New members wanted!

A couple of Northern Irish Writers’ Groups are looking for new members.

Newcastle - Down Writers' Network is an informal and friendly group of people who share an interest in writing. The group meets monthly in the relaxed and beautiful setting of Newcastle, Co.Down. We welcome new and returning members for a laidback enjoyable morning where you can listen to others reading their work or you can read your work if you like, but no pressure. From time to time we also run writing workshops to help members develop their skills. If you would like to enjoy a stimulating and creative Saturday morning, you'll be very welcome.

When: 10a.m - 1pm on the 1st Saturday of every Month (except July & August)

Venue: Newcastle Centre

For further information, contact: dominicamcgowan@hotmail.com


Shalom Writers’ Group was established in 2003 emerging from a BIFHE Creative Writing class led by Ruth Carr. Last year we took the decisive step to become an independent group and now meet every Thursday morning in Belfast Central Library, Royal Avenue. Once a month after our meeting we read our own work and the work of others in the Library’s Chapter One Café. Everyone is welcome to join us there.

With almost a year of our independent writing group status under our wings, the Group is now seeking to expand numbers. If you have an interest in joining a writing group and have some writing experience you may like to get in touch. You can do so by contacting the Secretary, Denis O’Sullivan, by email at dfosullivan@btinternet.com . It would help if you could send a sample of your work, 2 poems or a short piece of prose (1000 words max.)

source info@creativewritersnetwork.org

I believe it is important, if you want to progress as a writer, to be in a creative writer's group. John Lundberg blogged back at the end of last year...

If you've only been honing your craft with your significant other, and maybe a few questionable critics on a message board, you should consider joining a workshop: a small group of writers, usually led by an instructor, who share and critique each other's work. Workshops have become the backbone of writing instruction in this country, and the format offers a lot of advantages.

The structure of a workshop is simple: 1) participants bring in work for review; 2) each participant reads and critiques it; and 3) the group discusses the work as a whole. This provides you with a lot of differing opinions on your work and exposes you to the struggles and successes of other aspiring writers. You'll learn what works (and doesn't work) for you, but you'll also glean what works (and doesn't work) for others. Finally, a workshop allows you to develop relationships with other writers: your classmates might be your doorway into a local poetry community and could turn into your most trusted readers. John Lundberg