💙 Thank you to everyone who has collaborated with us, attended a workshop or event or been a supporter of our work in 2025. We will be taking a break and reopening on Tuesday 6 January 2026. Happy Holidays!

📖 The 2025 Poetics Lab Anthology is now available to read on our website. We celebrated the cohort with a showcase captured by @nelson_films. 📸 Thank you to the generous, anonymous donation that supported this programme.

First impressions matter. Join Liane Wimhurst as she leads a workshop exploring different techniques used to begin a literary novel and how to practise them. ️🗓Tues 20 Jan, 6.30pm 📍Deptford Lounge 🎟️ £9* tickets.londonwriterscentre.org.uk/events/sprea... BSL available upon request - email

Join Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray for a masterclass on narrative technique in non-ficition. 📅 Wednesday 28 January , 7pm 📍Online 🎟️FREE - book via website Email re: access requests ✍️ Part of ‘There Is Only Narrative: Non-Fiction Demystified’ - London Writers Centre & Eve White Literary Agency

New year, new you? Discover what your writing practice could like with Rue Collinge! ✍️ This workshop is part of the @cripticarts & London Writers Centre Writers Salon. Event info: 📅 Monday 12 January 2026, 6.30pm 📍Online 🎟️FREE - book via link in bio 🔗 For access info – please see sign up page

Introducing London Writers Centre. Our name has changed, but our intention is the same: to open doors to great storytelling, to champion underrepresented writers and to connect communities to the stories that matter to them.

Thank you to everyone who backed our @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge! We raised £3,320, our biggest total since 2020 🎉 This supports free writing workshops, career sessions & the Deptford Literature Festival. Huge thanks to Sam & Rosie Berwick, Reed Educational Trust & our community ❤️

FREE, live poetry night 🎉 Join us tomorrow to celebrate our young poets in the Poetics Lab Showcase. A fun night of live readings, food, music, community and vibes. ✨ 🗓️ Tues 9 December, 6pm 📍The Albany, Deptford 🎟️ Free - www.tickettailor.com/events/sprea... Accessible venue – get in touch

We want to make storytelling open and accessible to all. With your help, we can do just that. Our @biggiveorg campaign closes in 20 hours. Please consider donating or sharing with a friend who supports our vision: bit.ly/boroughoflit... 🎁

24 hours left for our @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge to make a #Lewisham Borough of Literature a reality. Want to have your donation to our campaign doubled? 🎁 donate by midday Tues 9 December: bit.ly/boroughoflit...

“There’s so much creativity in Lewisham & so much that is untapped, aching to be discovered.” –Tutku Barbaros @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge - We’re raising £10k to help connect communities with words & stories. One donation, double the difference 🎁 Donate today: bit.ly/boroughoflit...

London is one of the world’s most diverse cities, and #Lewisham its second most diverse borough. But this richness is rarely represented in publishing. Help us champion new and emerging voices. Donate to our @biggive.bsky.social campaign today: bit.ly/boroughoflit...

Join us this weekend at Lewisham Shopping Centre for two festive drop-in creative workshops with poet Helen Bowell! 🗓 Fri 5 - Sat 6 Dec, 11am-1pm 📍 Lewisham Shopping Centre Free to attend, no booking needed. Donations warmly welcomed as part of our @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge

Lewisham is home to people from 75 nationalities, each carrying stories that deserve to be heard. Help us to make this a reality. Donate to our @biggive.bsky.social campaign today: bit.ly/boroughoflit...

Every child deserves to tell their own story. Help us to change the narrative and make #Lewisham a Borough of Literature. Donate to our @biggive.bsky.social campaign today: bit.ly/boroughoflit...

We’re aiming to raise £10,000 in 7 days towards our campaign to make #Lewisham the UK’s first Borough of Literature. Every donation made from 2 December- 9 December will be doubled. Donate now! bit.ly/boroughoflit... #GivingTuesday

The countdown is on! In just one week, we’re going live with our @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge to make #Lewisham the UK’s Borough of Literature 📚 Donations made during 2-9 December will be doubled. Pledge today: spreadtheword.beaconforms.com/form/3d91d809

📣 Work with Us - #DeptfordLiteratureFestival Are you a London-based writers, poets, artists, arts and community organisations with exciting ideas? Apply to be part of our #DeptfordLiteratureFestival 2026 programme. 🔗 More info : tinyurl.com/4mjm3b67 Deadline: Monday 1 December, 10am

🎉 We are partnering with @roundtablebooks for our 30th anniversary party. 🎟️ Last few tickets remaining – www.tickettailor.com/events/sprea... Books from their inclusive range will be available to purchase on the night!

📢 New programme alert @spread-the-word.bsky.social and @evewhiteagency.bsky.social present: 'There Is Only Narrative: Non-Fiction Demystified' A free programme for non-fiction writers from underrepresented backgrounds launches this month! Discover more ⬇️ www.spreadtheword.org.uk/eve-white-li...

Want to know how to create distinctive, active language for your characters? ✍️ This workshop is part of the @cripticarts.bsky.social & @spread-the-word.bsky.social Writers Salon. Event info: 📅 Mon 1 December, 6.30pm 📍Online 🎟️FREE www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writers-sa...

We're taking part in the Big Give #ChristmasChallenge this year to raise £10,000 in just 1 week! The vision? Make #Lewisham the UK’s first Borough of Literature. All donations made from 2 – 9 December will be doubled. Find out more and get involved: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/spread-the-w...

We’re joining the Big Give #ChristmasChallenge Help us make Lewisham the UK’s Borough of Literature! From 2–9 Dec, every £ you give will be matched. That’s one donation, double the difference. Pledge now, pay later: spreadtheword.beaconforms.com/form/3d91d809

🎉 See who is joining us for our 30th celebration! 📅 Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025 🕖 Time: 7pm until late 📍 Venue: The Department Store, Brixton, SW9 8FR Tickets: £10

What would the world look like from the POV of rivers, street signs or mosquitos? Join Saskia as she leads a workshop on 'Writing the more-than-human.' ️🗓️ ️Tuesday 2 Dec, 6.30pm 📍Deptford Lounge 🎟️ £9* (concession prices available)- book : www.tickettailor.com/events/sprea... Request access.

📣 FREE feedback sessions for mystery, romance and horror writers! We are partnering with @colwillandpeddle to offer up to 8 free, short feedback sessions to underrepresented writers. D/L 2nd Dec, 5pm More info: tinyurl.com/2p5kc8v2

October has been full of successes for our programme and award alumni. Check out their achievements 🏆 You can read more about each writer via the 'News' section on our website. Head to our instagram to see the post!

APPLICATIONS CLOSED: #LondonWritersAwards 2026 Thank you to all those who have taken the time to submit an application. We have received a record number of applications and cannot wait to start reading all the exciting submissions.

We’re turning 30 and you’re invited! 🎉 Join us for an unforgettable evening of celebration, conversation and performances. 📅 Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025 🕖 Time: 7pm until late 📍 Venue: The Department Store, Brixton, SW9 8FR Tickets: £10

👀 ✨ Short Story Preview Read commissioned piece ‘Family Heart Troubles’ by Leone Ross (@leoneross.bsky.social) in the Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Anthology. The anthology is available to collect from Lewisham borough Libraries this October, and a digital version: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/read-the-mou...

Open Call 📣 #DeptfordLiteratureFestival 2026 Are you an artist or organisation based in Deptford/Lewisham*? We are looking for people with exciting ideas to shape our 2026 programme. 🔗 More info : tinyurl.com/4mjm3b67 Deadline: Monday 1 December, 10am

Save the date 📅 #DeptfordLiteratureFestival The festival is back on Saturday 28th March 2026. Look out for our open call this week, to find out how you can get involved. Full programme to be announced early in the new year. 📸: Kashif Haque

🚨4 days left to submit to #LondonWritersAwards 2026! Have a look at what our agent judges are looking for. ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close at 5pm on Thursday 30 October – happy writing!

Something spooky this way comes... 🕯️ Join Alan Gray for ‘Vacant Possession: Creating a Haunted World Without Any Ghosts’, a creative workshop featuring extracts from Dan Chaon, Andrew Michael Hurley, Shirley Jackson 👻 🗓️ Tue 28 Oct, 6.30pm | 📍 Deptford Lounge 🎟️ £9* (concs) – tinyurl.com/b34pcw7t

📣 10 days left to apply #LondonWritersAwards! ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close at 5pm on Thursday 30 October – happy writing! 📹 Featured in video - Daniel Culpan (current #LondonWritersAwards cohort)

🤗 Sharing is caring. Do you have a writer friend who should apply to the London Writers Awards? 📩 Share this post with them. ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close at 5pm on Thursday 30 October – happy writing! 📹 Featured in video - @laila_obeidat current #LondonWritersAwards cohort

Join Melissa as she leads a workshop about strategies employed by authors to represent sex in literature, which will provide prompts for a final collaborative poem! ✍️ This workshop is part of the Writers Salon with @cripticarts.bsky.social. 📅 Mon 3 Nov, 6.30pm 📍Online 🎟️FREE - tinyurl.com/ypzu34cj

Meet @newlands.bsky.social - #LondonWritersAwards judge, alumni and author of Only Here, Only Now. ✨ Get an insight into his writing process and top tips for applicants. Blog: 🔗 www.spreadtheword.org.uk/qa-with-2026... ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close: 5pm, Thursday 30 October

👀 ✨ Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Anthology is out – get a sneak peak of Jacqueline Codrington’s poem ‘Disrespect.’ The anthology is available to collect from all Lewisham borough Libraries from 19 October, and a digital version here: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/read-the-mou...

#WorldMentalHealthDay 🧠 🌎 @societyofauthors.bsky.social have created the ‘Author Care: A Toolkit for Authors’ - a free digital resource to help writers navigate working and wellbeing. This is accessible via the Society of Author’s website. #WorldMentalHealthDay #AuthorCare #MentalHealthAwareness

✍️ 5 short stories that shaped me ... with Gurnaik Johal. To read the full blog head to our website. Gurnaik will be leading a Short Story Round Table on Tuesday 14th October at The Albany. 🎟️ Final tickets - Link in bio 🔗

✨ Meet the 30th Anniversary LGBTQI+ Emerging Writer Commission Winners - Aislinn Evans, Conan Tan and Finn Brown. www.spreadtheword.org.uk/announcing-t...

Meet Alexandra Sheppard – 2026 #LondonWritersAwards YA/ children’s book judge. Author of Oh My Gods, Friendship Never Ends and Alyssa & The Spell Garden. ✨ Head on to our instagram to hear what she’ll be looking for 👀 ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close at 5pm, Thursday 30 October.

Meet Ashani Lewis - #LondonWritersAwards alumni and author of Winter Animals and Everest. ✨ On our website she shares her top 5 influential books – read here: tinyurl.com/h3zseea8 🔗 ⏰ Applications for the #LondonWritersAwards close at 5pm on Thursday 30 October – happy writing!

⏰ Free Reads Deadline – Tuesday 7th October There’s still time to apply! Open to all London-based writers on low income, Free Reads offers you the chance to receive professional, 1:1 feedback on your manuscript with an editor. Learn more: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/free-reads-2...

🌳 Need a new approach to how you write setting? Join Thảo Tô as she leads workshop ‘Sit in It, Sit with It: Setting as a Character in Your Writing.’ 🗓️ Tuesday 4 November, 6.30pm 📍Online 🎟️£8* (concession prices available) - book: www.tickettailor.com/events/sprea... Access available

👀 ✨ Mouth Mek Fi Nyam Anthology is out – get a sneak peak of Sharon Marshall’s poem ‘Everyting Have Its Use, after Jacob Sam-La Rose.’ The anthology is available to collect from all Lewisham borough Libraries in mid October, and a digital version here: www.spreadtheword.org.uk/read-the-mou...

✨ Wishing you a Happy National Poetry Day with some recommended reading from our Poetics Lab cohort! 📚 See list of poetry recommendations on our instagram! #HappyNationalPoetryDay

👻 This spooky season we will be crafting our own scary stories... Join Alan Gray as he leads a workshop on ‘Vacant Possession: Creating a Haunted World Without any Ghosts’. ️ Tuesday 28 October, 6.30pm 📍Deptford Lounge 🎟️£9* (concession prices available) - www.tickettailor.com/events/sprea...

🎉 Congratulations to our alumni features in this September wrap-up. You can read more about each writer via the 'News' section on our website.