Hello Writers!
We loved hearing from you about what motivates you and why writing is important at our Brighton Why We Write workshop on Tuesday. It was the second event in our Arts Council England-funded series and it was fascinating to hear Brighton writers voice themes in common with writers we met at our first workshop in Brent last week, and also the differences.
In the Brighton Friends Meeting House we heard from writers working on short stories, screenplays, historical fiction, poetry, children’s books, comedy sketches, narrative non-fiction and memoir, as well as novels. Among the reasons you write, you told us you're motivated by pure enjoyment, to express what needs to be said for your emotional and mental health, to process grief, to advocate for others and connect with people. For others, writing entertains, educates and enchants and you do it for the technical pleasure of arranging words on the page. And for some it was for glory! And like our north London peers, many of you write for clarity, to explore another world and many simply feel compelled to do it.
Thank you writers for sharing your thoughts with us. And a huge thank you to the incredible Dorothy Koomson for spending the evening with us and sharing her wealth of writing and publishing experience. We learned so much from you, not least, keep asking what if and what if and what if... It was a treat to have you with us.
And enormous thanks to Esme Floyd Hall for leading us through a writing exercise. Esme, who writes at Virginia Hall (@virginiahallwrites), is the founder of The Business Poet and we felt very lucky to benefit from your facilitation expertise.
We’d also like to thank our Brighton project partners, the amazing New Writing South, and our Why We Write sponsors DHH Literary Agency and Goldsboro Books. All three organisations are forces for creativity and hugely supportive of Brighton-based writers and we’re thrilled to be aligned with them.
If you are a Brighton or Sussex-based writer and didn’t manage to grab a ticket for our Brighton event, we are delighted to announce that we’ll be hosting a second Why We Write workshop in Brighton, 6-8pm on Tuesday 23 February 2027 (venue TBC). Araminta Hall, bestselling author of seven novels including Unreliable Narrator, One of the Good Guys and Imperfect Women, now a major Apple TV show, will be joining us as our guest speaker. Don’t miss your second chance to grab your spot here [eventbrite link].
Before then, we’ll be taking our Why We Write project back on the road and asking writers about their creative lives in York (26 November) where professor of creative writing at Durham University Naomi Booth will be speaking to us; Lewisham (27 January) with playwright and poet Inua Ellams; and Folkestone (2 February) with local crime writer and former police detective Charlie Gallagher. All events are 6-8pm and tickets are £10 (+fee) and available on Eventbrite. There are free tickets for those who otherwise might not be able to attend. If you know other writers in those locations who might like to come and connect with other writers, please do tell them about the workshops. You can read more info here.
As we mentioned, we are running an open Submission process and inviting writers to send us a piece of work that’s meaningful to you (max 1,000 words) to be included in our Showcase in June 2027 at Deptford Town Hall, to which you are all invited.
You can read more about how and where to submit here and what you’ll receive if your work is selected. It’s free and open to any kind of writing, brand new or published, but it has to be your own, human-authored work. You don’t need to have attended a workshop to submit, so please spread the word to interested writers. More details about the Showcase to follow.
Nearer the time, we’ll be circulating details of our Facilitator Workshop that will take place next summer, when we’ll train writers to deliver our workshop format. Keep an eye out if you’re interested.
And thank you to those Why We Write workshop attendees who have already filled out an Evaluation Form. Your input provides us with useful information with which to develop our format and also apply for future funding. If you haven’t yet, you can complete the short form here.
And for whatever reason you write, keep writing!
Victoria and Cindy