I hope all is well with you and you’re making good progress with whatever writing project you’re working on. I’m making little progress with anything as my son is currently doing GCSEs, although I’ve secretly been enjoying listening to BBC Bitesize Revision podcasts about Macbeth and An Inspector Calls.
What’s on in May, June and July:
Hidden Stories Creative Writing Workshop at the Tyne Theatre: The Tyne Theatre and Opera house in Newcastle run a range of creative workshops and artist days and I’m excited to be doing a creative writing workshop all about the hidden stories of this amazing historic building on Monday 6 July between 10.30am-12.30pm. Tickets are £16 and you can book at: Hidden Stories Creative Writing Workshop - Tyne Theatre & Opera House.
Gather Creative Writing Workshops: I’ve now set dates for my Gather online writing workshops for the rest of 2026. These run on the first Thursday of the month between 6.30pm-8.30pm and cost £14 per session. Each month we explore a different writing related topic, skill or theme and sessions are a mix of writing time and a chance to share and discuss your writing with the rest of the group (although there’s no pressure to share if you’d prefer not to). Sessions will be on 4 June, 2 July, 3 September, 1 October, 5 November and 2 December. Please email me to find out more and book your place.
Time to Write Workshops: I’m always grateful to the lovely people at Koru Pizza for providing a welcoming and comfortable venue for my monthly writing workshops and this month I’ve had extra reason to thank them for inspiring a story that ended up being featured on the front cover of People’s Friend Magazine. The Wishing Tree was written after the owner showed me a branch she’d hung from the ceiling for people to tie labels with their wishes on. There was something about all those potential hopes and dreams that got me thinking (and writing) about who’d made them. I wonder if any of them have come true in real life?
If you’d like to come along to the Time to Write group, the next meeting is this Sunday 17 May at 10am-12pm at Koru Pizza (Salters Road, Gosforth). It’s £20 and you can book by by emailing me. Note that we’ve moved to an earlier time which means we’ll be in the restaurant when it’s closed to the public – so it’ll be quieter and there’ll be space for us to welcome more writers.
Biscuit Factory Masterclass in Flash Fiction: My next masterclass workshop at The Biscuit Factory Gallery in Newcastle is on Thursday 11 June between 10.30am-1pm. The workshop is about Flash Fiction, but please note this will feature the same content as my previous Flash Fiction workshop at the Gallery in October 2024 so don’t book if you’ve been to this before!
Jesmond Library Readathon: 2026 is the National Year of Reading: a UK-wide campaign designed to inspire more people to make reading a regular part of their lives. Jesmond Library have planned a year long series of events to help celebrate including a sponsored Readathon. This will involve 96 people reading aloud for 15 minutes each, continuously for 24 hours. I’m only too pleased to be a part of this and I’ll be reading at 6pm on Friday 26 June. The event will raise funds for the Friends of Jesmond Library and the National Literacy Trust and you can find out more (and donate if you’d like to) at the Jesmond Library Readathon JustGiving page.
Writing Competitions and Calls:
The 2026 Crossing the Tees Short Story Competition is now open for short stories on any theme (maximum 3,000 words). All shortlisted stories will appear in a published anthology and there are cash prizes for the winners. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: 31 July.
The London Independent Story prize is inviting entries of original, unpublished flash fiction (up to 300 words), short stories (up to 3,000 words) and poetry (one long poem up to 40 lines or up to three short poems). Entry fees vary according to category and date. Closing date: 25 May.
The Winchester Poetry Prize is now open for poems on any subject and in any form that are no more than 40 lines in length. Entry fee: £7 for first poem, £5 for subsequent poems. Closing date: 31 July.
The Hope Collective is seeking contributions for the third anthology in the series: Silence/Trace/Shadow/Longing. They are exploring the role poetry can play in navigating the experience of grief and loss and anyone is welcome to submit a poem, whether they have suffered loss or supported someone who has. No fee. Closing date: 4 June.
The Kate Nash Literary Agency are running the Meet Cute Storyteller Competition to find the next big voice in romance fiction. Enter by sending your opening chapter to a romance novel of any type (e.g. historical romance, romantic comedy, romantasy, etc.). The first prize winner will receive £500 and an offer of literary agency representation from Kate Nash Literary Agency Ltd. No fees. Closing date: 5 June.
The Wells Festival of Literature Short Story Prize is open for short stories on any theme of between 1,000-3,000 words. Fee: £8. Closing date: 30 June.
Room to Write is a new literary award developed by Hay Festival, in partnership with Airbnb, designed to support UK-based writers at a critical stage in the creation of new books. Eight selected writers will be awarded an Airbnb coupon worth £1,500, enabling them to stay in a UK location of their choosing that best supports focused, uninterrupted writing. To apply, you need to provide: a description of your work and how a change of place or space will support its development (max 500 words); a short writing sample (max 500 words); and a writer biography (max 200 words). No fee. Closing date: 31 May.
Seaside Gothic Journal has a submission week coming up in July where they will accept fiction, poetry and non-fiction (no more than 1,000 words) that meet the criteria of seaside gothic literature (read previous issues to understand what they are looking for). No fees. Submit between 13 July-19 July.
Finally, this month’s Scottish Book Trust 50-word Fiction Competition is looking for stories of up to 50 words featuring a computer. No fees. Closing date: 26 May.
Happy writing!
Amanda
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