Dear Writerly Friends,
We have somehow reached October - the month of falling leaves, pumpkins, and a very special literature festival.
Below you'll find your latest dose of writer wisdom, a fresh round-up of writer opportunities, and an overview of the fantastic workshops we're running for writers at Birmingham Literature Festival next week. We really hope you'll join us there. |
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Here, we turn the spotlight on writers and the wisdom that keeps them going. In each feature, a writer shares the best advice they’ve ever received or the reason they return to the page, even on the hard days.
This month, author Lucy Marcovitch shares what drives her writing. |
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"Two pieces of advice drive my writing, although neither was given directly to me. The first is Don’t write what you know, write what you want to understand. I ripped this from a newspaper article many years ago so cannot attribute the author, but it jumped out at me because I realised that it encapsulated why I write. The newspaper scrap is pinned to my noticeboard to this day, curling and yellowing around the edges, quietly reminding me of what to do.
The other is from a wonderful book on creative writing that many other writers will know: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She champions the ‘crappy first draft’ – the act of simply getting something down on paper rather than trying to create beauty and wonder (or even full sense) from the outset. I say it to myself when I’m staring at an empty screen trying to work out how to begin, and I taught it to my daughter when she was wrestling with A levels and agonising over essay-writing. Allowing yourself to write a crappy first draft is freeing, giving you permission to put words on paper, however crappy they might be."
Lucy’s education writing has been commissioned by public bodies, charities and children’s publishers, including the BBC, Nosy Crow, the Premier League and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. She also writes short stories and creative non-fiction, and has recently started writing poetry. She has had two picture books published, and her children’s bedtime story, The Elephant Space Tower, appeared in Mslexia in May 2025. |
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Bham Lit Fest: Last chance to book! |
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There are a few spots left on our writing workshops taking place across the festival weekend (10th-11th October). Each two-hour workshops costs £30, bursaries available. We also have some fantastic events programmed especially for writers - here's a round-up! |
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For Writers: The Journey to Publication
Join award-winning author Liam Brown and Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of Writing West Midlands, for a conversation about getting published and building a sustainable creative career. |
| Birmingham Poets Laureate Inauguration Event 2026-2028
Featuring poetry from our newly appointed Birmingham Poet Laureate BradleyTaylor, and our outgoing Poet Laureate Ayan Aden. |
| WORKSHOP: Blast From The Past Writing Historical Figures into Your Poetry
This playful workshop, led by Forward-prize nominated poet Catherine Redford, will look at how we can merge fact and fantasy in our writing, both travelling back to the past to meet historical figures and bringing them into our own modern world.
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WORKSHOP: Weirding the Everyday In this interactive workshop on genre-blending and slipstream fiction, writer Lauren Mooney shows how to reframe the familiar in unexpected ways, using the uncanny, the weird and the eerie in order to surprise and unsettle.
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| WORKSHOP: Different Ways of Seeing In this workshop, Edgehill Prize-shortlisted writer Charlie Hill takes a look at two distinct ways of seeing and responding to the world around us – one traditional and the other experimental – and shows how these approaches can alter the very character of your writing. |
| WORKSHOP: Character Driven Playwriting In this energetic workshop with award-winning playwright Sophia Griffin, you will be encouraged to develop thrilling and alive new characters whose journeys entirely shape the narrative arc of your play.
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WORKSHOP: On Style with Taylor Burns
In this workshop, Taylor will equip you with the tools you will need in order to elevate the style of your own sentences, from how to craft them in the moment in a more meticulous way, to how they will eventually sound to others and the music they might make. |
| WORKSHOP: Writing Place, Writing Ourselves with Winnie M. Li
Learn how to write about place in a way which reflects our own life situations, notices the conflicts, and suggests how we can tell a story that is both compelling and real. |
| *SOLD OUT* WORKSHOP: Portals, Time Travel and How to Slant and Disrupt Narrative with Rachel Long
Expect to leave with a clutch of new poems that slant, disrupt and innovate. |
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WORKSHOP: Finding The Way
This general, all-round workshop with acclaimed author and screenwriter Courttia Newland is designed to free your instincts from overthinking, and remind what inspired you in the first place. |
| VERVE Poetry Society Young Poets Takeover Incl Young Person's Open Mic for 16-25 year olds.
If you’re aged 25 or younger, bring a poem and arrive early to sign up for the Verve open mic. |
| VERVE presents Crate Poetry Live! Hosted by Paul Stringer with Open Mic
Sign up on the door for the open mic slots up to 30 minutes before the event starts - six poets will be drawn from a hat.
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Online Workshop and Course |
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| In a two-hour live Zoom session, author, creative writing teacher, and editor Ken Preston - who has independently and traditionally published over 20 novels - will introduce you to the real landscape of self-publishing: what it actually involves, the choices available to you, and how to take your first confident steps.here.
The workshop will take place on Thursday, 14 January 2027, 7 PM - 9 PM GMT.
Cost: £35. Bursaries available. |
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Across 5 live Zoom sessions, fiction writer Jane Rogers will explore with you the craft of short story writing, focussing on one specific topic in each session. By the end of the course, you will have completed at least one story, and revised it with helpful feedback from your tutor and peers.
This course will run on Tuesdays from the 19th January to the 16th February, 19:00-21:00 GMT.
Cost: £175. Bursaries available. |
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Join us for a free morning of networking for emerging and established writers from across the West Midlands and beyond.
With guest speakers Peter Stones, Arts Council England and Lisa Blower, Novelist and Producer. Hosted by Jonathan Davidson from Writing West Midlands.
Venue: Newcastle Library, Castle House, Barracks Rd, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 1BL
Date/time: 28th November 2026, 11:00 - 12:30 GMT
Speaker Bio: Peter Stones is the Relationship Manager for Literature (Midlands) at Arts Council England. Peter has a keen interest in comics and graphic novels, AI, poetry and reader development.
Lisa Blower is an award-winning short story writer and novelist. |
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| Room 204 Writer, Naneh Hovhannisyan has been published in WriterMosaic's My Hit List, one person's reading, watching, listening and visiting. To read her article about her cultural highlights, please visit here!
Naneh is a memoirist and reviewer, whose work explores the reflection of historic events on the social and cultural makeup of late-Soviet and independent Armenia.
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New Opportunities for Writers |
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We want to help creative writers in the region in as many ways as possible. One of the ways we do this is by collating and sharing the relevant writer opportunities we come across each month in this newsletter.
To be able to list the maximum amount, we have created a dedicated page which we update with the latest opportunities, open to applications now- click below to view. |
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Here, we share upcoming writer-focused events happening locally and sometimes further afield. |
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Spark Young Writer Groups - Bookings Live! |
Bookings are open for Spark Young Writers Groups starting September 2026!
Led by professional local writers, sessions are designed to be fun, engaging and give young people a dedicated space to write creatively, with free bursary places available for those that need them.
This year, we are hosting groups in 16 locations, plus 3 online groups, with both Junior and Teen options available.
Spaces are limited – book yours via our website. Taster sessions available! |
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If you have any questions, comments or relevant events you would like us to share, please reply to this email.
See you next month! Until then you can keep in touch by following our social media channels below.
Best wishes,
The Team at Writing West Midlands |
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Writing West Midlands is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. |
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