creative writing group liverpool

Welcome to Garston Writers Group

Garston Writers’ Group welcomes members from all walks of life from across Merseyside– we’re a mixed bunch, and we enjoy new perspectives.

All we require is that our members treat each other with respect.

Many people think of writers as solitary hermits – but the core goal of most writers is focused upon other people: communicating with an audience, whoever that audience may be.

Different people join Garston Writers’ Group for different reasons, but some themes are central: we’re here to support each other’s writing, sympathise with writerly woes and also to provide constructive feedback on each other’s work.

No-one is asked to read out their work if they do not wish to. It is always voluntary. Our meetings have a fairly fixed structure, which is explained more in the next section, but we occasionally visit exhibitions at Museums and Art Galleries to inspire our writing and sometimes have guest playwrights and published authors to lead our sessions.

What we write

There is a theme to the twelve sessions in each term and the sessions cover prose, poetry and drama. A typical session would start with a ten minute ‘starter’ in which members are given a topic that doesn’t need much thinking about and the idea is to simply get writing, without much hesitation for the allotted time. Some of these starters are then read out to the group.

After some input from the session leader, we usually break up into groups to complete another writing task and the groups read out their completed task, and receive feedback from the other groups.

Often there is a writing task that you can take away from the group and do at home, but this ‘homework’ is never compulsory, although most members find it enjoyable

When we meet

Thinking of Joining?

Come along for a free taster session – you will be made very welcome. Or contact us for more details about becoming a member.

Written Inc.

Written Inc. is an established writing group based in Liverpool that meets fortnightly. We get together every other Wednesday at a community centre in Toxteth, Liverpool 8.

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Creative Writing Workshops For Adults

Creative Writing for Adults

We run both beginner and intermediate creative writing workshops for adults at times and days to suit all (please see our Facebook page @readnowwritenow or email [email protected] for details on current courses).

Our workshops take place on Zoom or in local venues, please get in touch or see our social media for more details of our current workshops.

Beginners' course.

Fabulous course, content and tutor. I've learned so much and am putting into practice xx

Highly recommend, I have also just completed this course. Really informative, great content and delivered in a relaxed enjoyable way

Just completed this course most enjoyable and lots of information to help your writing X

Intermediate Course

This is a great course to give budding authors the extra help to add layers of inspirational ideas to your up coming books. Charlie is very good at encouraging new Authors to really write books with all the tools /knowledge required to make them unique and hopefully memorable to their readers too. Thanks for a Super informative and inspirational course!

The Tutor is very enthusiastic and passionate about his subject. He actively encourages students to contribute ideas and opinions. He makes the sessions fun. My writing skills have improved massively as well as my confidence to become a published writer

This was an excellent course. As well as introducing me to important topics for consideration when writing, I feel I have made some friends and been able to share ideas. Highly recommended

Write Time Write Place Halton book launch

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Get in touch with Read Now Write Now today to talk about online courses, creative writing workshops for children or adults, Write Time Write Place and more!

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Charles Lea - Managing Director [email protected] 07966 154133

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Get Inspired, Get Creative with Liverpool Writes!

After the success of the first Liverpool Writes LIVE EVENT, Saturday 18th September 2021 ‘The Writers Bootcamp,’ we are now going on a tour of the Liverpool City Region.

The Writers Bus will provide access to creative workshops directly to your local communities, bringing an array of activities designed to get people writing more.

The WRITERS BOOTCAMP Bus is coming to your area very soon and will temporarily ‘pop up’ in local community hubs in January 2022, from 11 am till 3 pm over a 12- day period.

The Bus will offer:

• A writer in residence
• Writing activities and workshops
• Poetry workshops and games
• Writers’ advice sessions
• Live author readings
• FREE resources and giveaways

The bus will be at the following locations on the below dates:

• Weds 19th January – Liverpool Central Library – Official Launch then travelling to Granby Adult Learning Centre
• Thurs 20th Jan – LIFE Rooms Bootle/ Huge Baird College
• Fri 21st Jan – Incredible Edible Knowsley, Roby Rd, Huyton, Liverpool L16 3NA
• Sat 22nd Jan – ROMA Community, Cullen Street, L8 0QY
• Sun 23rd Jan – Museum of Liverpool, Pier Head, Liverpool City Centre
• Mon 24th Jan – Rotunda109, Great Mersey St, Kirkdale, Liverpool L5 2PL
• Tues 25th Jan – Irish Centre, 6 Boundary Ln, Liverpool L6 5JG
• Thurs 27th Jan- Tuebrook Market, West Derby Rd, Tuebrook, Liverpool L6 4BR
• Fri 28th Jan- Gateacre School, Hedgefield Rd, Liverpool L25 2RW
• Sat 29th Jan- Tuebrook Market, West Derby Rd, Tuebrook, Liverpool L6 4BR
• Sun 30th Jan- Palm House Sefton Park, Liverpool L17 1AP

  “The Year of writing has achieved a lot this year, getting many people across the city involved in writing and creativity. The Writing bus is an opportunity for us to get out to areas across the city, working with local community groups so that as many people as possible get to work with professional writers – it’s a great initiative, and we are really looking forward to discovering local talent and generating new writing.”

Mike Morris, Chair of the Year of Writing and Co-Director of Writing on the Wall.

“The Liverpool Literacy Cycle was set up to support skills development in the city. I am delighted to report it has delivered creative engagement and opportunities across the city region and beyond given the reach of a growing online and social media presence. In 2021 the Year of Reading was celebrated, this year the focus has been the Year of Writing and 2022 will be Liverpool Year of Oracy and performance. If you wish to engage with any of the forthcoming events or projects, check out the website link and contact email as below…”

Councillor Barbara Murray, Labour Councillor for Yew Tree Ward and Chair of Education and Skills Select Committee

You can find more information on the Liverpool Year of Writing at:

https://www.cultureliverpool.co.uk/year-of-writing-2021/

If you would like a discussion about engagement, please contact: Project coordinator, John Maguire, info.2021@ [email protected]

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Victoria Gallery & Museum

Redbrick Writers

The Redbrick Writers is open to anyone interested in creative writing.  We meet once a month to develop our writing and experiment with different themes and forms.  We work with exhibitions and displays in the Victoria Gallery and Museum. 

We explore works by classic and contemporary writers.  Our group is friendly, enthusiastic and supportive. No previous creative writing experience required.

Booking is not necessary but for further information, contact: [email protected]    

Read an anthology of work written by some of the people who attended the Errant Muse writing workshops -  Errant Musings - Redbrick Wiriters

Redbrick Writers 2023 Anthology

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Merseyside LGBT Creative Writing Group and Book Groups (18+)

A creative writing group and a gook group for people who identify as LGBTQ and are over 18. There is also a separate Social Group

Creative writing group

We read aloud any genre of our own creative writing (eg poetry, scripts, fiction, cross-genre). Suitable for new and established writers/performers of your own work.

• When: 1.30 – 3.30pm usually on the third Sunday of every month (check individual meeting listings)
• Venue: see Meetup page
• £5 per meet, per person, to cover room rental cost, payable at the meet itself. No profit is made.
• When: 12 – 2pm usually on the second Saturday of every month (check individual meet listings)
• We only read fiction eg thrillers, literary fiction, comedy, etc. LGBTQ content or non LGBTQ content.
• The cost of the rental space for the Book Group is total £50; it is £5 per person, which also goes towards the Organiser’s Meet Up subscription costs. If more than 15 attendees, the amount taken is less than £5. No profit will be made.
• Contact via Meetup

Delivered in partnership with

Writing is for everyone. It’s turning up, sharing our stories and creating change on the page. We host two annual literature festivals, WoWFEST in May and Black History Month in October, which welcome writers, activists and artists. All of our creative writing projects support our communities and schools all year long. Be part of WoW and find out more...

Born out of the Liverpool Dockers Strike in the late 90s, we know how writing can transform communities. Writing can be a form of therapy, an act of resistance, a collaboration between opposing viewpoints, a tool to inspire and mobilise change. Through writing, our experiences become undeniable, they live on the page, stories ready to be shared. Throughout the entire month of May, our annual literature festival, WoWFEST, offers a programme of local, national and international writers, performers, commentators and artists. Our projects range from supporting women with experience of domestic abuse to skills development for the long-term unemployed. Our work is responsive, relevant and inclusive, continuously publishing and showcasing new talent in our anthologies and competitions.

Community is at the heart of WoW and we are continuously recognised for our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We offer opportunities to share experiences and provide public platforms for those stories to be heard, and valued. It is an ongoing fight for equality but one we recognise daily and we are committed to providing a space where underrepresented voices are encouraged, written about and shared. ‘WoW promotes change whilst highlighting and tackling social and economic injustice. We aim to inspire personal and social transformation through writing and creativity. With a focus on writing which empowers we work with communities to gain strength through creativity.’ Madeline Heneghan & Mike Morris – WoW Co-Directors Be part of our community. Support and get involved with WoW.

History of WoW

Writing on the Wall was born from the creation of the film ‘Dockers’, a 1999 Channel 4 film about a dispute involving a lock-out of 500 Liverpool Dockers in the late ‘90s. We began as a five-day festival in 2000, a Millennium Project supported by the John Moores Foundation, which focused on the delivery of a week-long festival of events. In 2003, based on the success of the previous two years and in line with the ethos and aims of those involved, WoW became a registered charity. With no employees, and relying entirely upon the voluntary activities of trustees, advisors and volunteers, WoW’s first independent steps were tentative, but got into its stride by taking a very different approach to traditional literature festivals and organisations. Funding followed from Arts Council England, Liverpool City Council, and a range of other public-sector and charitable bodies who were inspired by our combined focus on social inclusion, emphasising the positive benefits of writing and our commitment to supporting and developing high quality artistic and cultural work. From community cohesion to lifelong health benefits, WoW believes that creativity has the power to improve people’s lives and positively change the communities in which we all live and work. WoW began to attract plaudits for organising a festival and delivering projects that took writing into local communities. From community centres in Netherton to libraries in Speke, and all points between, WoW worked with schoolchildren and the elderly, with black, Asian and diverse ethnic groups, and with disabled and other excluded groups. This was to ensure that Liverpool’s cultural offer was broad enough to include the creative work of all of Liverpool, and not just the esteemed publications of a narrowly defined elite. WoW also developed a reputation as an organisation willing to work in partnership with those who shared similar goals and ethos: primary and secondary schools, housing associations, local film and TV production companies, Health Action Zones, prisons, businesses, trades unions, women’s refuges and advice centres, youth organisations, community theatres and other not-for-profit organisations. As well as organising public events as part of an annual festival, the late 2000s saw the organisation branch out into year-long creative projects, in particular filmmaking in schools and other creative youth work. Once WoW had sold-out The Empire Theatre, with thousands attending screenings of films scripted, produced and edited entirely by schoolchildren, we realised we had outgrown our voluntary base, and began to source funding for a full-time festival coordinator.

We were successful, and in late 2005 we were delighted to announce our first full-time coordinator, Madeline Heneghan, who is now the organisations’ full-time Co-Director. In 2010 Mike Morris, a founding member of WoW, joined Madeline as part of the leadership team, working together as Co-Directors to shape WoW’s strategic development. WoW is now one of the country's longest-running writing/literary festivals, having delivered a festival each year since 2000, featuring hundreds of guests representing literature, spoken word and a range of other art forms. In 2008, to celebrate Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year, WoW expanded from a one-week programme to a month-long festival producing events throughout May each year. In addition, we played a key role in reviving the city’s annual Black History Month Festival, coordinating a series of events with local partners during October, that highlight issues of racism and celebrate the contribution of the black community to Liverpool’s artistic and cultural heritage. The challenges of the pandemic and lockdowns have made for a difficult, intense year. However, we are grateful that we have been able to offer support through writing, the arts and creativity to communities and individuals affected by the pandemic and lockdowns, and that we have been able to continue to offer great art and culture to communities within and beyond the Liverpool City Region. Feedback and our evaluations show that this has been a vital part of supporting people during this period. ‘WoW Changed my life under the pandemic.’ Our success over the years is based on our enjoyment of writing and arts and culture generally, knowing what difference it makes to our lives and how it constantly inspires, engages and motivates people. Our success has also been determined by the talent and commitment of our whole team, Trustees, Directors, staff and volunteers, to work so hard to make our festival and projects so successful. Our audiences, and all those amazing festival guests, those who commit time to our projects, including many schoolchildren and young people, and all those who make our work accessible, and offer us constant encouragement, are our lifeblood, who we work for, and without whom we would not have achieved all we have over the years.

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Merseyside LGBT Creative Writing Group and Book Groups (18+)

Description.

A creative writing group and a gook group for people who identify as LGBTQ and are over 18. There is also a separate Social Group

Creative writing group

We read aloud any genre of our own creative writing (eg poetry, scripts, fiction, cross-genre). Suitable for new and established writers/performers of your own work.

• When: 1.30 - 3.30pm usually on the third Sunday of every month (check individual meeting listings)
• Venue: see Meetup page
• £5 per meet, per person, to cover room rental cost, payable at the meet itself. No profit is made.
• When: 12 - 2pm usually on the second Saturday of every month (check individual meet listings)
• We only read fiction eg thrillers, literary fiction, comedy, etc. LGBTQ content or non LGBTQ content.
• The cost of the rental space for the Book Group is total £60; it is £5 per person payable to Organiser, Steve. No profit will be made.

Service Details

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
• People from anywhere in the city

This page was last updated on 22 May 2024

Contact Details

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• Postgraduate Research

Creative Writing PhD

• Part time available: yes

Studying in:

• Department of English
• School of Arts
• Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

The Department of English conducts research in three main areas: literature, language, and creative writing. We aim to foster and develop strategic partnerships, particularly with local and national cultural organisations, to reach those who can benefit from our research.

Why study with us?

There is a close postgraduate community within the department.  There is always someone around to talk to about your research and plenty of activities to get involved in including, reading groups, lectures by visiting speakers and conferences. Emma Hayward - Creative Writing PhD student

of research environment was classified as 'world leading' (4*) or 'internationally excellent' (3*) in the latest Research Excellence Framework (2021)

in the sector for research impact classified as 'outstanding' (4*) in the latest Research Excellence Framework (2021)

in the sector for % of our research overall classified world leading or internationally excellent in the latest Research Excellence Framework (2021)

The School of English has an outstanding international reputation.  Students will benefit from this strong research-led teaching covering a wide and continuous range of writing which equips students with the critical and communication skills and the capacity for adaptable intelligence which are in demand in all areas of modern life.

Engagement with media has allowed our researchers to be at the forefront of developing a rich cultural agenda at national and international levels, opening access to literature to a diverse audience. This has resulted in four staff members succeeding in the New Generation Thinkers scheme. We also actively support impact in terms of reaching the general reader, through the publication of research in various, high-profile formats.  The impact of such intervention into the nation’s cultural life creates new and evolving long-term contexts for thinking, understanding, writing and imagining.

Many of the Centre’s members specialize in Contemporary Literature that overlaps with science fiction, climate change, visual arts, comics and graphic novels, travel and nature writing as well as psychogeography and the urban environment. Putting gender and race at the forefront, Anglophone and postcolonial writing as well as the fostering of genuinely innovative interdisciplinary creative writing projects which have application and potential impact (e.g. Mental health, environment), is central to the way the Centre aims to diversify and expand the reading, writing and teaching of literature in the UK. Currently the Literature and Science Hub, formerly the Centre for Poetry and Science, established 2007, sits under the wing of the Centre.

Research themes

Our research themes are:

• Citizenship and Identity
• Poetry and Diversity
• Literature and the Visual Arts.

We have access to a variety of subscription databases, such as Early English Books Online, Eighteenth-Century Collections Online, Literature Online and the Burney Collection of Newspapers.

In addition the Special Collections and Archives department of the library houses:

• Literary manuscripts, including papers by Seamus Heaney, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes
• The Science Fiction Foundation collection, including the archive of John Wyndham
• Rare and early printed books
• Medieval manuscripts
• Poetry archives from the Romantic period to the present day.

Study options and fees

The fees stated in the table above exclude potential research support fees also known as ‘bench fees’. You will be notified of any fee which may apply in your offer letter.

* Please note that if you are undertaking a PhD within the Faculty of Science and Engineering the fee you pay, Band A or Band B, will reflect the nature of your research project. Some research projects incur a higher fee than others e.g. if you are required to undertake laboratory work. You will be informed of the fee for your programme in your offer letter.

^ Self-funded, full-time international students studying a PhD programme classified as Band A will receive a £2,000 reduction in their fees for the first year only.

Entry requirements

Students will normally have a strong (2.1 or above) first degree in English, Creative Writing, or a related subject and a master's degree in Creative Writing. Creative and critical work will be required as part of the application.

English language requirements

How to apply.

Research degree applications can be made online.  You'll also need to ensure that you have funding to cover all fees.

Applications are  open all year round .

More about applying for research degrees

Apply online

Before you apply, we recommend that you identify a supervisor and develop a research proposal

Find a supervisor

Professor Deryn Rees-Jones Professor Sandeep Parmar Dr David Hering Dr Sam Solnick Dr Will Slocombe

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• Student Experience team
• Email: [email protected]

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Doctoral Training Partnerships support future researchers with funding and a rewarding learning environment where you can collaborate with leading researchers.

• AHRC - NW Consortium DTP

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The University of Chicago The Law School

Alison lacroix sheds light on the “interbellum constitution” at 2024 fulton lecture.

The decades between 1815 and 1861 did not see any changes to the text of the US Constitution. Yet, Alison LaCroix, Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law and a faculty member in the History Department, contends that this period, which she calls the era of the Interbellum Constitution, was a time of profound transformation. In her new book, The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms , LaCroix explores this neglected period, asserting that it was far from uneventful.

LaCroix, a legal historian who has served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court, discussed her insights on May 7 at the Law School’s Fulton Lecture.

At the outset of the event, which was recorded by C-SPAN, LaCroix assured audiences that the plural “s” in “Federalisms” in the title of her book is not a typo. One of the key arguments that she makes is that many distinct “federalisms” existed during the Interbellum Period.

The political disagreements of the period involved multiple layers of government; they were not just between states and the central power. These “federalisms” concerned disputes among local county sheriffs, state legislators, private citizens, foreign relations, including with Native nations, the president’s cabinet, Congress, governors, and more. Intense political debates around how to divide powers swept the country and happened in various arenas, from newspapers to private letters to courtrooms.

“Early 19 th century Americans were consumed by arguments about concurrent power, because how that power was to be demarcated just wasn’t clear from the constitution,” said LaCroix. “After 1815, most of the pressing legal and political debates concerned the domains in which concurrent power was debated, which were mainly commerce, migration, and slavery.”

According to LaCroix, the elaborate constitutional discourse of that period laid out much of the federalism landscape that we know today. Laws may have not changed during those years, but the meaning of the constitution itself was changing.

LaCroix highlighted two episodes from her book to illustrate the creative constitutional thinking of the Interbellum Period, focusing on the port city of Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1820s and 1830s.

The first involved Justice William Johnson, Jr., a nationalist and federal power advocate whose parents were Revolutionaries. Johnson presided over a case involving Henry Elkison, a free Black British sailor challenging a South Carolina law that mandated the jailing of free Black seamen. It wasn’t the first time a Black sailor challenged this law, but what made Elkison’s case unique was that the British government was funding and supporting it.

There were other levels of government involved in the battle as well, demonstrating that this was not a simple state versus federal dichotomy. Those other players included the local sheriff, the US Secretary of State, the US Attorney General, British ministers in London, the British consul in Charleston, and a private group called the South Carolina Association, who, interestingly, were the ones prosecuting the case.

Johnson ruled that the law violated federal authority over interstate and international trade, igniting a backlash and cries of nullification in Charleston.

The second episode centered on Maria Henrietta Pinckney, a staunch nullifier and daughter of famed patriot Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Pinckney, who inherited the Pinckney Mansion and dubbed it “nullification castle,” published a radical pamphlet in 1830. Her writing argued that the American union was a compact of the states rather than a government formed by the people and criticized the Supreme Court's nationalistic power.

Interestingly, Johnson had studied law with Pinckney’s father and was a frequent visitor to the Pinckney Mansion. Despite their shared connections, however, Johnson and Pinckney drew vastly different conclusions from their constitutional heritage. “The lessons they drew from the legacy that informed both their lives could not have been more different,” said LaCroix.

LaCroix believes a key aspect of the Interbellum Period today is its ability to give context to moments of intense political and legal debate.

“Many commentators cite the Civil War as an analogy and a cautionary tale for the current moment, but the most accurate benchmark is not the war itself; it’s the five decades of simmering constitutional conflict that preceded the war’s outbreak,” she said. “The similarities between those years and today provide context, insights, and yes, perhaps a warning.”