The workshops are led by Sarah Anthony, an experienced literature lecturer and teacher, and one of our judges for the 2023 HG Wells Short Story Competition.

Attendees are required to attend two sessions. In the first we will discuss methods of characterisation. You will then be given a short writing task to return within a week.

They will then be circulated to all the attendees and in the second session you will receive feedback from the tutor and through peer review. Participants will be limited to 10 per workshop.

The two workshops offer aspiring writers the opportunity to learn, write and share ideas online.

The workshops will be held via Zoom (booked attendees will be sent joining links a few days before the sessions). Each workshop comprises of two dates, and you should attend BOTH. There are workshops for two different age categories:

21 and under: Saturday 20th May 2-3pm AND Saturday 3rd June 2-3pm 

Over 21’s: Wednesday 17th May 7-8pm AND Wednesday 31st May 7-8pm

There will be a £10 FULLY REFUNDABLE booking fee for these courses. Over the last 2 years we have run these courses many people have booked, and then not attended, denying others the chance to take part. For this year, to book you have to pay a £10 booking fee. We will refund via PayPal the full £10 booking fee to all those that attend both sessions.

Book online via Eventbrite:

Workshop Tickets for 21 and under: Saturday 20th May 2-3pm AND Saturday 3rd June 2-3pm 

Workshop Tickets for Over 21’s: Wednesday 17th May 7-8pm AND Wednesday 31st May 7-8pm

About Sarah Anthony

Sarah Anthony graduated from Bristol University with a degree in English and French literature. Her MA with the Open University followed, specialising in postcolonial literature. She has worked for the School of English at the University of Kent, co-ordinating their part-time programmes in English and American literature and Creative Writing and acting as academic advisor to international students.

Sarah has 15 years’ experience lecturing and teaching university undergraduates and adult learners at the University of Kent, for the Workers’ Educational Association and for the U3A. She has taught on subjects as disparate as the plays of Christopher Marlowe and the writers of the Windrush Generation, and has taken part in a TV documentary on E M Forster for international arts and culture channel ARTE.  Current projects include the novels of John Steinbeck, the Bloomsbury Group, and 20th century Russian literature.

The post HG Wells 2023 Creative Writing Workshops: Characterisation appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

Chekhov’s gun is a concept that describes how every element in a story should contribute to the whole. It comes from Russian writer Anton Chekhov’s famous writing advice: if there is a gun on the wall in the first act, it has to go off by the last. If it does not, it should not be there.

The one hour sessions look at this theory as a form of foreshadowing and encourages writers to avoid using detail in their stories that has no relevance to the outcome.

Students are asked to read ‘A Sound of Thunder’ by Ray Bradbury, which will be examined during the first session. They are then invited to write a short piece to be submitted during the week which will be peer reviewed with tutor feedback in the second session.

A Sound of Thunder – Google Docs

Dates:   Senior (Age 22+) workshops: 6-7pm, Wednesday 19th and 26th May

Participants are asked to attend both sessions to make best use of this workshop. Numbers are limited to 14 and you need to register in advance to receive login details to these Zoom sessions.

The two free workshops offer aspiring writers the opportunity to learn, write and share ideas online.

Both of our free workshops will be held via Zoom with Sarah Anthony. Participants will be limited to 14 on a first come first served basis so sign up now!

Login details and course details will be emailed to registered participants by no later than 8pm on 17th May by Sarah Anthony. Please watch your email after registration for her message. Book your FREE tickets here.

About Sarah Anthony

Sarah Anthony graduated from Bristol University with a degree in English and French literature and did her MA with the Open University, specialising in postcolonial literature She has worked for the School of English at the University of Kent, co-ordinating their part-time programmes in English and American literature and Creative Writing and acting as academic advisor to international students.

Sarah has 15 years’ experience lecturing and teaching university undergraduates and adult learners at the University of Kent, for the Workers’ Educational Association and for the U3A. She has taught on subjects as disparate as the plays of Christopher Marlowe and the writers of the Windrush Generation, and has taken part in a TV documentary on E M Forster for international arts and culture channel ARTE.  Current projects include the novels of John Steinbeck, the Bloomsbury Group, and 20^th century Russian literature.

Register online.

The post HG Wells Short Story Competition: Adult Creative Writing Workshop: Chekhov’s gun appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

Chekhov’s gun is a concept that describes how every element in a story should contribute to the whole. It comes from Russian writer Anton Chekhov’s famous writing advice: if there is a gun on the wall in the first act, it has to go off by the last. If it does not, it should not be there.

The one hour sessions look at this theory as a form of foreshadowing and encourages writers to avoid using detail in their stories that has no relevance to the outcome.

Students are asked to read ‘A Sound of Thunder’ by Ray Bradbury, which will be examined during the first session. They are then invited to write a short piece to be submitted during the week which will be peer reviewed with tutor feedback in the second session.

A Sound of Thunder – Google Docs

Dates:   Junior (Age under 22) workshops: 11am-noon, Saturday 22nd and 29th May

Participants are asked to attend both sessions to make best use of this workshop. Numbers are limited to 14 and you need to register in advance to receive login details to these Zoom sessions.

The two free workshops offer aspiring writers the opportunity to learn, write and share ideas online.

Both of our free workshops will be held via Zoom with Sarah Anthony. Participants will be limited to 14 on a first come first served basis so sign up now!

Login details and course details will be emailed to registered participants by no later than 8pm on 20th May by Sarah Anthony. Please watch your email after registration for her message. Book your free ticket here.

About Sarah Anthony

Sarah Anthony graduated from Bristol University with a degree in English and French literature and did her MA with the Open University, specialising in postcolonial literature She has worked for the School of English at the University of Kent, co-ordinating their part-time programmes in English and American literature and Creative Writing and acting as academic advisor to international students.

Sarah has 15 years’ experience lecturing and teaching university undergraduates and adult learners at the University of Kent, for the Workers’ Educational Association and for the U3A. She has taught on subjects as disparate as the plays of Christopher Marlowe and the writers of the Windrush Generation, and has taken part in a TV documentary on E M Forster for international arts and culture channel ARTE.  Current projects include the novels of John Steinbeck, the Bloomsbury Group, and 20^th century Russian literature.

Register online.

The post HG Wells Short Story Competition: Junior Creative Writing Workshop: Chekhov’s gun appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

These two hour-long sessions are designed to explore the idea of the ‘unspoken’ in the short story through Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Iceberg Theory’.

Participants are asked to attend both sessions to make best use of this workshop. Numbers are limited to 14 and you need to register in advance to receive login details to these Zoom sessions.

Session 1 at 1100 on 13th June will look at the theory and analyse a short story by Hemingway which will be available to all participants. At the end of the class students will be set a creative writing assignment to be emailed to the tutor mid-week.

These assignments will be emailed anonymously to the rest of the group.

Session 2 at 1100 on 20th June will give the opportunity for constructive peer and tutor feedback.

Please note that we will be observing the same protocols as the Short Story Competition where all submissions are also judged anonymously.

The two free workshops offer aspiring writers the opportunity to learn, write and share ideas online.

Both of our free workshops will be held via Zoom with Sarah Anthony. Participants will be limited to 14 on a first come first served basis so sign up now!

Login details and course details will be emailed to registered participants by no later than 8pm on 12th June by Sarah Anthony. Please watch your email after registration for her message.

About Sarah Anthony

Sarah Anthony graduated from Bristol University with a degree in English and French literature and did her MA with the Open University, specialising in postcolonial literature She has worked for the School of English at the University of Kent, co-ordinating their part-time programmes in English and American literature and Creative Writing and acting as academic advisor to international students.

Sarah has 15 years’ experience lecturing and teaching university undergraduates and adult learners at the University of Kent, for the Workers’ Educational Association and for the U3A. She has taught on subjects as disparate as the plays of Christopher Marlowe and the writers of the Windrush Generation, and has taken part in a TV documentary on E M Forster for international arts and culture channel ARTE.  Current projects include the novels of John Steinbeck, the Bloomsbury Group, and 20^th century Russian literature.

Register online.

The post H G Wells Short Story Competition: Creative Writing Workshops. Iceberg! [Repeat] appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

These two hour-long sessions are designed to explore the idea of the ‘unspoken’ in the short story through Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Iceberg Theory’.

Participants are asked to attend both sessions to make best use of this workshop. Numbers are limited to 14 and you need to register in advance to receive login details to these Zoom sessions.

Session 1 at 1100 on 23 May will look at the theory and analyse a short story by Hemingway which will be available to all participants. At the end of the class students will be set a creative writing assignment to be emailed to the tutor mid-week.

These assignments will be emailed anonymously to the rest of the group.

Session 2 at 1100 on 30 May will give the opportunity for constructive peer and tutor feedback.

Please note that we will be observing the same protocols as the Short Story Competition where all submissions are also judged anonymously.

The two free workshops offer aspiring writers the opportunity to learn, write and share ideas online.

Both of our free workshops will be held via Zoom with Sarah Anthony. Participants will be limited to 14 on a first come first served basis so sign up now!

Login details and course details will be emailed to registered participants by no later than 8pm on 22nd May by Sarah Anthony. Please watch your email after registration for her message.

About Sarah Anthony

Sarah Anthony graduated from Bristol University with a degree in English and French literature and did her MA with the Open University, specialising in postcolonial literature She has worked for the School of English at the University of Kent, co-ordinating their part-time programmes in English and American literature and Creative Writing and acting as academic advisor to international students.

Sarah has 15 years’ experience lecturing and teaching university undergraduates and adult learners at the University of Kent, for the Workers’ Educational Association and for the U3A. She has taught on subjects as disparate as the plays of Christopher Marlowe and the writers of the Windrush Generation, and has taken part in a TV documentary on E M Forster for international arts and culture channel ARTE.  Current projects include the novels of John Steinbeck, the Bloomsbury Group, and 20^th century Russian literature.

Register online.

The post **SOLD OUT** H G Wells Short Story Competition: Creative Writing Workshops. Iceberg! appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

It was a highly experiential event, exploring the use of three senses – smell, hearing and touch – and the ways they can be used to enrich descriptions in text.

First, the participants were treated to three different soundtracks, and given an opportunity to note down ways of describing each sound. Then they were given time to write a short piece inspired by the sounds they had heard.

This was followed by an exploration of smell. The brave writers were provided with envelopes containing a variety of different (smelly) substances, and again had an opportunity to experiment with ways of describing the different smells, as well as writing something inspired by one or more of the individual smells they had experienced.

Finally, their courage was tested again as they were invited to place their hands inside envelopes containing unknown materials in order to experience texture without seeing what the item was. Once more this gave rise to both descriptive and imaginative texts.

At the end of the morning, the comments received included, “inspirational,” “very thought-provoking,” “I found myself writing in a more emotional way than usual,” “I’ve got a lot of great ideas to go away and work on,” and was summed up by one participant as “this is, quite simply, what I call fun!”

Writing for the Senses was a workshop in association with the 2019 HG Wells Short Story Competition. You can enter the 2019 competition until Monday 8th July at https://hgwellscompetition.com/enter-the-competition/

The post Writing with the Senses appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

This workshop is for local secondary school aged short story writers. Last year’s event, attended by young writers from local schools, was a successful mixture of discussion and group and individual work with useful tips and comments on the 2018 theme. We are looking forward to taking part again this year at the Harvey Grammar School and meeting young aspiring writers.

This event is by invitation only to students at the Harvey Grammar School and Folkestone School for Girls. However there are workshops available to any writer – and free for Under 22s – being held in Folkestone in May and June.

The post Folkestone Schools Writers Workshop appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

This workshop will unlock the eerie and the strange in our local environment, the hidden drama of rural names and common expressions. Participants will be provided with tips on how to connect with deep history and re-enchant their surroundings. There will be time to learn, write and share during the workshop. Supporting material, together with details of on-line links, will be provided for post-workshop adventures.

Please bring your pen and paper / tablet / laptop for your own work.

Tickets are free for those 21 and under, and £5 plus Eventbrite fees for those older than 21.

About Gillian Laker

Gillian is a poet and fiction writer. Her work has been published in various anthologies and poetry magazines, on the Guardian website, and in the ezine Datableed. She is a former Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year and runner-up for the flash fiction category of The Brighton Prize. Her latest poetry collection, Curious Voices, was published by Cinnamon Press and nominated for the Michael Marks Award for illustrated poetry.

Gillian is an active member of a number of local writing groups, an experienced judge of writing competitions, and has run poetry and fiction workshops for The Canterbury Festival.

She has a long-term fascination with fairytale and the haunted landscape. Dark Barbies, a poetry sequence inspired by the work of Hans Christian Andersen, was installed in the Filosoffen Art gallery in Odense, Denmark. She is currently researching Germanic forests, fairytale and trauma, in preparation for her first novel.

This workshop will be held at The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone and booking in advance is required, and you can do so online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fairytale-folklore-and-folk-horror-accessing-the-uncanny-in-the-rural-landscape-short-story-writing-tickets-58665068800

The post Fairytale, Folklore and Folk Horror: Accessing the Uncanny in the Rural Landscape. Short Story Writing Workshop with Gillian Laker appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

This workshop will explore the use of the senses, and how they can be engaged to enrich our writing. During this experiential session participants will have a chance to (re)discover the ways in which our own sensory experiences can provide inspiration, as well as how to include sensory detail in our writing to enhance reader involvement.

Bring your pen and paper / tablet / laptop ready to do some writing.

Tickets are free for those 21 and under, and £5 plus Eventbrite fees for those older than 21.

About Karen Ince

Karen is a writer, playwright, editor, speaker, English-coach and teacher.

She has written many plays, from full length pantomimes for an all-child cast to murder mysteries set in times and locations as varied as Roman Britain, the Wild West and a modern-day circus. Her work has been performed close to home at the Marlowe theatre, and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. Having had several short stories published she is determined to complete her novel this year.

She runs her own business teaching English as a Foreign Language all over the world and teaches short creative writing courses and workshops for children and adults. She also provides editing and writing services to authors, business people and organisations.

Having been an active member of a Thanet-based writing group for several years, where she is instrumental in publishing their annual anthologies, she has recently taken the plunge and set up a new group in Canterbury.

This workshop will be held at The Grand, The Leas, Folkestone and booking in advance is required, and you can do so online at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-with-the-senses-short-story-writing-workshop-with-karen-ince-tickets-58662783966

The post Writing with the Senses: Short Story Writing Workshop with Karen Ince appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.

This workshop is for local secondary school aged short story writers. Last year’s event, attended by young writers from local schools, was a successful mixture of discussion and group and individual work with useful tips and comments on the 2017 theme. We are looking forward to taking part again this year at the Harvey Grammar School and meeting young aspiring writers.

This event is by invitation only to students at the Harvey Grammar School and Folkestone School for Girls. However there are workshops available to any writer – and free for Under 22s – being held in Folkestone on Saturday 9th June and Canterbury on Saturday 16th June.

The post Folkestone School Writer Workshop appeared first on The HG Wells Short Story Competition.