I N T R O D U C T I O N
Hi! Our names are Matt Maude and Susanna Davies-Crook. We're the founders and hosts of Write Club.
First of all, thank you for choosing to spend your time at Write Club.
We're aware that it may be a daunting experience coming to a new thing with a new group of people in a new space. We understand those first time nerves because we've felt them too. We know too that imposter syndrome is a constant shadow, especially amongst creative people. But for us, if you write, you are a writer. Irrespective of whether you are multi-published or a first time sharer. Your words are important to us, because they are important to you.
One of our core tenets of Write Club is to create and curate a safe and open space for both participants and the guest speakers alike. In short, you're entering into an informal, accessible, nurturing and supportive environment. Above all else, building and sustaining that community is the most important thing we do at Write Club.
If we can answer any questions beyond what is included here, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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S O W H A T I S A W R I T E C L U B S E S S I O N ?
Working in partnership with arts organisations and private member spaces across London, Write Club delivers a series of monthly events that invite industry-recognised guest speakers to deliver informal talks and Q&As to a small group of participants. We invite speakers from across the creative industries: poets to performers, authors to agents, screenwriters and showrunners, filmmakers and theatre makers. Anyone that either writes or helps writers write.
Seated around a large table in which attendees and the guest speaker sit at the same level, the guest speaker is invited to share their origin story, anecdotal life experiences and professional workflows with our group. Although lightly moderated with a couple of kick off questions from us at the beginning of the session, the rest of the talk is entirely participant-led. Arranged as a peer-to-peer exchange, our constant aim is to close the gap between ambition and possibility - allowing participants to see themselves in the guest speaker's story, allay fears and find inspiration.
After finishing the guest speaker talk, we ask them to set a writing exercise for participants to respond to. Attendees then have an hour (or longer) to write before having the opportunity to read their responses to the exercise in front other particpants and the guest speaker - creating the opportunity to be heard and seen by an industry professional, whilst also creating unique pieces of work.
W H Y I N P R I V A T E M E M B E R S P A C E S ?
We're aware that private members' spaces are, in their very nature, exclusive. As part of our ethos, each of our agreements with each partner venue stipulates that a minimum numbver of participants must be made up of non-members. In doing so, it allows us to create greater diversity in the attendance of each event, while allowing us to invite those that represent our values and reflect the energy we want to create in each space. Openness, courage, vulnerability, safety.
Our agreement with each partnership too provides each session with complimentary food and / or beverage and room hire to run our events. In exchange, Write Club fosters greater connection within the private member club's community - helping sustain retention and create greater contact and collaboration between their members.
W H A T D O I N E E D T O B R I N G ?
- Whatever you write best with - your laptop or tablet, or pen and paper
- If you have an dietary intolerance, it may be advisable to bring your own food.
- Though not essential, noise cancelling headphones are useful to block out distraction whilst writing.
- However you want to be that evening. We believe that your creative self is always easiest to find when you are invited to be and accepted as whoever you are. That identity, even if it shifts and grows, is always welcome at Write Club. We ask that you welcome others in the way you would wish to be welcomed. Without judgement, with kindness, respect and constant openness.
T I M I N G S
Here are the usual timings for our evening events:
18:00
Event begins. 15 minutes of mingling and socialising
(to account for travel delays and meetings overrunning)
18:15
We begin each Write Club with every participant introducing themselves. Thirty seconds of who you are, what kind of writing you do or are interested in. Based on the idea that hearing your voice in the room early means you're more likely to use it again in the future, these introductions also serve as a means for the guest speaker to meet you.
18:30
After that round of introductions is complete, we invite the guest speaker to introduce themselves, and the Q&A begins.
19:25
After the guest speaker's talk, each guest speaker will then set a writing exercise or prompt. These can be interpreted into whatever is your writing practice, and you can take them in any which way you would like
19:30
Writing Time
20:30
Dinner service (buffet / tear & share food)
21:00
If you would like to, you are invited to read what you have written in response to the guest speaker's exercise / prompt. It's never ever mandatory to read though!
22:00
Event ends
"If you're looking for a place to write and join an open, inclusive community, Write Club is without a doubt the place to be"
F I L M :
Over the course of our partnership at Soho House, we've asked a number of their members
to provide us with testimonials of their experience attending Write Club.
If you have 5 minutes available, we'd love for you to watch the film below.
It hopefully conveys much of what we feel Write Club is about.
P H O T O G R A P H Y :
We record parts of each session on an 8K high resolution video camera. The quality of the footage is such that we are able to pull off screenshots to send to participants as high resolution photos for their archives.
Images captured at the event will be shared via email after the session (usually a couple weeks afterwards). It means you don't need to take photos of the session on your own devices and can stay present as you want to be. If you'd like to share these images to your social media, please do so! We ask though, that you credit the photographer where you are able to do so (its usually matt - @mattmaude) and tag @writeclublondon too
Included below are images taken from a number of our previous events at Soho House, The Groucho Club, The House of Koko, The Barbican and The Royal Academy of Arts - featured from sessions with these (incredible) guest speakers:
Laurie Nunn - Emmy Award Winning Creator & Showrunner of 'Sex Education'
Irvine Welsh - Bafta Award Winning Screenwriter and Author of 'Trainspotting', 'Filth', 'The Acid House'
Polly Bennett - Oscar Winning Movement Coach of the Films: 'Elvis', 'Bohemia Rhapsody', 'The Crown', 'Saltburn'
Mike Figgis - Oscar Nominated Director & Screenwriter 'Leaving Las Vegas', 'Timecode', 'Internal Affairs'
Jon Brittain - Olivier Winning Playwright & Screenwriter 'Baby Reindeer' 'Rotterdam', 'The Crown'
Vinay Patel - Award Winning Screenwriter & Playwright, 'Murdered by My Father', 'Doctor Who'
Selina Lim - Bafta Nominated & Emmy Award Winning Screenwriter 'Sex Education', 'Hanna'
Siddarth Shrikanth - Climate Author, Journalist and Investor: 'The Case for Nature'
Isis Davis - Award Winning Writer & Actor - 'Killing Eve', 'Fast Girls'
Laurie Nunn
Emmy Award Winning Creator and Showrunner of
'Sex Education'
Simon Armitage
Poet Laureate
'Dwell', 'The Not Dead', 'Stanza Stones'
Andrew Davies
BAFTA Award Winning Screenwriter
'War and Peace', 'House of Cards', 'Bridget Jones Diary'
Selina Lim
Emmy Award Winning Screenwriter
'Sex Education', 'Hanna'
Waleed Akhtar
Olivier Award Winning Playwright and Screenwriter
'The P Word', 'The Roadtrip'
Daisy Goodwin
Author, Screenwriter and Showrunner
'ITV's Victoria', 'My Last Duchess'
Isis Davis
Actor and Writer
'Killing Eve', 'Fast Girls'
Temi Wilkey
Writer, Actor & Director
'Sex Education', 'The High Table'
Jennifer Higgie
Author, Screenwriter and Arts Editor
'The Mirror and the Palette', Former Frieze Magazine Editor
Leon Mayne
Screenwriter and Producer
'End of the F*cking World, 'Brothers With No Game'
Jon Brittain
Olivier Winning Playwright & Screenwriter
' Baby Reindeer' 'Rotterdam', 'The Crown'
Polly Bennett
Oscar Winning Movement Director & Choreographer
'Elvis', 'Saltburn', 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Maimuna Memom
Olivier Winning Writer & Actor
'The Grapes of Wrath', 'Standing at the Sky’s Edge'
Irvine Welsh
Author and Screenwriter
'Trainspotting', 'Filth', 'The Acid House'
Esther Freud
Author
'I Couldn't Love You More', 'Hideous Kinky', 'The Sea House'
Mike Figgis
Oscar Nominated Director and Screenwriter
'Leaving Las Vegas', 'Timecode', 'Internal Affairs'
Luke Jennings
Screenwriter and Show Creator
'Killing Eve'
Travis Alabanza
Author, Writer & Performer
'None of the Above', Burgerz', 'Overflow'
Anthony Anaxagorou
Poet, Author and Royal Society of Literature Fellow
'Heritage Aesthetics', 'The Blink That Killed The Eye'
Vinay Patel
Screenwriter & Playwright
'Murdered by My Father', 'Doctor Who'
Daniel Bailey
Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre
'Wolves on Road', 'August in England'
Katherine Angel
Author
'Sex Will Be Good Again', 'Daddy Issues'
Henry Mance
Chief Features Writer, Financial Times
'How to Love Animals and Protect our Planet'
Emily Hayward-Whitlock
Screenwriters Agent and Head of Book to Film
at The Artists Partnership
Naomi Sheldon
Actor, Producer & Screenwriter
'The Girlfriend', 'The Good Girl'
Siddarth Shrikanth
Climate Author, Journalist and Investor
'The Case for Nature'
P R E V I O U S G U E S T S P E A K E R S :
T E S T I M O N I A L S F R O M P A R T I C P A N T S :
“I sit on the Inclusivity Board at Soho House and the Committee at Soho Works. I go to a lot of the events here and the Houses, and I don’t feel like I’ve got the sense of community from other workshops I’ve attended. We have a lot of people that come in and create space, which is great, but all of the connections I have in Soho are a result of the people I met at Write Club. It feels like family rather than just a community”.
- Melissa Sinclair
"As a new writer, Write Club has been transformative for me. It’s given me a sense of community, access to inspiration, and, most importantly, the confidence to believe I can pursue writing seriously. It’s not just an event—it’s a safe haven where I feel seen and supported, a space where I’ve been able to truly hone my ‘voice’ and explore my creativity without judgement.
- Adwoa Akoto
"The Write Club team run fantastic sessions which I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in writing. Their guest speakers - often impressively big names! - talk about their careers and use their experience to offer a mix of advice and encouragement that usefully straddles the border between ‘inspiring’ and ‘realistic’. Plus, there are always ingenious exercises to get everyone in the room writing there and then, often in ways they might not have done so before - and it’s a treat to hear the results of these read aloud. I’ve really enjoyed getting involved with their sessions - and I can see that any organisation which has an interest in driving creativity could do well to book Write Club, too."
- Toby Smith
"Matt and Susanna have done an incredible job of curating guest speakers each month that span industries, genders, races, sexual orientations, social classes and life experiences. And it’s this effort that attracts an equally diverse community to Write Club that makes for one of the richest, most welcoming, caring and inspiring communities I’ve been a part of.”
- Jamie Tomkins
At each of our sessions we welcome everyone coming to Write Club for the first time with a small speech - the invitation and encouragement to be the person who they want to be whilst they are with us, rather than the person they have to be. Our small offering to disarm imposter syndrome and creating the space for each participant to step into their chosen self. We know its a little vomit inducing / cliched / not the most British to express, but we truly hope that you'll feel the ability to do the same with us. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help to create this possibility for you. Thank you for the time taken coming to speak with our group. We appreciate it hugely.
Best wishes,
Matt and Susanna