(L to R) Rebecca Jones, Charlie Lea (Creative Writing Tutor) and Kate Strickland-Wright
Dozens of budding writers attended the launch of an anthology of short stories written by new writers at Halton Lea Library last Saturday, 30 June 2018.
The anthology was the result of the Write Time, Write Place creative writing course for beginners, which ran, during early 2018, in four Halton Borough Council local libraries: Widnes, Ditton, Runcorn and Halton Lea.
Fifty-eight people attended the eight-week course and took part in workshops looking at topics such as setting the scene, building a character, using dialogue and designing a plot with the outcome to write their own short story.
The course was funded mainly by Arts Council England with support from Halton Libraries and was run by Charlie Lea from the literacy company Read Now Write Now.
The anthology includes stories about: a desperate woman’s attempt to escape from prison; an anecdote about buying a Mother’s Day present from pawning old comics, and a theatre impresario called Doctor Godzilla.
At the launch, the workshop leader, Charlie Lea, gave a short speech to the writers, friends and family and the public before some of the new authors read extracts from their stories.
The anthology will not be for general release however several copies will be added to the catalogue of Halton’s libraries so that people will be able to take them out and enjoy reading them.
Charlie Lea said: “It was such a pleasure to run this course of creative writing, meeting likeminded people and listening and sharing their ideas for stories.
“The course is not just there to teach writing skills, but to bring about people who share the same aims, ambitions and zest for taking part in a practical cultural activity such as writing. ”
Although the course was designed for beginners, organisers said they had several people who were more advanced in their writing who could also share their experiences in writing. Throughout the course they heard some very funny tales mixed with true stories of sadness, such is life.
Rebecca Jones, one of the authors, said: “Attending the creative writing course has been one of the highlights of this year. It has allowed me to fulfil a bucket list moment of having a piece of my writing published in an anthology.
” The course was very informative and interesting, and the course Leader was very friendly and helpful. I would recommend it to anyone with a dream to be a writer as it’s a great starting place to begin.”
Read Now Write Now is a literacy company which runs, amongst other projects, creative writing workshops for adults and children. The adult workshops are run under the title of “Write Time, Write Place,” and have been previously run in Wirral, Cheshire West and Trafford.