Maggie Cobbett

Farewell, RWG!

It’s over twenty years since I joined Ripon Writers’ Group. With a thriving membership of men and women who between them covered just about every genre, there was a wealth of knowledge and experience to tap into. One man had even studied under Tolkien! During those years, I did stints on the committee as Secretary and Chairman/woman/person (!) and made it a point of honour to enter every competition, even those – or perhaps especially those – that were out of my comfort zone. 

However, time and circumstances took their toll. There were health issues and bereavements. Changes of venue, not always of our choosing, didn’t help. The major disruption of the Covid years of 2020/21 made things even worse and the last straw may have been changing our fortnightly meetings from Tuesdays to Wednesdays. It didn’t suit everyone but was done to oblige a new Chair who, although excellent in the role, was forced by family circumstances to move away from Ripon not long afterwards. We were unable to change back to Tuesdays because by then another group had taken over the venue. Would it have made a difference? I suppose we shall never know.

The final meeting on 15th October was a sad one, with those of us left as active members of the Group having to face the inevitable. It was time to call it quits and move on, but Ripon is a small place and I’m sure that we shall all keep in touch.

PS Ripon Writers’ Group website, which goes back as far as 2011 and holds a wealth of memories and photographs, will remain live for the time being.  

20 October, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

A double-page spread!

I couldn’t have been happier when Laura Coventry contacted me about writing the above feature for The People’s Friend. For one thing, it gave me the opportunity to share photographs that I had been unable, for cost reasons, to include in the book. For another, of course, it spread the word to a much wider audience that I could have reached on my own.

The interview was conducted on the telephone, which explains why a couple of anomalies have crept in. United States law WOULD have allowed me to buy a gun, had I so wished, although alcohol was a definite no no. It also occurred to me when I read the piece that our Greyhound bus tickets would have cost under $100 rather than under £100. The difference isn’t anything like as great now as it was back then, when a pound was worth about $2.40.

However, I’m very pleased with the presentation and hope that it will strike a chord with all who read it and maybe, just maybe, inspire them to purchase a copy. Hope springs eternal, as they say!

18 October, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

What a week!

I enjoy exploring a variety of genres and last week saw me winning first place in Ripon Writers’ Group’s ‘Writing for Children’ competition. Here I am with Jill Freeman, who kindly agreed to be our adjudicator and presented me with the Daphne Peters cup. (Daphne, who passed away in 2020, was a well known children’s writer and founded the Group over 40 years ago.) My story, ‘Sami and Smiley’ was about a sad little boy whose chance encounter with a baby seal gave him hope for the future.

Hard on the heels of that success came Ripon Poetry Festival, in which I took an active part. Reading in the Cathedral in the afternoon was followed by an open mic in the Claro Lounge in the evening, both of which I very much enjoyed. Onwards and upwards!

8 October, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

Ripon launch of ‘1968 My American Odyssey’

What an afternoon that was! Over 30 people here at different times to enjoy drinks and nibbles while listening to extracts from my latest book. Apologies to those not captured in any of the photos. My photographers both had dual roles; Bruce was barman (and didn’t make it into any of the shots) while Richard took care of sales.

David sat down eventually after making sure that the doorbell didn’t go unanswered.

It was good to see so many friends from different aspects of my life, some new and some going back a very long way.

Comfortable seats were at a premium, the weather not being conducive to spilling out into the garden.

I enjoyed holding forth to a captive audience! 

1 September, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

Swanwick 2025

The second week in August always finds me heading for Derbyshire to enjoy all that the Writers’ Summer School has to offer. Situated in the Hayes Conference Centre with its magnificent gardens, it’s the perfect place to unwind and swap ideas with friends old and new.

The rooms in the Main House vary considerably in size and layout, but I have always chosen to be in Lakeside, built over a century later. Accommodation there is more or less standard, although this year I was given a ‘family room’. (The extra bed came in handy for packing and unpacking.) Unless a delegate has mobility issues, the allocation seems to be random, but everyone has a private bathroom with soap & towels provided, a hairdryer, plenty of wardrobe space – I always take extra coat hangers – and tea & coffee making facilities.  There is also free wi-fi.

The programme is so extensive that difficult choices have to be made every year, which no doubt contributes to the fact that so many of us keep coming back.  Volunteers with purple lanyards help new Swanwickers to settle in, host special tables for them at dinner the first night and are available throughout the rest of the week if needed. People may, of course, choose to be alone, but no one needs to be lonely.

As well as attending the opening session of Della Galton’s excellent course on writing short stories to make money, I ran a workshop on crafting lucrative ‘fillers’ – there seems to be a theme here – and launched my new book. The hat was only intended to be a prop, since a few chapters are set in cowboy country, but I did wear it for a photo with one buyer at her request!  More later about the hat!

It has become a tradition for Jen Wilson and I to co-host the prose open mic and this year we had more people than ever wishing to take part. That meant that, out of fairness to all, we had to go into a ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine to fit everyone in and I was the timekeeper. Apologies to those I had to cut off in mid-flow, but you were all very gracious about it.

Fortunately we finished before the bar closed for the night. If ever a stiff drink were required…!

The following evening saw me taking part in the poetry open mic, which was equally oversubscribed, but the lovely Alison Chisolm was in charge of making sure that everyone got a fair shot and she did. (Probably with more charm than I managed to muster yesterday.) Beforehand, I learned a lot about poetry competitions from Emma Purshouse & Steve Pottinger, a multi-talented duo from the Black Country, and attended a talk by Dr Russell Wate, probably best known for being the lead detective in the notorious Soham murder case. Chilling stuff and I had his course on authentic crime fiction still to come.

One very popular feature of Swanwick over the last few years has been the opportunity to submit in advance a five-minute play to be rehearsed and then performed as a scripted reading towards the end of the week. The plays chosen by independent judges are handed over to a team – this year composed of Neil Zoladkiewicz, Lesley Deschner and Phil Collins – who allocate to each one a director and actors from those who volunteer to take part.  The trio comprising director Bear Stephenson and actors Helen Clough and Andy Cain did a fine job of bringing my script to life. Things aren’t what they used to be, or are they? was set in ancient Rome, but that fact was only revealed right at the end. Some issues just rumble on and on, don’t they?

I was very proud of all of them and hope that we might work together in future.

The hat made a reappearance later on. A theme is chosen each year and, although it’s always optional to wear fancy dress, I find it great fun. This time, by happy coincidence, it was the turn of the wild, wild west. As well as a disco, line dancing was on offer to anyone with sufficient energy left at the end of another very full day.

Not really one for selfies, I was caught napping by Morgen Bailey at the farewell meeting. That was fine, because I had previously enjoyed her course on editing fiction and was delighted to discover that one of her clients is a favourite author of mine. A.A.Dhand, whose crime novels are set in Bradford, came to Swanwick a few years ago on my recommendation and was given a standing ovation at the end of his talk. Not only that, but he returned later on as a tutor and has been going from strength to strength ever since. Virdee, a television adaptation of his first two novels, was very well received last year.

I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of the smell of wood smoke from the outfit I wore at the final event, singing and toasting marshmallows around the firepits in the grounds. Most other years, that would have been a chilly experience, but the fine weather has continued all week. We were so lucky!

Before we knew it, the final breakfast was over and those of us not heading for Derby railway station were waving off the coach in the traditional Swanwick farewell. Roll on August 2026! 

15 August, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

A Five* Review!

Delighted with this first review for my new book, before it’s even officially launched in the UK.

29 July, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

My latest release!

‘From counseling in the Catskills to bagels for breakfast in the Bronx’, not to mention innocently trying to book a room in a brothel on the Mexican border! This is the book that I’ll be launching at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in Derbyshire next month and thereafter locally. Ripon launch (or launches) not yet sorted out, so please watch this space.

For anyone further afield, copies are already available worldwide on Amazon and I’d be very grateful for some reviews. It’s been a real labour of love.

20 July, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

A Milestone for Ripon Writers’ Group

Having joined RWG over 20 years ago, I was very pleased to attend the 1000th meeting last night.

Founded in 1982 by the late Daphne Peters, whose husband Joe cut the celebration cake, a great many writers have come and gone from the Group. Unfortunately, health issues or other commitments kept some of the current members from joining us, but those of us who made it enjoyed reminiscing about past events and reading extracts from RWG publications put together over the years.

10 July, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

Poetry Galore

The last few weeks have been all about sharing poems included in the recent anthology of Ripon Poets.  St John’s Sharow had a wonderful afternoon of Piano, Pimms & Poetry (at which I read from the pulpit!) with afternoon tea and then it was time for this year’s Ripon Theatre Festival.

Poetry was included for the first time and I took part in events at the wonderfully named Portly Pig on Kirkgate and then at the Little Ripon Bookshop. Each attracted a good audience on what was an idyllic summer’s day.

9 July, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story

Workhouse Orphan on Zoom

Look what I just found in the archives! During the dismal lockdown year of 2020, when unmasked contact with other humans was restricted to a tiny bubble, I delivered my first (and so far only) author talk on Zoom. Hosted by Canadian author and publisher Edwin Rydberg, it took place on 16th September. Edwin knew exactly which questions to ask to get me talking and the discussion was to form part of his Indie Book Showcase. 

18 May, 2025 - Make the first comment on this story