Person sitting on grass writing in a notebook

Join Northumberland Libraries Writers Aloud

What happens in a Writers Aloud session

What stories to be told when Northumberland Writers Aloud homework is 'Let's get medical'- Teeth. Writers from Northern England, from London, Scotland, Hungary and the USA shared listening and laughter.

A demon dentist who chose music to match his patients’ treatment! Oh, what a ‘gnashing of teeth’; and why are waiting rooms pale green and inhabited by sickly plants? Recalling the short-lived joy of tooth fairies; the dreaded school dentist; onwards to implants - and false ones – and missing ones. Our dental trip returned full circle.

Writers should be able to describe anything, from everyday objects to vegetables; offbeat elements are what layer our writing, building up details and moments. Now write everything you know about mashed potato.

Taste buds tingled around Jennifer’s description of mouth-watering Irish Spuds; Barbara reminded us of the ‘60’s Twist craze with its ‘mashed potato’ reference – and a more serious occurrence, family rivalry – who made the best mash! Graeme gave a timely reminder that so much is discarded during the process. (Unless one boils up peelings for chickens…) Jean described the cafĂ© where you do-it-yourself – and that’s all Irish too. Lilla’s inventive Papa incorporated seaweed – serious food for thought! The lively on-the-spot poem created by Dennis – and Joanne reminded us of Smash! the ultimate instant mash!

After all that culinary fun - we settled down and thought about creating a theme for a new story. Why not take an old story – a fairy tale, a legend or myth, a biblical theme, and re-tell it with a new twist; the issues remain the same. We heard some 'germs of ideas’ – and our attention was grabbed -

by a real life story.

Deadly politics that inflame our reflections.

The Time for a fresh story.

An evocative title ‘The End of the Day'.

House of Commons’ misunderstandings - or are they?

Andrew, we missed your insightful contributions today.


Join us

Our writers group meets on a Saturday afternoon for a virtual creative writing 'get to together' on Zoom. Hosted by experienced tutor and writer, Gilly Beckett, there are fun exercises and prompts for writing and the opportunity to share your work with the group. Or you can just listen. 
To book a free place go to our Eventbrite page.


Optional homework

Our next session takes place on Saturday 28 May at 2pm.

“When nothing is sure, everything is possible” Margaret Drabble. “All uncertainty is fruitful, so long as it is accompanied by the wish to understand.” Antonio Machado

PUZZLED - there are moments in our lives when absolutely nothing makes sense to us. The solution is either inside you or out there somewhere. Close your eyes and think about the first piece towards solving the puzzle. When you’re ready, start writing.

Or why not work on your theme for a new story.

Word count - circa 700 words