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Winchester Writers' Festival

Small World Syndrome – Introducing Helen Matthews – Part 1

July 2, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:  Many thanks to Helen Matthews for supplying author and book cover images. Other photos created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.

Most of us have experienced small world syndrome when you re-meet someone you haven’t met for ages or discover the person who is sitting next to you at the cafe (now possible but suitably distanced of course!) went to the same primary school you did thirty odd years ago.

Recently this has happened again to me.

I first met Helen Matthews, novelist and short story writer, at the Hursley Park Book Fair as her table was near mine and we got chatting.

I’ve also met her at the Winchester Writers’ Festival. And now I’ve re-met her thanks to a Twitter group – #writingchat. This is on every Wednesday night between 8 and 9 pm where writers get together online and chat about a range of topics. We also share experiences and tips (including sometimes on what not to do). It is a friendly place to “hang out” and I always learn something useful from the discussions. (And it is wonderful being able to share with other writers the frustrations as well as the joys of the writing life).

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[Read more…] about Small World Syndrome – Introducing Helen Matthews – Part 1

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Tags: After Leaving the Village, am reading, am writing, anti-slavery, creative fiction, Darkstroke, domestic noir, Facade, genre fiction, Helen Matthews, Hursley Park Book Fair, Lies Behind the Ruins, social media, the writing life, thrillers, Twitter, Unseen, Winchester Writers' Festival, writing chat

Writing Legacy

June 21, 2019 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Feature Image - Writing Legacy

I had the great joy of being at the Winchester Writers’ Festival on Saturday 15th June and a lovely time was had by all. As ever, I learned a great deal from the courses I attended. I also loved chatting to friends, old and new, including Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, author of the Edinburgh Crime Mysteries, who I interviewed for CFT a little while ago. [Read more…] about Writing Legacy

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Tags: Barbara Large, creative writing, encouragement, fiction, inspiration, non-fiction, Winchester Writers' Festival, writing legacy

Barbara Large, MBE – An Appreciation

March 15, 2019 By Allison Symes 6 Comments

Feature Image Barbara Large - An Appreciation

There will rightly be many tributes to the late Barbara Large, who founded what is now known as the Winchester Writers’ Festival. She will be much missed by many writers, including me. [Read more…] about Barbara Large, MBE – An Appreciation

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Tags: Barbara Large, Hampshire Writers' Society, Winchester Writers' Festival, writing community, writing conferences

The Benefits of a Good Writing Conference

August 24, 2018 By Allison Symes 5 Comments

Feature Image - The Benefits of a Good Writing Conference

Image Credit:  A very big thank you to Geoff Parkes for kind permission to use some of his photos from the recent Swanwick Writers’ Summer School.

Why should writers get to a good writing conference if they can and not just the once?

The obvious benefits are learning new skills, how to improve those you already have, or both, from a wide range of speakers. You literally tap their knowledge and experience and apply it to your own writing. If you need to know more about editing, you go and listen to top tips from an editor working widely in the industry etc. [Read more…] about The Benefits of a Good Writing Conference

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Tags: Winchester Writers' Festival, writing advice

Local Author News: Richard Hardie

December 16, 2016 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Christmas is, for authors and publishers, the most important time of the year for selling books and is a major lifeline for our bookshops.

With so few independent bookshops around now, it is nice to be able to share news of one that is not only continuing to do well but is also stocking local author Richard Hardie’s Young Adult novels, Leap of Faith and Trouble With Swords.
[Read more…] about Local Author News: Richard Hardie

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Tags: books, Chandler's Ford, publishing, reading, storytelling, Winchester, Winchester Writers' Festival, writers, writing

The Writing Life – Barbara Large, Part 2

October 28, 2016 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

This is Part 2 of my interview with Barbara Large, MBE, founder of the Winchester Writing Conference as it was known.  Now known as the Winchester Writers’ Festival, it is recognised as one of the major writing events of the year.

Despite stepping down from running the conference in 2013, Barbara is as busy as ever running workshops, leading tours around the CPI production plant at Chippenham for those interested in self-publishing and having her own creative writing consultancy – Creative Words Matter. [Read more…] about The Writing Life – Barbara Large, Part 2

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Tags: advice, Barbara Large, books, creative writing, Dovetail Centre, Information, inspiration, Winchester Writers' Festival

The Writing Life – Barbara Large, Part 1

October 21, 2016 By Allison Symes 7 Comments

Feature Image: Barbara Large Interview

I had the great joy of meeting Barbara Large at the Winchester Writing Conference (as it was known) many moons ago. Now known as the Winchester Writers’ Festival, this three day writing event was started by Barbara in 1980. She led the conference until 2013.

Barbara is as busy as ever and runs workshops. [Read more…] about The Writing Life – Barbara Large, Part 1

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Tags: advice, Barbara Large, books, creative writing, Dovetail Centre, inspiration, literature, publishing, Winchester Writers' Festival

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Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal by Joan Adelaide Goater

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

Growing up in Chandler’s Ford: 1950s – 1960s by Martin Napier

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford 1939 – 1945 by Doug Clews

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research by Margaret Doores

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

History of Hiltonbury Farmhouse by Andy Vining

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley by Roger White

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Do You Remember The Hutments? By Nick John

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

Memory of Peter Green by Wendy Green

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History of Vickers Armstrongs (Supermarine) Hursley Park by Dave Key

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