If you’d like to know when we are holding an event, email [email protected] and ask to join our mailing list. We don’t share your details and we don’t spam you with dozens of emails!
‘Fifth Wednesday’ – Nov 29th 2023 Philip Douch Story teller
Leap into the Christmas season with a smile on your face!
Launch of DWC Forest Leaves 6 Sun 17th Sept
A successful launch – read about it and where to purchase, here.
‘Fifth Wednesday’ – May 31st 2023 Women in the Forest with guest speaker Joanna Foat
Dean Writers Circle is thrilled to have Joanna Foat as our guest for our 31st May Fifth Wednesday event, themed ‘Women in the Forest’.
The event was a great success, with a packed hall and a highly engaged audience. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Go here for a glimpse of Jo showing off her lumberjill uniform and more about the evening.
Joanna is the author of two books relating to the role of lumberjills in the UK. The first, Lumberjills: The Forgotten Army, explores the history of The Women’s Timber Corps in the Second World War, where thousands of members felled and crosscut trees by hand, operated sawmills, and ran whole forestry sites.
In 2022, Joanna released her novel, The Lumberjills, Stronger Together, based on her research and set in the Forest of Dean, where women trained at the Parkend Forestry Training School, now the Dean Field Studies Centre.
This is a talk to appeal to historians and writers.
After Joanna’s talk, DWC members will read their pieces in prose and poetry to celebrate Women in the Forest. A full evening!
See the poster for details, and we will see you there.
(Find Staunton, Coleford, Village Hall here. Parking behind the hall.)
‘Sixth’ Wednesday – April 5th 2023 Open Mic
Traditionally, the Circle would often do something special when there was a fifth Wednesday in the month. Our last, however, was pre-Covid and we’re now just easing ourselves into things again.
There’s a Fifth Wednesday this March, but events overtook us so instead we are turning our regular first Wednesday into an ‘all welcome, open mic’ event, and calling it a ‘Sixth Wednesday’. It’s also our first meeting at our new base at Broadwell Social Club. We thought we’d start with a splash!
If you can join us, please do! Bring something of your own creation to read to us (max 1k words please!) or just come to listen. The bar will be open and there’s plenty of parking behind the building, entrance off North Rd.
FREE ENTRY! Books for sale too.
Link to map here.
Different Flowers – a play by DWC member Carol Sheppard 2022
Two sisters. Four decades. One big secret
Friday 30 Sept 2022 7.30 pm Mackenzie Hall, Brockweir
Go here for details …
My Favourite Dog 2022
A play by Adele Cordner based on a book by DWC member Val Ormrod
My Favourite Dog is a stage play by Adele Cordner
(A story of dementia, love and dogs, based on the memoir In My Father’s Memory by Val Ormrod)
Fri 29 July King’s Theatre, Gloucester
Sat 30 July King’s Theatre, Gloucester
Fri 5 Aug Barnabas Arts Centre, Newport
Sat 6 Aug Llandogo Village Hall (All evening performances, times to be confirmed
This promises to be a great evening.
Lots happening!
The weekend of July 16/17 was frenetic. Members of Dean Writers Circle attended and took part in three different events.
Forest Books and Crafts
There is a new bookshop in Coleford. Two Forest authors Shoo Rayner and Andrew Taylor did the cutting the ribbon ceremony proudly looked on by the new proprietor Tina Brown.
There is a selection of Dean Writers Circle authors’ books as well as other books both new and second-hand. Tina is happy to order books on request.
There are delightful pieces of craftwork by local Dean artists from art, photography needlecraft and sewing.
All your birthday and Christmas gifts are right in the middle of Coleford.
The Second and Third Events
Others went to Mitcheldean Festival, while some popped back and forth to also attend the Chepstow Festival of Arts event, Bards in the Bar.
Here is a selection of our poets doing their thing at Jolters and Bards in the Bar
The Third Event
Others went to Chepstow to declaim on the stage at their festival.
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Forest Authors Festival
Location and parking
Dean Field Studies Garden Room is located opposite the DFR Parkend Station – see map below and parking information
Email [email protected] with any queries.
Our own program of public events has not been reactivated and we hope for better things in 2022. We have been successfully meeting throughout the past months by Zoom and have even welcomed new members.
If you would like to join us, email us at [email protected] and let’s chat. We have had a number of new joiners over the last few months, so it can be done!
We have left this program here to show what we had planned and what we hope to get back to at some stage. Meanwhile, keep writing!
Tuesday 28 April 2020 7.30 pm: ‘Fifth Wednesday’ at The Dog House, Coleford: ‘Laughter & Tears’ with Paul O’Brien, Su King and Val Ormrod. Open mic. More details to come
Saturday 20 June 2020 time tba: ‘National Cider Solstice’ at Jolters Press at Mitcheldean celebrated with PIPs . Open mic. Dress up!
Saturday 29 August 2020 all day: Forest Leaves Festival at Clanna Gardens, Alvington. Our second festival for writers, with workshops and speakers. More details to come
Friday 30 October 2020 7.30 pm: ‘Harvest’ at Jolter Press, Mitcheldean with PIPs. Open mic.