On the 27th January 2018, my fellow Oldbury Writing Group members and I took part in the Wolverhampton Literature Festival, where we did a talk on the benefits of joining a writing group.
This was the second time we had attended the festival and the second ever Wolverhampton Literature Festival. Having gone to the first literature festival, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to take part in the literature festival.
The event started with Angela, our mighty leader, introducing us to the audience – yes, we actually had an audience, a small one, but an audience all the same. Each member then shared how they had benefited from joining the group and read out either a poem or piece of flash fiction.
For the talk, I explained how I’m the deputy leader of the group and the very first member, apart from Angela, of course. I then went on to discuss my incredible journey with the group and how it has helped me to step out of my comfort zone and allow my voice to be heard, such as reading out in front of an audience. I also shared the amazing trips and adventures we have gone on together, such as the Birmingham Tolkien Trail and the Pow Wow Festival of Writing. To end my talk, I read my poem ‘Ravensbrück Rabbit’ from our World War Two anthology titled From Sunrise to Sunset.
At the end of the talk, we invited the audience to buy our anthology and get them signed by us. We sold five – I think – and I was happy that I could use my author book signing pen again. We also had someone interested in reviewing our book. And we were challenged to a poetry slam by the members of a writing group in Telford – a challenge we accepted.
Overall, we had a brilliant time, and we should all be proud of ourselves, especially the members who had never read out their work in front of an audience.
Have you or your writing group taken part in a literature festival? If you have, then feel free to comment below. I would love to hear your experiences.
Keep writing, folks!
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