Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...
Pre-Swanwick reunion in Newcastle
One of my favourite weeks of the year is in August, when I go down to Derbyshire for the Writers’ Summer School. It’s known to writers all over the UK and many abroad simply as ‘Swanwick’, the name of the village in which it takes place.
The WSS, which has been going for over 60 years, takes over The Hayes Conference Centre from Saturday afternoon until Friday morning. During that time, 300 or so of us revel in the unique buzz of so many like minded people getting together to swap ideas and learn from a range of outside speakers. Full details of this year’s programme can be found at http://swanwickwritersschool.co.uk/
I first attended in 2006, when I was proud – and completely taken aback – to win a free place through the annual poetry competition. Later on, the first 1000 words of a story for children won me another free place, but I’ve been happy to pay my own way every other year and consider it money very well spent.
In between those wonderful weeks, Swanwickers like to keep in touch through the newsletter, social media sites and many individual arrangements. The photograph above was taken yesterday when a few of us got together for the day. As ever, the conversation flowed even more freely than the drink.
23 June, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
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