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
5th May 2015 – The Writers’ Resources Evening.
Useful aids that help with writing – discussion of reference books, writing courses, ‘learning-to-write books’ – are they any good? Writers associations (Romantic Novelists, Historical Novel Society, etc.), companies that will criticize your writing (such as Cornerstones), short story competitions, information about agents and publishers, inspiration and sources for what we write, websites and writing software, in fact anything that
7th April 2015 – Catherine Belsey
Catherine teaches at the University of Swansea. Her most recent work A Future for Criticism puts forward the case for increased attention to the joy of fiction and the way it engages readers. She supports the work of GENCAS, the Centre for Research into gender and culture in Society.
3rd March 2015 – Annual General Meeting
The proposal is to elect the Programme Secretary, Membership Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster and Publicity Officer at the AGM. The current officers are all willing to stand for re-election.
2nd December 2014 – Douglas Palmer
Douglas is a science writer based in Cambridge, England who specializes in the history of life, especially human evolution and Earth’s environments. Over 20 of his books have been published over the last 14 years with Fossil Detectives and Neanderthal accompanying TV series. His latest published works are Earth in 100 groundbreaking discoveries, Origins :human evolution revealed and Evolution: the
4th November 2014 – Jim Kelly
Jim is one of the most original and distinctive writers of modern British crime fiction. His first series is set in Ely, in the Fens, and features journalist Philip Dryden and his side-kick Humph. The books won a Dagger In The Library. His new detective series is set in North Norfolk
7th October 2014 – Sarah Churchwell
Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities. Her research and teaching expertise are in 20th-21st century and contemporary American literature and culture. She is the author of The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (Granta 2004), co-editor of Must Read: Rediscovering the Bestseller (Continuum 2012), and author of various articles, chapters and introductions (see research and
2nd September 2014 – Making Words Work
Out of ideas? Fed up of soul-searching? Why not take a break and relax at an evening of fun and games. Without realizing it, you might go home with enough material to last you the rest of the year. Bring writing materials!
3rd June 2014 – Tessa Hadley
Author of four novels (Accidents in the Home, Everything Will Be All Right, The Master Bedroom, The London Train), Tessa teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University, publishes regularly in The New Yorker, Granta and Guardian, and has written on Henry James, JM Coetzee. Tessa will talk about her writing life and recent works.
6th May 2014 – An introduction to visual story-telling
Comic creator Karrie produces illustrated articles, graphic novels and works on art projects. Her work include the autobiographical comic strip, My Peculiar World (Guardian), the fictional graphic story, The Night I Lost My Love (The Times), The House That Groaned (Random House's Square Peg) and comic articles and reviews for The New Statesman, The Telegraph, Time Out, The Guardian, Psychologies Magazine
1st April 2014 – Clare Mulley
Clare Mulley is the award winning author of two biographies, The Spy Who Loved, the secrets and lives of Christine Granville, Britain's first female special agent of WWII and The Woman Who Saved the Children , exploring the life of Eglantyne Jebb, the controversial founder of Save the Children. She has also contributed to The Arvon Book of Life Writing (Methuen, 2010), and
4th March 2014 – Annual General Meeting
The AGM is when all members of Cambridge Writers can learn what the committee's been up to on their behalf during the past year and vote on ideas for the future. It's also an opportunity to raise suggestions for improving the service we provide to the membership. We will be holding a book swap that evening so please bring a