Write and thrive in 2025!
Join The Writers Workshop at Channing Hall, Sheffield, on February 8th for Writers Day 2025, supported by New Writing North and Hachette.
LIMITED TICKETS LEFT! Buy yours today to avoid disappointment! Ticket includes refreshments and lunch.
Suited to emerging and developing writers, the Writers Day will include sessions that explore the writing journey from creation through publication, as well as opportunities to pitch to publishers and meet your new BWFs (best writer friends)!
PROGRAMME
Welcome & Creative Activity with Beverley Ward and Rosie Carnall
Session 1 Options (choose one)
Find Your Story with Nariman Shafi. What is the unique story that only you can tell? Whether it’s in poetry or prose, explore the ‘what’ of your desire to write in this interactive workshop. Through writing exercises and prompts, we’ll be using your interests, knowledge, expertise, and experiences to mine for the stories that you’re excited to unearth and share. You’ll leave with a jar of ideas that you can use at home.
Find Your Character with Gavin Extence and Jools Warner. Compelling characters are at the heart of every good story. In this session, we’ll be exploring how to write them, including: Strengths/flaws, voice/dialogue, wants/needs (and why they’re rarely the same), character’s relationship with plot, showing (and challenging) a worldview, and building a strong supporting cast. Wherever you are with your story, this session will help you to build characters that leap off the page, providing the strong foundation you need to engage your readers.
Find Your Readers: Taking the cringe out of marketing with Anna Caig. Book marketing expert Anna Caig will explore how to tap into your unique creative motivations and inspirations to identify marketing activity that will not only reach readers with a real reason to love your work, but which you’ll also enjoy. When your book marketing comes from the same place as your writing, you can channel your passions to build genuine connections with readers without the 'cringe-factor'. Whether you’re at the start of your journey and building a platform before your book is launched, or a well-established writer looking to give your book marketing a boost, there will be plenty of ideas for you to take away and try.
Session 2: A Writer’s Journey, supported by New Writing North
Sheffield writer and literary luminary Desiree Reynolds talks with novelists Sarah Brooks and Karen Powell about the varied ways writers begin and navigate their literary journeys. From small beginnings, finding support, developing a practice, getting the big break and finding recognition, and facing the challenges of publication and sustaining the writing life. We will also be joined by Hana Sandhu from New Writing North. Submit questions for the Q&A in advance by emailing workshopwrite@gmail.com with the email header ‘Writers Journeys’.
Session 3: Lunchtime Pitching Opportunity
Ticket holders have the opportunity to take part in our pitching session during the lunch break. Submit a 250-word pitch ahead of the event to be in with a chance of pitching live on the day and receiving feedback from Frankie Edwards (Editorial Director, Headline Publishing Group) and Lucy Twist (Commissioning Editor, Hachette). All pitches, regardless of selection for pitching on the day, will receive short feedback from The Writers Workshop via email. For more information, email workshopwrite@gmail.com.
Session 4 Options (choose one)
Find Your Writing Mojo: Discover Tools and Techniques for Consistent Creativity with Bec Evans. Struggling to stay motivated in your writing? Join this workshop with writing coach Bec Evans to help you start writing and build a sustainable practice. Discover why writing feels hard, learn practical strategies to find time, overcome procrastination, and create a consistent routine. Gain confidence, resilience, a creative rhythm, and the tools to keep going, whether you’re just starting out or rekindling your practice.
Indie Publishing Essentials. The publishing landscape is changing rapidly, with so many possibilities for the aspiring authors. But how do you choose the right route for you? Join Writers Workshop founder Beverley Ward for a chat about the avenues for publishing (and their pros/cons) beyond the traditional/mainstream route with bestselling self-published author, Sarah Denzil; debut author Mary Marken (published by Troubadour, a hybrid publisher); Steven Kay (indie author, publisher, and founder of Sheffield Authors); and Akeem Balogun (award-winning writer).
Session 5 Options (choose one)
Find Your Voice with Rachel Bower. In this workshop, we will explore ideas of voice across different genres. We will look at examples of distinctive voices in poetry and fiction, and think about how this might be achieved through techniques like dialect, music, rhythm, word choice, line or sentence length and punctuation. Through a series of exercises, you will then have the opportunity to experiment with different uses of voice, and think about how you might develop your unique voice in your own writing.
A Book’s Journey: The Traditional Route (supported by Hachette). Frankie Edwards (Editorial Director at Headline) and Lucy Twist (commissioning editor at Hachette Children’s Group) share insights into a book’s journey from the publisher’s perspective. Learn how a manuscript goes from submission through the acquisition, editing, and publication process from industry professionals. With Q&A. Please submit your questions in advance by emailing workshopwrite@gmail.com with the email header ‘Book’s Journey’.
Closing Session: Sounds about Write with Molly Naylor, supported by Juno Books
Rounding off the day, we’ll enjoy a chat with and performance from scriptwriter, graphic novelist and poet Molly Naylor. Introduced by Juno Books and chaired by Beverley Ward.
During the day, books by all our featured authors will be available to buy from Juno Books.
CONTRIBUTORS
Akeem Balogun is a writer whose fiction has appeared in multiple publications, and he has written stories for artists, projects and festivals. His debut collection of stories, The Storm, won the Society of Authors' Somerset Maugham Award. His latest work, Post-modern Hustle, was published by Intergraphia Books.
Rachel Bower is a writer, poet and creative facilitator from Bradford. Her poetry, fiction and academic work has been widely published in journals and magazines, and her debut novel, It Comes from the River, is out with Bloomsbury in January 2024. Rachel is also the author of two poetry collections, These Mothers of Gods (Fly on the Wall Press) and Moon Milk (Valley Press) and was second place in the Michael Marks Environmental Poet of the Year 2024. She has also published a work of nonfiction: Epistolarity and World Literature (Palgrave Macmillan).
Sarah Brooks lives in Yorkshire. She won the Lucy Cavendish Prize in 2019 and a Northern Debut Award from New Writing North in 2021. She works in East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds, where she helps run the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing, and she is also co-editor of Samovar, a bilingual online magazine for translated speculative fiction. Her debut novel The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands is a historical fantasy set on a version of the Trans-Siberian Express. It was published in June 2024 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and was a Sunday Times bestseller.
Anna Caig trains creative people to do their own marketing. She works with The Society of Authors, Jericho Writers and The Literary Consultancy, as well as one-to-one with many writers. She’s worked in communications for over 20 years, specialising in media relations and strategic marketing campaigns, and is an experienced public speaker. Anna also writes historical and crime fiction, and her debut novel was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger prize. She is obsessed with the hidden voices of women in history.
Sarah A. Denzil is a million-copy bestselling author of psychological suspense novels. Her books include number one bestseller Silent Child, which was a Goodreads Choice semi-finalist in 2017. Her books have been published in several different languages and have appeared on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Sarah lives in Yorkshire with her husband and cats, enjoying the scenic countryside and rather unpredictable weather. She loves to write moody, psychological fiction with plenty of twists and turns.
Frankie Edwards is an Editorial Director at Headline Publishing Group. She has worked in fiction publishing for eleven years and publishes all kinds of upmarket and reading-group novels across both literary and commercial lists. Her authors include Maggie Stiefvater, Alison Weir, Bobby Palmer, Alex Hay and the late, great Octavia E. Butler.
Bec Evans is an author, coach and consultant dedicated to helping writers stay motivated. She supports writers, writing groups, universities and publishers through The Written Academy and shares insight in her weekly newsletter Breakthroughs and Blocks on Substack. Her latest book is Written: How to Keep Writing and Build a Habit That Lasts. She offers coaching and courses through the Written Academy, and is co-creator of the Mslexia Diary and Planner.
Gavin Extence is a writer and creative writing tutor with The Writers Workshop. He won the Waterstones 11 literary prize for his first book The Universe Versus Alex Woods (2013), and since then has published several novels, including The Mirror World of Melody Black (2013), The Empathy Problem (2016), The End of Time (2019), and Finding Phoebe (Andersen Press, 2023).
Steven Kay. Since his first novel The Evergreen in Red and White was longlisted for the Historical Novel Society's Indie awards in 2015, Steven has published over 60 books: his own and those of others through his 1889 Books publishing company. He accepts submissions of things that he finds interesting: poetry, photography, fiction, and history in all formats: print, e-book and audiobook. He is currently over 18 months into researching a possible novel number 7 - shooting for the Booker but probably landing in his back garden again!
Mary Marken published her novel Belfast Song as an independent author through Troubador in August 2004. It is a historical novel set in Belfast between 1911-1919.
Molly Naylor is an award-winning poet, scriptwriter, and graphic novelist. She is the co-writer and creator of Sky One comedy After Hours. Her plays have been toured nationally and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her third poetry collection Whatever You’ve Got is published by Bad Betty Press.
Karen Powell grew up in Rochester, Kent. She left school at sixteen but returned to education in her mid-twenties, reading English Literature at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. Karen now lives with her family in York. Her novel, THE RIVER WITHIN, was published by Europa in the USA and UK (2020) and Edizioni E/O in Italy. Her new book, FIFTEEN WILD DECEMBERS, a fictional reimagining of the life of Emily Brontë, was also published by Europa. It was shortlisted for the inaugural Nero Book Award for Fiction and named a Sunday Times Best Historical Fiction Book for 2023. Karen is currently working on a contemporary novel.
Narimaan (Mamie) Shafi is a writer, an ex-instructional designer, and ex-science teacher. As a writer, Mamie's passions are memoir and flash fiction. In 2024, her story ‘What if Annette Comes to Tea’ was published in an anthology printed by Fox and Windmill. Her story ‘Mischief Night’, won the 2024 Off the Shelf Sheffield Story Competition. She is keen to support underrepresented writers and reach new audiences.
Lucy Twist is a commissioning editor at Hachette Children’s Group. She buys in and edits illustrated non-fiction books for children between the ages of 3 and 12. She has worked in publishing for 6 years and is a big fan of history books and anything funny, especially with ‘snot’, ‘bums’ or ‘poo’ in the title.
Beverley Ward is the founder of The Writers Workshop. An author, poet and creative writing coach and facilitator, she’s passionate about the power, joy and community of writing.
Jools Warner is a fantasy writer and tutor for The Writers Workshop. Jools is a tarot card reader and yoga instructor with an MA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Death Studies. Ernie and the Mage-Killer is her first novel (Bellows Press, 2024).