I hope you’re having a good week and enjoying the sunshine. I’ve found a nice cool spot in a coffee shop to put together this quick round up of what’s coming up in the next couple of months along with some current publication opportunities.
Writing for Women’s Magazines at The Biscuit Factory: If you’re quick, you might still be able to get a ticket for my next workshop at The Biscuit Factory Gallery. It’ll feature lots of tips and information about writing for magazines like The People’s Friend and Women’s Weekly which, if you’ve ever been to one of my workshops or courses before, you’ll know is one of my favourite things to talk about! This longer, masterclass style session is on Sunday 20 July between 11am-2pm. Tickets are £30 and you can book at Writing for Women’s Magazines Workshop.
Introduction to Life and Memoir Writing at The Biscuit Factory: Another one of my favourite things to cover in workshops is life and memoir writing, so I’m happy to be running this workshop at The Biscuit Factory on 21 September (11am-2pm). We’ll look at different ways to write about your own life with exercises and activities to help you recall memories and decide how to structure your story. Tickets are £30 and you can book at Introduction to Life and Memoir Writing Workshop.
Time to Write at Koru Pizza, Gosforth: The next session of my Sunday morning writing group at Koru Pizza is on 27 July (11am-1pm) and there are still a couple of places left if you’d like to join us. It’s £20 per person - email me to find out more and book. The next session after this is likely to be at the end of September – I’ll let you know when I have some more dates confirmed.
Gather Online Writing Group: My next Zoom writing group is on 4 September (6.30pm-8.30pm) and tickets cost £10. Again, please email me to book your place.
Hexham Young Writers: My group for young writers in Hexham is starting a new term on 23 September. It’s for children in school years 6, 7 and 8 (ages 11-13) and meets fortnightly between 4pm-5.30pm at the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre in Hexham. It’s just £36 for six sessions and writers can expect lots of fun and enjoyable exercises as well as feedback on their writing. There’s also a group for older children in school years 9, 10 and 11 which is led by Sarah Davy. Most of the young people I’ve been working with have now moved up to Sarah’s group which means there are plenty of spaces available in the younger group. I’d therefore really appreciate it if you could share the details with anyone you think might be interested.
Book Young Writers (School Years 6, 7 and 8)
Book Young Writers (School Years 9, 10 and 11)
Publication Opportunities:
The theme for this year’s Jesmond Library Creative Writing Competition is ROOTS. Entries are welcomed in any format (short story, poetry, play script, lyrics, etc.) up to a maximum of 1500 words and there are categories for adults and children. It’s £3 to enter and the closing date is 16 September. Find out more and download an entry form at the Jesmond Library Facebook page.
Carnyx is a new micropress based in Tyne & Wear that aims to publish exceptional new speculative fiction (science-fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism and weird fiction), with a focus on writers living in the North of England. They’re looking for short stories of between 2,000-10,000 words on the theme of folklore. Chosen writers will be published in their first anthology and will receive an honorarium of £20. Writers must be from the North of England (Cheshire, Cumbria, County Durham, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Yorkshire) and the deadline for submissions is 30 September.
New Writing North have recently launched the Bee - a literary magazine, online platform and podcast which aims to nurture, publish and promote the best new working-class writing by new and established working class writers and visual artists. They’re opening a submission window between 14th July-11 August (deadline 4pm) where they’ll be considering suggestions for new pieces of writing for the Bee. They’re looking for fiction (any genre), narrative non-fiction, non-fiction and journalism (500-3,000 words) that captures something about being working class in Britain in 2025. For more information see - the Bee submission guidelines.
The Winchester Poetry Prize is open for poems on any subject and in any form that are no more than 40 lines. It’s £6 for the first poem and £5 subsequently and the deadline is 31 July.
The Exeter Novel Prize 2025 is open to all authors who are without representation by a literary agent at the closing date, whether or not they’ve previously been published. Submit the first 10,000 words of your novel along with a synopsis by 1 January 2026. It’s £20 per entry or you can pay £150 for entry plus an appraisal report.
The Good Housekeeping Novel Competition is looking for someone whose work is unpublished and who is without a literary agent. Entries can be in any genre of adult fiction (not children’s or YA, short stories, poetry, drama or plays, or any non-fiction) and it’s FREE to enter. Send the first three chapters (or the first 50 pages, whichever is longer) plus a brief synopsis (no more than one page) and a short 100-word biography by 31 August.
Tyger Tyger Magazine is open for submissions of poems aimed at 7-11 year olds on the theme of surprise. Send up to three poems of no more than 40 lines by 31 July.
Good luck and happy writing!
Amanda
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