short Story
Helen will give part talk, part workshop about the "Emotional Resonance and the Short Story". Sheis a Lecturer of Creative Writing and Publishing at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. Her first collection of fiction Hair Side, Flesh Side won the Sydney J Bounds Award in 2013, and Gifts for the One Who Comes After, her second collection, won the
5th September 2017 – Alexander Masters
Alexander Masters is an author, screenwriter, and worker with the homeless and lives in Cambridge. He is the writer and illustrator of "Stuart: A Life Backwards", the biography of Stuart Shorter. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of Cambridge. The book won many prizes and
1st July 2017 – Summer Social
5.00 – 8.30 pm at 22a Riverbank, Littleport Our member Siobhan Carew and her husband have kindly made their farm available for this event. There will be a charge of £5 per head, and members are welcome to bring guests. You must also bring a dish (sweet or savoury) and some drink (whether alcoholic or not) to share. The farm
6th June 2017 – Flash Fiction Competition
This is a members-only competition. Bring along a printed story of not more that 250 words. It must have a title, although this is not part of the word count. Stories will be read aloud anonymously by a single reader to ensure a uniformity of delivery. Members will then cast votes to determine the winner. The prize is a box
2nd May 2017 – The novel ‘The Words in my Hand’
Guinevere is a former member of Cambridge Writers whom we are pleased to welcome back to talk about her successful debut novel. It tells the true story of Helena Jans, an illiterate serving girl in 17th century Holland. A lodger is the famous philosopher and mathematician René Descartes. At first he helps her learn to write, and they then commence
4th April 2017 – Julian Friedmann
Julian is a longstanding partner in the Blake-Friedmann literary agency. He will talk on the current state, and likely future direction, of both literary agencies and publishing in general. The explosion in those writing, or trying to write, together with self-publishing as e-books, have undermined old certainties. Where do we go from here? You can watch his presentation "The
7th March 2017 – Annual General Meeting
An AGM may not be anyone's idea of a great night out. Yet this is actually our general forum and opportunity to have a say in how things are run. The Committee is, after all, made up of its own members, we consider ourselves forward-thinking and open to new ideas, so please come along and let us hear from you.
7th February 2017 – Short Story Competition – Judging event
Join our judging event of our annual short story competition with Helen Marshall as the juror. Helen is a Lecturer of Creative Writing and Publishing at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. Her first collection of fiction Hair Side, Flesh Side won the Sydney J Bounds Award in 2013, and Gifts for the One Who Comes After, her second collection,
6th December 2016 – Workshop on Dialogue in Prose
Join us for another sterling workshop by our member Tim Love who will give us a fresh view on dialogue in prose. Bring writing equipment.
1st November 2016 – Jane Hawking
Jane Beryl Hawking Jones, Ph.D. is an English author and educator. She is the ex-wife of Stephen Hawking and the author of the autobiography Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen. When Jane Hawking was first sent the script of The Theory of Everything– James Marsh’s Oscar-winning film adaptation of her book, Travelling to Infinity – she made two changes.
4th October 2016 – Deborah Meyler
Deborah Meyler has degrees from Oxford and St Andrews. She worked for six years in a bookshop in New York, and now lives in Cambridge. Her novel, ‘The Bookstore’, has received widespread praise as a work of literary fiction. She judged our Short Story Competition earlier this year.