If you’re a writer, chances are you’re an avid reader too. This monthly reading group is an invitation to aspiring, emerging and experienced writers to engage more deeply with selected fiction, memoir, essays and poetry as makers and craftspeople. Perhaps you are looking for inspiration, perhaps you’re having a fallow or quiet period as a writer - the necessary time for what Zadie Smith calls ‘the education of the heart.’
To mark the UK’s National Year of Reading 2026, this group invites writers into a deeper, more attentive relationship with literature - not as passive consumers, but as curious makers. Through close reading, collective reflection, and creative response, we’ll explore how texts speak to us as writers: how they shape our voice, expand our vision, and offer models of form, structure, story and emotional resonance.
We’ll read across genres and traditions, from poetry and memoir to fiction and essay, asking not only “What is this saying?” but “How is this made?” and “What might I carry forward?”
Each session will blend reading with discussion, encouraging participants to respond, reimagine, and remix what they encounter. Generative writing prompts will be shared to take away after each session.
Writers we will consider might include George Saunders, Lydia Davies, Kevin Barry, Raymond Antrobus, Leila Aboulela, Amy Liptrot, Maggie Nelson, Zadie Smith and Sarah Hall.
Whether you’re seeking inspiration, technique or a sense of literary kinship, this course offers a space to read with intention, write with more courage, and grow in community.
The group will meet monthly on Friday mornings between January and June.
Dates:
Friday 16th January 11.30am – 1pm
Friday 13th February 11.30am – 1pm
Friday 13th March 11.30am – 1pm
Friday 24th April 11.30am – 1pm
Friday 15th May 11.30am – 1pm
Friday 19th June 11.30am – 1pm
Ideal for: Beginner, emerging and experienced writers, readers with a creative itch, and anyone curious about the craft behind the page.
Venue: Coach House (Scout Hut), 74 Chapel Street, Stroud, Glos, GL5 1DU.
Fee: £72 / £60 concessions. The fee covers cost of venue hire, facilitator time and refreshments.
The group will be facilitated by JLM Morton.