| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Coordinator: |
Maxine Patterson
|
| When: | Fortnightly on Wednesday afternoons 1:30 PM-4:00 PM |
| Venue: | Ceddesfeld Hall |
| Cost: | Approx £2 |
Another popular and busy group, these members meet fortnightly to practice and strengthen their skills in a wide variety of writing, usually attempting 500-1500 words on each piece.
They occasionally self-publish their work and over recent years have produced an anthology of verse and prose, a book featuring Sedgefield stories and themes, (illustrated by our Photography Group) and a set of short, scary Murder Mystery pieces. During the autumn of 2024, members wrote, scripted and acted in a modern pantomime broadcast on Radio Tyneside on 18th December (see below)
Several members are writing pieces for submission to national publications and at least two are well on with writing a book.
The group secured funding and led Open workshops and hosted visits from local authors and poets. Taking valuable lessons from these events, they have furthered their own writing in style, content, and appeal.
This group has grown substantially over the years but the great support and trust in sharing our work remains a constant. Each session is a quiet revelation of just how much hidden talent there is in our fellow u3a members. It's always such a treat to listen to others' stories and poems, especially those which make us stop and reflect for a moment.
The next step is to share our work further. We're currently planning to directly liaise with other local u3a writing groups to exchange and share our writing, and to use Word Press and Social Media to reach the wider world, too. The Group is working on their new Blog and on the Scribes website; hopefully available in the very near future.
In late summer 2024, we agreed with the Older Voices team at Radio Tyneside to write last year's radio Pantomime. Our group thoroughly enjoyed working long and hard to produce our final script of Snow White and the Three Geordie Dwarves. Following rehearsals, which included two of our own team, the pantomime was broadcast on the evening of 18th December. Listen in here.
Poetry and Prose writing is accessible here, with more recent work on Trees and on a Chinese Bookshop available to read by clicking on the appropriate blue link. Both these collections were created from photographs brought into the group by a member. Inspiration, it seems, can come from anywhere!
At a recent Coffee Morning, each Interest Group prepared a small display to show Who we are, What we do.
The Scribes had been busy designing and printing a couple of booklets showcasing some of their recent writing, which visitors were able to take away.
Our ethos is to help, support and inspire each other. The meetings are informative, relaxed and fun, with coffee and good biscuits to help us concentrate!
Even if you have not yet put pen to paper, do come along and bring your ideas and thoughts; you'll be surprised and delighted at how satisfying it can be to see them transformed into a written piece of work - and perhaps even published?
Maxine (07774690433) would love to answer any questions and to register your interest in joining the group.
Dates for 2025-26
Meetings
Sept 3rd & 17th; Oct 1st & 15th; Nov 12th & 26th, Dec 10th.
Jan 7th & 21st; Feb 4th & 18th; Mar 4th & 18th: April 1st, 15th & 29th; May 13th & 27th; June 10th & 24th; July 8th*