Image Credits:-
One image created in Book Brush using my photos. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. One image directly from Pixabay. Many thanks also to Penny Blackburn and Joy Wood for supplying author pictures. Also thanks to Julia Pattison for taking the image of me when I ran an editing course at Swanwick in 2024. Other photos of The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick were taken by me, Allison Symes.
It is always a pleasure to return to The Hayes, Swanwick, Derbyshire for my big writing event of the year – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I spend a fabulous few days in the company of friends, enjoy making new friends, and learn so much from the courses and workshops on offer. I am immersed in the world of writing and it is a wonderful, tiring, and inspirational experience.
This year, the weather was gloriously sunny. We appreciated the air conditioning in the rooms where the workshops were being held, and there were new additions to the grounds at The Hayes. I do not remember seeing the goats before.
Does Swanwick start at Derby Railway Station?
The few days you spent at the School fly by. I usually end up beginning my Swanwick for another year at Derby Railway Station where a number of us take the coach to get to The Hayes. Often Swanwick begins for many before we even board the coach? How come?
Simply, there are volunteers who hold up signs for the school who greet folks coming off the trains and guide them to where the coach will be. (I was one of these volunteers last year). Naturally many of us get in early – to allow for train delays etc – and so gather in one of the cafes in Derby Railway Station where we soon get chatting as if we’d known each other for years. It is a lovely way to start our writing “fix”.
One great tip here is to know every writer has an instant topic of conversation. You start by asking what someone writes and before you know it, they are asking you the same thing and the conversation is up and running!
New Delegates, Returning Delegates and a Diverse Mix
Now many delegates including me come back year after year. I knew by the end of the evening of my first visit in 2016 I wanted to be back. But it is always good to see new people coming to the school too. This year, there were 60 newbies, which is a great number. (Roughly there were just under 200 of us in total at The Hayes).
The school also attracts writers at all stages of their writing journey and across all ages and backgrounds. It is a truly diverse mix here and I swear you can almost feel the creativity flow out of us all as we get to work on exercises set by our tutors in the workshops and specialist courses. These cover a huge range of topics too. Further down I will list the courses I went to and it will give you a good idea.
Special Swanwick and an Army of Volunteers
I will add Swanwick remains the only writing event I’ve been too where I am able to download the course notes from those workshops I went to and the ones I did not (almost inevitably because they clashed with something else I wanted to do. Never, ever envy the timetable compilers. It’s not an easy job and you just know from the start you cannot please everyone).
I have found this so useful because when I’ve read through course notes from something I wanted to go to but couldn’t in one year, I go to it in the next or subsequent years if it is on offer again. The notes are phenomenally handy but you do get the most out of a course by actually being at it, naturally. By looking at the previous year’s notes, I can get a good idea if this course really does have something for me. It’s a good sign when I am keen to go to it at the next Swanwick. It is an inevitable part of the writing life some topics are always useful so will come up again.
The school also has an army of volunteers. These include the Book Shop assistants, the Ambassadors for the School, technical helpers and the raffle ticket sellers (first prize is a free place at the following year’s Swanwick and there are many other prizes too).
Then there are those who host the evening events such as the Open Prose and Open Poetry Mic Nights. Then there are those who run up the Lift Up Your Hearts and Lift Up Your Pens sessions which take place before breakfast. I ran one of each of these this year.
These are just short sessions for just under half an hour and are a good way to get the inspiration flowing for the Pens sessions. The Hearts sessions are short non-denominational services with thoughts and reflections and are a lovely way to settle your thoughts ahead of a busy day writing, creating, learning and, of course, socialising.
Something relatively new is the ability to have book launches at Swanwick. There were 12 this year spread out over three to four days. Naturally I am hoping to be able to have a launch at Swanwick next year for my Seeing The Other Side. I do know the support shown for these launches is greatly appreciated by the authors concerned.
Swanwick Courses – Allison Symes
The courses are made up of four part specialist courses, two part short courses, and various workshops on all aspects of the writing life.
The four part courses are broken into two halves and held over two days. The two part courses are split into two and held on the same day. There are three lots of these (one two part course is held on the Monday, another on the Tuesday, and the final one on the Wednesday).
The four and two part courses are held at the beginning of Swanwick (Sunday and Monday). The workshops all last for an hour and are available from Sunday through to Wednesday afternoon.
I went to the following:-
Four Part Course
Writing Short Stories to Make Money – Della Galton. Naturally this course had my name on it. Packed full of useful information for anyone writing or wanting to write short fiction. Flash fiction came into this too.
Two Part Courses
When Life Happens – Write It! – Sharon Cook (memoir but useful for anyone writing non-fiction. I also found some of the ideas and exercises here have inspired some work I hope to write up as flash stories later. This is often the way of it with non-fiction. It can and does spark fictional work).
Writer Beware! – Gerald Hornsby and Anita Belli. Packed full of useful information, I was pleased to get to share some useful pointers for people to look out for when thinking of hiring an editor. That was unexpected but contributed to the discussion. I was so pleased to hear Gerald and Anita confirm you don’t need all of the expensive software and other gadgets aimed at writers. You start writing. You work out what you need. Often there are free or low cost options to get you started anyway. (Incidentally, I only went to a paid plan for my website and Book Brush when I had been using both for some time but had got to the point where I did need more of the options on offer with the paid plans). The key message here was rightly to always know what you are buying into and why and do base it on what you need as a writer.
Magic in the Archives – Dr Erica Canela. This was simply fabulous. Plenty to inspire non-fiction writers but again as with the memoir one, I found the exercises were triggering story ideas. Indeed Erica set a specific exercise using historical documents for us to look at to get us to write fiction around what we picked to use. There was so much in this. I do hope it returns to Swanwick at a later date.
Workshops
Flash Fiction – Esther Chilton. You guessed it. This definitely had my name on it and I was pleased to be able to draft some more flash pieces during it! It was also fabulous to catch up with Esther in person later.
Fulfilling Fillers – Maggie Cobbett. Another classic one to go to if you write any short form writing. Despite the closure of magazines, there are opportunities out there.
Reviewing The Situation – Julia Pattison. Julia often reviews theatre productions in Yorkshire. Naturally I was keen to pick up tips. Great exercise set in working out snappy titles for reviews.
Effective Listening – Heather Swash. I have a very soft spot for any course which seems to be a little bit “left field” and this one was it for me this year. Heather effectively showed how good listening can help writers. You pick up nuances. You learn to listen out for what is not said and so on. All useful stuff for fiction writers. It is perhaps not an obvious writing topic but it was a great one and good to be reminded about how important this is. Heather also looked at the role audio books can play in encouraging listening to stories (and they can be of enormous help to dyslexics).
Evening Events
And if all of this wasn’t enough, there was a great range of after dinner entertainment. (You don’t go hungry at The Hayes by the way). There were guest speakers, the Big Quiz, which sadly I couldn’t get to as it clashed with the Open Prose Mic Night (and naturally there was a Mic Night for Poetry too).
There was a Buskers Night, a fancy dress evening and disco. This year’s theme was The Wild West. My favourite costume was someone wearing a hard hat and jacket claiming to be a cowboy builder from Bodgeit and Scarper!
There were the Page to Stage performances, all of which were fabulous. Swanwickers are invited to submit scripts ahead of the school. These are judged by an independent theatre, the winning six plays (a split between comedy and drama) are performed at the school by delegates brave enough to volunteer to be actors or directors.
There is a welcome to the school on the Saturday night and a farewell on the Wednesday night. The raffle is drawn during that. Everyone waits to see if they’ve won the prize of a free place to Swanwick next year!
Prizes are given out also for those taking part in the Page to Stage as delegates get to vote on best comedy, best drama, best actor in a drama, best actor in a comedy. “Swannies” are given out to the winners!
The final event of the school is last night and fire pit singalong, though for once it wasn’t too cold to have the fire pit, quite the opposite in fact!
I was delighted to take part in the Open Prose Mic Night. It had fabulous support with 27 writers wanting to read pieces and we did all get to have a go. Many thanks to Jen Wilson and Maggie Cobbett for running this so well. I read my Time For A Change from my forthcoming Seeing The Other Side. It is a humorous piece and am glad to report it went down well.
Conclusion
As you will no doubt have gathered from the above, I had a fabulous time and am already looking forward to Swanwick 2026. For more information about the school, do check out its website.
Maybe see you there! Oh and if you were ever worried about networking, I hope I can reassure you by saying by the end of your first Swanwick, you will no longer worry about this. How do I know? Well, it became true for me. Also everyone is so friendly and encouraging. It makes a huge difference.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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From personal experience, I can confirm that the Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick is every bit as wonderful as described in this article. Once there, and immersed, you won’t want to leave.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to attend the last two due to personal, family commitments. I look forward to returning to that place for what had become my favourite week of the year, when I am able.
Thank you, Allison, for your detailed account of your experiences.
Many thanks, Lance, it’s good to hear from you.
I attended a similar event, The London Festival of Writing, organised by Jericho Writers. We did not have the advantage of gardens and lakes, and it was a good, long walk to the nearest tree. However, I met some fascinating people whose enthusiasm was contagious.
The next event will be the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka, where Asian literature will be celebrated.
Thank you for your report. Maybe I will go to Swanwick next year.
Many thanks, Mike. Like the sound of The London Festival of Writing. Have fun at the Galle Literary Festival.
Swanwick is a wonderful buzz of creative people. Would be lovely to see you there.