NEXT MEETING: Wed 17 April 7.30 pm via zoom. Please email [email protected] if you wish to be invited.

Dean Writers Circle celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2023 with the publication of our sixth anthology, Celebration Forest Leaves Six.

The Circle was formed in 1978 following a creative writing course held by the Workers Educational Association. The object of the Circle was to provide support, advice and inspiration to the members to improve their writing skills. This remains true today.
Our aspirations are simple: we are here to support and encourage local writers to be the best they can be.

HOW DEAN WRITERS CIRCLE WORKS

At our meetings, members have the opportunity to read their work in a positive and helpful environment. The work may be inspired by the optional ‘homework’ which is designed to help the creative juices flow, or be the next few pages of your novel or your poem or short story. Meetings are also a time to share information about competitions and celebrate wins!

In addition, we hold regular writing and novel development workshops and organise the occasional open mic event and authors’ festivals.

Visitors to our fortnightly meetings are always welcome.

Normally we meet physically on the first Wednesday of the month but over winter we held all meetings by zoom. We always meet on the third Wednesday via zoom. We start at 7.30 pm. You are very welcome to visit or join (email us for zoom details well ahead of the meeting.) For face to face meetings we ask for a £2 visitors fee to help with venue costs.

Our novel writers group is a sub-set of the main Circle, and meets on the second Wednesday via zoom, at the same time 7.30 pm. Each novelist sends a couple of chapters to the rest of the group before the meeting and we discuss them in the group. When the author finishes their book we all read the complete manuscript and send our comments.

Please contact us at [email protected] for joining instructions.

Please also read our Data Protection Policy and Code of Conduct to ensure you are familiar with and happy to abide by these if you become a member.

On the fourth Wednesday of the month in the morning we indulge in more writing. From 10-12, we have a writing workshop. A time to write fast and furious to a prompt which we all supply one. If there is time we encourage everyone to read at least one of their snippets. These often go on to become stories and a number of members have won writing competitions from such humble origins.

Once again contact [email protected] as sometimes we meet in members’ houses/gardens or on zoom to find out what we are doing that day.

When there is a fifth Wednesday, we often let our hair down and meet in different venues and do different things, Check with us just what is planned.

FOREST LEAVES ANTHOLOGIES

The Circle has produced five anthologies over the years, with Forest Leaves Five published in 2018 to celebrate our fortieth anniversary. The anthologies celebrate our members’ work. https://deanwriterscircle.com/anthologies-2/

DWC WRITERS

A number of our members have won prizes for poetry, prose as well as scriptwriting and playwriting, and several are published authors. You can see their work here. https://deanwriterscircle.com/dwc-writers/ and celebrate recent competition wins, anthology inclusions and other publications here https://deanwriterscircle.com/dean-writers-circle-competition-winners-2020/

Follow us on Facebook at http://facebook dean writers’ circle or contact us by email [email protected]


LINKS

Dean Writers Circle is affiliated with Gloucestershire Writers Network (GWN) which keeps local writers in touch with all the local news.

Our members also work with other literary groups in the Forest including Mitcheldean Poetry Festival and Reading the Forest

There’s stacks of help and information online for writers out there and many sites which offer competitions to help hone skills and perhaps even win a prize here and there. Here are some links which our writers have found useful –