Life and Other Stories
Thursday 1st October 2026
A sneaky peek at the front cover of the 2026 anthology
It’s almost here writers…
A little behind schedule, but that’s life, right?
And definitely out in print in time for an October launch, as planned - update coming very soon!
It’s worth mentioning that it takes a fair amount of hours, planning, organising and putting together our in-house publications and getting them to print, and we couldn’t do that without the dedication of a team of NWS members, all of which have volunteered time to this one. We are also incredibly grateful to Steve of Black Shuck Books, for sharing his expertise as typesetter, cover formatter and general advisor in the pitfalls of self-publishing - remember last year’s missing page numbers…?
I’ve learned a lot since producing a collection of poetry and prose in the form of the 2025 anthology The Light is Fading. And despite it not being exactly how I had planned it, it was a very popular publication, and there are only a handful left since the Nottingham Book Festival. I would call this a win. This slight error did not detract from the value of seeing the contributors’ words put together in a booklet and then sharing them out at a launch event - such a special evening.
So, when I say it’s a privilege to put one of these anthologies together, I mean it! The work is worth it, especially as it gives me the opportunity to submit something to sit alongside all those beautifully crafted pieces of original work. And the book itself, is something tangible, which can be held and enjoyed for many years to come. It’s a great achievement which has its roots in the nurture and care of a community of creatives.
Cheesy Instagram post, just because…
I still recall how thrilled I was to see my first submission in print back in 2023 when NWS published My Happy Place. I had been a member for a while then, but hadn’t had the courage to send any of my creative writing anywhere, as I was mainly writing copy for websites and blog posts at that point. It was a joy to open the pristine pamphlet up and find my name on the contents page, then turn to find my poem printed on those crisp white pages. This is the stuff that really matters to new writers, it’s how they begin to value their craft and finally see themselves as actual writers!
Fast forward two years, and I am proud to have included one of my memoir pieces in the new anthology. It feels as though I am recognising the kind of writer I want to be and its giving me confidence to do it, and that’s so empowering. I hope that my careful curation of all forty-five pieces does them the justice they deserve, and the reader experiences the journey through their stories in the way I envisioned it.
I suppose the proof will be in the publishing…
So, watch this space!
Come and join our creative community!
Deb
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