Hello one and all!
We hope you’re enjoying a merry month of May — we have so much to update you on from the world of BookGo and beyond. In our newsletter this week, Nancy gives an insiders guide to a task we don’t often think about: how to talk to writers (and yourself) about writing!
As we continue to receive incredible applications from all over the world for our Oxford Writers Workshop this August, our poem of the week comes from Oxford's own Lewis Carroll and celebrates the magical inspirational power of an Oxford summer’s afternoon.
We also have book giveaways and special offers from independent authors. So read on, and as always, do share with anyone you think would enjoy being part of the BookGo community!
Have a great weekend,
The BookGo Team 💛
Table of Contents
Announcement: The Oxford Writers Workshop Scholarships – ONE WEEK LEFT TO APPLY!
Writer’s Toolkit: “How to Speak to Writers about Writing” by Nancy Merritt Bell
Poem of the Week: “All in the Golden Afternoon” by Lewis Carroll
Giveaway: 10 free copies of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Michael Wellman available to BookGo subscribers
Reading Roundup: A Selfless Marriage by Katarina Jame and My Meth by Elara KL Voss – Free review copies available now to BookGo subscribers
Coming Soon: Redimido: Un viaje del obscuridad a la luz – the Spanish translation of Redeemed by Alain Orozco and Bianella Orozco-DeLaHoz | Ebooks and paperbacks of Come Up Big by Chuck Wardell, The Glamour of Evil by Michael McKinley, The First Guidebook to International Universities by Dr Richard Major | Plus Around the World in 80 Years by Peter Felix releasing soon in audiobook. Pre-order now from the BookGo online book store.
The Oxford Writers Workshop – One More Week to Apply!
Thank you to everyone who has applied for a scholarship to the Oxford Writers Workshop, taking place August 14–20 at Keble College, Oxford.
The scholarship application deadline is 31 May 2026. If you have not yet applied, there is still time!
Scholarships Available
✨ Emerging Author Full Scholarship: One fully-funded scholarship to cover the cost of the entire program — a value of $7,000 — to a writer working on EITHER their first full-length book of any kind OR their first memoir.
✨ Emerging Author Partial Scholarship: All applicants for the BookGo Emerging Author Full Scholarship will also be automatically considered for a limited number of partial scholarships covering 10% of the costs of the program.
✨ Educational Scholarship: This $1000 scholarship is available to a writer currently employed in education as a teacher, administrator, tutor, or in any other educational role.
✨ Veterans Scholarship: This $1000 scholarship, generously sponsored by BookGo author Charles W.B. Wardell III, will be awarded to one writer who has served in the military.
How to Apply
Visit the BookGo website and complete the scholarship application form.
Include a short personal statement (up to 500 words) explaining why you wish to attend and how the workshop would benefit your writing.
Submit before midnight on 31 May 2026. Late applications cannot be considered.
Successful applicants will be notified by email in the first week of June.
Writer’s Toolkit: “How to Speak to Writers (and Yourself) about Writing”
By Nancy Merritt Bell
In a creative writing class workshop seven years back, at the Mulberry Street Library in New York City, my first-year college students taught me everything I know about how to talk with writers about writing — well, almost everything. I was in fact the workshop leader and for my young instructors it was for most of them the very first time they had shown their own writing to their peers, or had read the work of their friends, or had their writing discussed openly in a class setting.
At any age, and no matter what your writing experiences, as a newbie or seasoned pro, the show and tell around your writing and that of your peers leaves you very exposed. What can be even more excoriating is what your peers say — and don’t say.
As my student writers workshop began, the overture of silence was so painful, with faces blushing red and chests heaving with nervous breath, I thought I was going to cry on their behalf. Instead, I sacrificed myself: I read from my own work first.
What came next was a game. I would play various critics of my own material. The students were invited to boo me if I was not helpful, and cheer for me if I was.
First, I was Cruella and slashed my work to pieces — telling myself to promise never to write again, not even a shopping list. The students laughed their nerves away, then loudly booed my Mean Girl take. The lesson: proceed with respect.
Next came Miss Prissy, so respectful it took her a long time to say very little — a ‘one-size fits all’ remark. Prissy got a mix of boos and cheers. The lesson: be respectful, but not to the obliteration of your own opinion.
Then came Lucinda Lovitt, who gushed about the fabulousness of everything. Lucinda also got mixed responses. The lesson: being encouraging is great, as long as the remarks are faithful to one’s honest opinion.
Next, Confused Connie — who didn’t really understand my work. She apologised for not getting it, framing her confusion as a lack of clarity that needed solving. To my surprise, Connie won a loud chorus of cheers. My students explained that owning an issue and framing it as a need for clarity was wonderfully helpful. An apparent attack becomes a problem to be solved.
Finally, Thoughtful Thalia arrived. Like Prissy, she took a while — not out of excessive respect, but because she was detailed. Thalia had done her homework. Her insights were engaging, even inspiring. Thalia got the full student symphony of cheers, claps, stomps, and whistles.
Then we got on with our own workshop. The critiques were wonderfully respectful, thorough, thoughtful and supportive. And if there was a story hole or a character who suddenly solves all the world’s problems, the reviewer owned the issue as something that needed attention — not a reason to never write again, not even a shopping list.
For me it was a good workshop. The Critics Game has since gone on to become one I often play with writers in college, high school, or any age and in any workshop setting. It levels the ground and gives a shared language to speak about our work.
But the best part was the end — when several students came up to say they were their own worst critic. They were Cruella. Now they could wrestle with their writing with a new attitude, as Thoughtful Thalia, or even with Lucinda Lovitt cheering them on.
Poem of the Week
All in the Golden Afternoon (1883)
By Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll)
Lewis Carroll’s golden afternoon tells the story of a boating trip on the River Isis in Oxford when he first told the story of Alice to the young Alice Liddell and her sisters. A perfect poem to remember the wonderful stories that began in the inspiring surroundings of a summer’s afternoon in Oxford.
All in the golden afternoon Full leisurely we glide; For both our oars, with little skill, By little arms are plied, While little hands make vain pretence Our wanderings to guide. Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour, Beneath such dreamy weather, To beg a tale of breath too weak To stir the tiniest feather! Yet what can one poor voice avail Against three tongues together? Thus grew the tale of Wonderland: Thus slowly, one by one, Its quaint events were hammered out — And now the tale is done, And home we steer, a merry crew, Beneath the setting sun.
BookGo Giveaway 🎉
We have ten free copies of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Michael Wellman to give away to BookGo subscribers! A spellbinding thriller set against the build-up to a future war between China and Japan, the novel follows the key figures caught in an inexorable power struggle across the Indo-Pacific. With China's naval forces massing across the South and East China Seas, Beijing's ambitions fixed on the Ryukyu Islands, and a deep-cover mole feeding secrets out of Washington, the tension is relentless. A gripping read for fans of geopolitical thrillers.
All we ask in return is you consider leaving an honest review!
Request your free review copy here
Reading Roundup
A new feature for BookGo subscribers, each week we will try to highlight the work or works of other independent authors. We’ll have opportunities for early access reader copies, sneak previews, and more.
A Selfless Marriage: How Selfless Actions Build a Stronger, Deeper Love
By Katarina James
Discover how selfless service rebuilds emotional connection, trust, and peace inside marriage.
My Meth (Into Her House Book 1)
By Elara KL Voss
The therapy was real. The healing was a lie. The obsession was forever.
If you are interested in featuring your writing in the BookGo newsletter, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch at info@bookgo.pub.
Note: The books featured in our newsletter swap section are shared as a service to our author community and do not represent an endorsement of their content by BookGo. We encourage you to discover them for yourself — and if you enjoy what you read, why not help a fellow author out and leave an honest review?
Coming Soon from BookGo
We have some exciting things in the pipeline and we can’t wait to share them with you. Here’s a taste of what’s coming:
Redeemed is crossing borders — Alain and Bianella Orozco’s powerful journey from darkness to light will soon be available in Spanish, bringing this remarkable story to an even wider audience.
Two more BookGo favourites are getting new lives in print and digital: Come Up Big and The Glamour of Evil are both coming in ebook and paperback — whether you’re a first-time reader or looking to own a copy for keeps, your moment is almost here.
For anyone with their sights set on a university education beyond their own borders, our First Guidebook to International Universities is on its way — an indispensable companion for students and families navigating the exciting, occasionally bewildering world of international higher education.
And for fans of Around the World in 80 Years — you’ll soon be able to sit back and let the story come to you. The audiobook is on its way.
Also, all BookGo books and editions are available now on the BookGo bookshop to buy or pre-order. Don’t miss out — head there today and secure your copy!
That’s all for now! Have a wonderful weekend,
The BookGo Team 💛
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