New Year, New You, New Us.
It’s New Year again. Time to regret the few too many chocolates consumed, the too loud clang of bottles entering the recycled bin, and any goals never achieved in the year now gone. It’s a great time to consider what we might like to look back on in delight in another year’s time.
Last year for me this was when I finally decided I was going to grasp my dream of being a writer and weave it into my daily life a thread at a time until it could not be unpicked. Joining Hay Writers’ Circle was one of those terrifying and immensely uplifting steps. I have met an amazing group of diverse, intelligent, kind and empathic people who have been part of that journey. I have shared my work, received great critical feedback, been supported in my goals and, most importantly, been made to feel part of this wonderful group. Writing is no longer an elusive, pitifully private hope. It is a daily, clamouring part of the fabric of my life. I no longer ask myself if I shall write, but what am I writing next?
Much can change in a year and, following a dynamic AGM in September, Hay Writers are delighted to announce the hosting of their first open workshop. This has been in response to Members requests for more inspiration and challenge, and follows on from a powerful Mslexia workshop the group shared last July with poet Fiona Sampson. We have had many enquiries from writers wishing to join the group but who are unable to attend Tuesday twice monthly meetings and intend this as a way for new writers to engage with and get to know our group.
Our first poetry workshop is on Saturday 17th February and will be led by poet Dr Rhiannon Hooson, focusing on Landscape and Memory (click here for details on our website). Another workshop on non-fiction writing is in development for July. So, if you are looking to engage with other writers, or further your own projects and ambitions, perhaps our workshops might be a great starting point for you. We include in the fee the opportunity to enter your work in our competitions which are judged by external, highly acclaimed writers. Iain Rowan recently judged our Fiction competition, giving carefully considered feedback to each entry.
Another new development is the piloting of our Work in Progress sub group. Aiming to give a specific platform to the longer projects that some members are pursuing this group is currently exploring the dynamics of focused retreat days and shared critique. If you think this could be the impetus you need to kick start your writing project, or push it to the end, please contact us for further developments. All workshops and the Work in Progress group will meet on Saturdays, specifically to offer a new face of the group to writers who cannot attend our standard Tuesday meetings.
Our group is always open to enquiry from new writers and we aim to meet every one for a personal conversation before joining, so, go on, don’t be daunted, get in touch. Take that first step in believing in the New Year, and in all its fresh potentials, and put that writing dream first.
Marianne Rosen
Secretary
Dr Hooson studied and later taught at Lancaster University, where she was awarded first an MA with distinction in Creative Writing, then a PhD in Poetry. She performs her poetry at literature festivals and venues across Europe and the UK, and her work has appeared in the Guardian, Magma, and Poetry Wales among others. Her first pamphlet, This Reckless Beauty, was published in 2004, and she has since been widely published in literary magazines and anthologies. Her first full length collection, 
We are currently living in a post-snow demi-thaw. Over-whelmed by last week’s heavy fall the broken trees and branches now rest upon their torn roots waiting to be collected. They’ll not be wasted, heating our homes in Christmas fires or to be festooned along with ivy, holly and mistletoe in Yuletide celebrations.
Fiona’s latest poetry collection is ‘
Don’t forget you can see many of our members performing at Hay Festival – event number 513 – 9am on Saturday 3rd June in the aptly named Scribbler’s Hut.
“Sabotage is representative of the hugely diverse amount of work being made and written in the ‘literary ecology’. We stand for inclusiveness and commitment to new voices in literature.” the Sabotage Review.
In 2016 something new. I decided to use the Hay Festival programme as my sole source material and attempt to discover a-poem-a-day. To make it more difficult I only used one page per day and the words in order, as they appeared on that page. Perhaps Blackout Poetry in its purest form. Looking back, I think I must have been mad, but I succeeded – ten poems ‘reawakened’ in ten days.”
Congratulations to the Hay Festival for reaching its thirty year milestone. #Hay30 takes place from 26th May to 4th June in its home town of Hay-on-Wye and hosts another incredible calendar of events.
THE HAY WRITERS 