Writing, Reading, Reviewing
Tuesday 1st September 2026
Slipping into dark nights.
Black velvet purses
holding bright shiny coins.
Currency for a new season.
September skies
And just like that…
We’ve slipped into the season filled with so many possibilities, September.
I wrote the words above when I was thinking about the tangible change in the light of those early September nights, as I penned a poem for the last NWS anthology. And here we are about to launch another collection of our members’ work, one year later.
Much has happened in that year. Membership has swelled and so has the number of publications on the Members’ Bookshelf, it’s positively groaning with new titles. Well… maybe not quite ‘groaning’ but it’s been a joy to have made additions throughout the year as members broadened their bibliographies. We love to show support for our members’ achievements, so, when the opportunity arose to take part in this year’s Nottingham Book Festival, we put the call out for volunteers.
You will find us in the foyer at Broadway Cinema from 11:00am on Saturday 5th September. Pop down, say hello and support a local author!
As well as supporting members by reading what they write, we are launching a BRAND NEW initiative this autumn, which will be facilitated by long-time member, author and editor, Teika Marija Smits.
So, it’s over to Teika for the next bit…
Announcing NWS Reviews!
“Inspired by the much-loved Everybody’s Reviewing blog, which is run by the wonderful Jonathan Taylor, I am embarking on a new project: NWS Reviews. As an author and former small press publisher, I am greatly aware of the importance of reviews to both writers and publishers. An incredible amount of hard work and love goes into the making of a book, so it’s understandable that a writer wants to know that their book has connected with someone – anyone! Yet reviews not only make a writer feel that their work is appreciated, they can increase sales of a book and help readers to discover an author who might become a new favourite. Also, having reviewed a number of books at various venues, I’m well aware of how reading and reviewing hones a writer’s craft. Reading a book with a view to considering the quality of its prose, its plot, pacing and characterisation etc. really makes you understand genre expectations, what’s working and, maybe, what isn’t working. Then there comes the writing of the actual review – it takes skill to condense all those reflections into a concise and helpful review. In short, the art of reviewing benefits those writing reviews and those authors getting reviewed. Indeed, it’s a win-win scenario for all: reviewers, authors, publishers and readers.
Added to the bookshelf this year
“Here at Nottingham Writers’ Studio, we are blessed with a community full of dedicated writers and avid readers, so it seemed like a no-brainer to me to get books in need of reviews into the hands of NWS members who want to gain experience in reviewing poetry, fiction and non-fiction. I’ll be aided and abetted in my new role as reviews administrator by the brilliant Deb Urbacz, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this project progresses. We’ve made a decision to first of all offer books written by NWS members to our NWS reviewers, so that we can get to know the work of others in the community and help to spread the love for the many books our members have so far had published. After that we’ll look to broaden our horizons and invite authors outside of NWS to have their books reviewed.
“So, if you’re a member of NWS and you’d like to become a reviewer and/or have your book reviewed, please get in contact with me at: marija [dot] smits [at] googlemail [dot] com with NWS REVIEWS in the title. I look forward to hearing from lots of you!”
I am really excited to be collaborating with Teika on this, and really looking forward to sharing your reviews widely on the website and beyond!
Come and join our creative community!
Deb
Reading in Hammocks
Saturday 1st August 2026
“Summertime…
and the living is easy.”
Well, that’s rather a grand claim on it’s own, but yeah…things have been slowing down.
There’s always a fair bit to juggle in this job role, in ten hours a week, but the start of this year has required the addition of some extra circus skills - think riding a unicycle whilst juggling with an unexpected amount of tightrope thrown in. There may even have been fire involved at some point…Yes, readers! Buying your first house in your mid-fifties, when you are a self-employed writer, brings a whole new set of hair-raising experiences - but I made it to the other side in one piece.
So, here we are…
It’s the start of August and we are definitely taking the pace a little slower at NWS HQ. July was an intense month of clearing the decks for our largest project of the year - the 2026 Anthology. With a broad title of Life and Other Stories we have invited submissions of poetry and prose and added creative non-fiction to genres accepted this year. We hope this has encouraged more of our members to put fingers to keyboard and send us something.
Fingers typing furiously to meet the deadline
So we can be sure we do these submissions justice, the board and I decided that this should be our main focus for the whole of August, so there will be less on the schedule to juggle. It would be fair to say, the poetry game remains strong though this month, with a workshop planned by our resident Diamonds Hannah Norris and Esme Rose Marsh, who might still just be coming down from the heady celebrations of the second Anniversary of our popular monthly workshop, ‘Diamonds and Rust Poetry’ as I type this.
‘Lunar Guts’ is their first workshop together, and although it was created with beginners in mind, more seasoned poets will enjoy picking apart the process too. This pair of poets bring a fair bit to the table in terms of writing, performing and publishing their work, so expect the delivery to be as dazzling as it will be informative - find out more via the link.
Hannah and Esme go large!
We all agree that our move to Broadway was a smart decision, and see our relationship with Laura and the team there as one that will develop beyond basic room hire. We look forward to working with them more this year to expand our members’ experience. As demand for rooms at the the library increase, it made sense to look for alternatives for when they don’t have space.
As membership continues to grow, we know we need to be flexible in our approach to how we support you all. With this in mind, having one person as the main point of contact for pretty much all of the operational ‘stuff’ at NWS (me) means it is tricky for that one person to step away from the laptop for too long - those balls start to fall!
So, the most exciting news I have to to share with you in this blog post, is that I now have back up! This valuable cover will be provided by the fabulous Novelette Williams. An active NWS member since 2017, Novelette has always been someone who shares her thoughts and ideas and has no idea how valuable that has been to me, especially when I was new in the role. It became clear we had a lot of common ground, personally and professionally, so I was delighted when she agreed to step-in and support me for a few hours a month.
Novelette’s website is well worth a visit
It was so reassuring knowing she’d got some important things covered when I disappeared off in July for a much needed break. The simple life, camping at the edge of the forest on the North Welsh coast, always helps give me a reset. Now I have mastered the art of writing in a hammock, as well as reading and napping, I enjoy whiling away the hours, gently swinging to the sounds of the waves - try it, it’s bliss! *sigh*
I am happy to be back. Now the catching up week is far behind me, I feel privileged to be spending time with the many submissions that have been arriving in the inbox since the call-out at the end of June. I have saved them all to read through at once, so I can start thinking about how to pull together such a diverse body of work into one anthology. It will be a challenge, but I will enjoy it.
So, let’s catch up again next month!
Come and join our creative community!
Deb
Many Ways to Grow
Monday 1st July 2026
What does our website tell you about NWS?
Well, we hope that it showcases the variety of opportunities writers have to connect and collaborate, the different venues we meet up at and some of the development opportunities available to NWS members, and of course, how you can join our organisation.
More importantly, we hope it shows something of our commitment to
“providing a ‘home’ for any writer that is seeking connection, validation and a way of making progress with their writing in a nurturing community, and strive to support them to be successful in their craft. And we welcome fresh ideas and perspectives that help our grass roots organisation to grow.”
That is our mission statement, and we feel we do our best to uphold it. But we are always looking at ways we can do more - time and resources permitting of course!
If you have been following these blog updates, you might have read back in February that we added a ‘Members’ Bookshelf’ to our website, to show support for our published members, and maybe encourage those not published yet to join them! We hope it will continue to expand… there have definitely been a few new additions since spring! Go, writers!
Added to the bookshelf this June
We have also been creating opportunities to nurture some of the mentoring talent within our community too. Being lucky to have experienced authors and workshop facilitators like Ian C Douglas and Teika Marija Smits as established members always willing to share their expertise, we have already enjoyed some stellar workshops this year. But it’s also been rewarding to support some less experienced ones to share their valuable knowledge too, and this is something we would like to do more of this year.
“The more you put into this community, the more you get out of it.”
Sharing your wins, challenges and questions with other writers can open up all kinds of wonderful discussions and that can be where that unseen magic lies. Take our ‘Let’s Talk About…’ session this week. We came up with these relaxed, yet informative, online get-togethers to provide NWS members with the chance to get to know some of our workshop facilitators. It also gives them a chance to ask questions about their writing projects and upcoming workshops before signing up, as well as provides the facilitator with ideas for what to cover in the upcoming workshop.
Not only that, the low pressure, laid back hour is another way to connect with fellow writers and perhaps be inspired by each others unique ideas and progress - it certainly gave me something different to think about! In fact my takeaway from this particular meet-up was that apart from the fact I drink too much coffee and write erratically at times, there are in fact other times when I am incredibly focused on my characters motivations and what led them there - I might be doing something right after all!
Scribbling something down…
Here’s what Heather had to say after leading her first session with NWS members,
“I absolutely LOVED last night's session. For me, as the host, it was really beneficial to gain an insight into what my fellow writers feel they need help with, and to be able to share ideas and solutions is such a great way to generate creativity and build on the community spirit. As an editor, I feel really passionately about helping authors to shape their work, using professional expertise and industry insights whilst championing an author's voice and vision. Community amongst writers is more important than ever before, and I'm so grateful to have found one in NWS.”
And we are delighted to have you on board Heather! Your warmth and generosity of spirit really shone through and we know we are going to love working with you again.
We were also thrilled when author and experienced mentor Shreya Sen-Handley offered her expert services to reinstate her ‘Writers’ Clinic’ this summer. These have proved popular in the past, with writers from a range of genres and at different points in their writing journeys. As someone who has found the pitfalls herself in the past, she is very much the sort of person who can help with you writing ailments if you visit her online surgery!
New group mentoring sessions for members
Membership is strong this year, and we pride ourselves in providing a variety of ways for our members to connect, that are both quality but cost effective, and a blend of formal learning experiences and informal meet-ups. And our ears are always open to new ideas, so if you have one… get in touch!
Come and join our creative community!
Debra