January 2026 Newsletter

Last meeting

For the inaugural meeting for 2026, we picked the theme ‘innocence’. As ever, the prompt elicited wildly differing takes from everyone, and demonstrated that one thing none of us are innocent of is a spur-of-the-moment quirky idea. Enjoy the stories and mini-prompts here.

Member successes

David Gairdner recently wrote and directed a short film, Hiccups, which we are looking forward to seeing soon! I hope to share a link in our next newsletter.

In December 2025, Lachlan Miles performed in the highly acclaimed Hamlet at Fort Scratchley , with the troupe Whale Chorus. Congratulations Lachlan!  

Competitions

We have added a new section on the monthly page, for upcoming competitions and writing opportunities. For the coming month, there is anything from the Calibre with a top prize of $5,000, to the offer of a week’s accommodation at writing retreat in Greece…although you’ll have to get there yourself, but hey.

Upcoming local literary events

The Newcastle Writers Festival is coming up in March 27^th–29^th. The first artists have been announced, and volunteering registration is open. Will the event survive unscathed in a post-Bendigo and Adelaide climate? Let’s hope so.

Paid writing workshops, including on screenwriting, general introduction to writing, and children’s writing, are available with the Creative Word Shop.  

For completely free writing support, come to us.

Next meeting

The next meeting date 9^th February 2026, 12 noon at Fernleigh Café Adamstown. We’ll be chatting and having lunch for the first half hour, so come along and introduce yourself. Then we’ll pick a topic and write zany, brilliant stories for 20 minutes. Then we’ll read them all out, marvel, critique, and compare. Then we’ll go home.

Until the next time!