BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Society of Authors - ECPv6.18.0//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://societyofauthors.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Society of Authors REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20250330T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20251026T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20270328T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20271031T010000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T150000 DTSTAMP:20260717T135112Z CREATED:20240804T201437Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260717T135112Z UID:10001833-1790258400-1790262000@societyofauthors.org SUMMARY:Group Chat - Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network Meeting DESCRIPTION:Join us for our next online meet-up on Thursday 24 September from 2pm. \nSeptember is one of our general chat months for members to talk in a relaxed environment\, share their experiences and ask for help and advice. \nThese meetings are not recorded to allow for privacy and open discussion. If you have any questions you want support with\, please bring them along to the meeting. \nAbout the Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network  \nThe Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses network is a member-led peer support network aims to break feelings of isolation by connecting authors facing common experiences\, in an online community that offers continuing professional and personal support. \nWe run monthly get-togethers using Zoom\, where you can chat informally online with others. Depending on your computer or device\, you can take part either using audio or video. Please let us know if you have any specific needs that will help you take part. \nOur primary aim is to offer a friendly and supportive space where you can feel safe to ask questions\, share experiences\, offer advice\, and make new connections. For more information\, visit our Network page here. \nOur online meet-ups are free to attend for ADCI Network members only. To join us\, click the Going button below and enter your details in the RSVP form. We’ll send you an email with a link to join us on Zoom. \nIf the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox\, please check your junk mail folder!  \nIf you have any access questions please contact us at disabledauthors@gmail.com URL:https://societyofauthors.org/event/group-chat-authors-with-disabilities-and-chronic-illnesses-network-meeting-240926/ CATEGORIES:#SoAatHome,ADCI,Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ADCI-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Elsa Woodmeade":MAILTO:ewoodmeade@societyofauthors.org LOCATION:https://societyofauthors.org/event/group-chat-authors-with-disabilities-and-chronic-illnesses-network-meeting-240926/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T140000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T160000 DTSTAMP:20260911T092552Z CREATED:20260911T092028Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260911T092552Z UID:10002279-1790258400-1790265600@societyofauthors.org SUMMARY:Gloucestershire Group: Show and Tell DESCRIPTION:Join our ever-growing\, dynamic Gloucestershire Group on Thursday 24 September from 14:00. \nShow and Tell \nOr is it show\, not tell? \nIn this session\, we will explore the feedback that many of us have had regarding writing style\, and that is to “show”\, not “tell”. \nWe will explore what is meant by that feedback\, where it comes from and whether it is valuable feedback\, intended to progress our work into great literature\, or a fashionable way of avoiding a difficult read. \nHave you had this feedback? Did you take any notice of it? Have you become more aware of it in your own reading? \nCome ready to share a few examples of how this feedback works\, either from your own work or from published authors. Perhaps we could have a go at rewriting some of the greats with a bit of show\, not tell! \nThe venue has great accessibility: it’s the ground-floor meeting room within the Monastery Café building at Prinknash Abbey\, Cranham\, GL4 8EX. There is a large\, free car park\, above the café building. Walk down steps or a gentle slope to access the café entrance. The meeting room is immediately to your left on entering\, with toilets opposite. The café to the right serves a great selection of non-alcoholic refreshments\, delicious cake etc. \nIf you have accessibility issues\, keep driving: there are two disabled spaces just to the left of the doorway. While the café is generously offering us the meeting room free of charge\, please bring a plastic card or cash to pay for your own refreshments. \nLocal group meet-ups are free to attend. To join us\, click the Going button below and enter your details in the RSVP form so we have an idea of how many people to expect. We are currently experiencing some issues with our RSVP forms. If the RSVP form does not work\, please contact localgroups@societyofauthors.org to register for the meeting. URL:https://societyofauthors.org/event/gloucestershire-group-show-and-tell-240926/ LOCATION:Monastery Café\, Prinknash Abbey\, Cranham\, GL4 8EX\, United Kingdom CATEGORIES:Gloucestershire,SoA local group meet-up ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Gloucestershire.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Local Groups":MAILTO:localgroups@societyofauthors.org GEO:51.8175834;-2.1778873 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Monastery Café Prinknash Abbey Cranham GL4 8EX United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=Prinknash Abbey:geo:-2.1778873,51.8175834 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T143000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T151500 DTSTAMP:20260922T152434Z CREATED:20250108T090059Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260922T152434Z UID:10002282-1790260200-1790262900@societyofauthors.org SUMMARY:How I write - in conversation with Selina Brown DESCRIPTION:Grab a cuppa and get to know author and founder of Black British Book Festival\, Selina Brown. \nSelina will be in conversation with author and activist\, Karen Arthur\, to discuss her work and career and to offer a glimpse into her creative routines. \nOnline in conversation events – free for all + donation \nAll donations made go towards the Society of Authors’ Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel\, subsistence\, childcare or access needs for events\, residencies\, and retreats. If you would like to make a donation with your booking\, please do so when registering for the event below. \n  \nProgramme\n\nWelcome\, introductions and housekeeping from Karen Arthur (3 mins)\nIntroductions to Selina Brown\, and a glimpse into her creative routines (20-25 mins)\nSelina will do a short reading from her book My Rice is Best (2-3 mins)\nQ&A with audience (10 mins) \nSummary and closing comments (2 mins)\nThis event will be moderated by Sophia A Jackson – Head of Events & Engagement\, SoA\n\n  \nThe Line-up\nSelina Brown\nSelina Brown is the Founder and CEO of the Black British Book Festival (BBBF)\, Europe’s largest celebration of Black literature. \nFounded in 2021 with her own savings and no industry backing\, BBBF has grown under Selina’s leadership into a major force in British literary culture. Its work now spans a flagship national festival\, two Black Book Community Libraries\, regional programmes in Birmingham and Manchester\, schools and community initiatives\, and a landmark publishing collaboration with Pan Macmillan. \nA former librarian\, Selina has curated literary programming at Glastonbury Festival\, Cheltenham Literature Festival\, Hay Festival and Wolverhampton Literature Festival\, and built partnerships with global brands including Audible\, Spotify\, Paramount and Penguin Random House. \nIn March 2026\, she became the inaugural recipient of the Queen’s Reading Room Medal and was named a National Reading Hero at Clarence House. She has also been named FutureBook Leader of the Year by The Bookseller\, Trailblazer of the Year at The London Book Fair and a BBC 1Xtra Future Figure. \nSelina is also a Penguin Random House children’s author. Her debut picture book\, My Rice Is Best\, became the fastest-selling debut picture book of 2025 and received major award nominations. \nAcross festivals\, publishing\, libraries and education\, Selina is building cultural infrastructure that is reshaping who gets to participate in — and influence — British literary life. \nInstagram: @theselinabrown \n  \nKaren Arthur\nKaren Arthur is an author\, broadcaster and artist. She founded the groundbreaking podcast Menopause Whilst Black\, The Joy Retreat Barbados for Black women in menopause and hosts the radio show Can We Talk? Her award winning children’s book\, Grandmas Locs which celebrates the diversity of Black hair is recently out in paperback. She lives contentedly by the sea \nInstagram: @thekarenarthur \n  \nSend us your questions\nIf you would like to send questions in advance\, email SJackson@societyofauthors.org with ‘Selina Brown – Question’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and answer as many as we can from the audience on the day. \n  \nAccessibility\n\nAttendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript\, to watch with subtitles\nIf you require BSL interpretation for this event\, please email events@societyofauthors.org\n\n  \nBooking\nPlease either use the form titled ‘Register – no donation’ or the option of the different ticket options with a donation amount depending on how much you would like to donate towards the Society of Authors Access Fund. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Accordion Title\n \n Accordion Content \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Society of Authors’ Access Fund - donate now\n \n Giving authors support for travel\, subsistence\, childcare or access needs for events\, residencies\, and retreatsEvery contribution helps us ensure that these needs and costs aren’t barriers to authors wishing to access events. If you are in a position to help\, please donate via the link below. If you are an author facing access issues\, please click here to see if we can help. DONATE NOW\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n SoA Fundraising Bookshop\n \n Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in our events programme. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links\, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund\, giving authors support for travel\, subsistence\, childcare or access needs for events\, residencies\, and retreats. URL:https://societyofauthors.org/event/how-i-write-in-conversation-with-selina-brown/ LOCATION:Online CATEGORIES:#SoAatHome ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/How-I-write_in-conversation-with-Selina-Brown.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T183000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260924T203000 DTSTAMP:20260924T102750Z CREATED:20250108T090059Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260924T102750Z UID:10002070-1790274600-1790281800@societyofauthors.org SUMMARY:Poetry and Spoken Word Group Open Mic Night DESCRIPTION:Join us for an evening of live poetry as we celebrate our first ever Poetry and Spoken Word Open Mic event. \nOur performer tickets are now sold out\, but attendee tickets are still avaialble. Come along and enjoy a fun and relaxed night of poetry and performance. \nNot a member? Sign up here. \n  \nProgramme\n\n6.30pm – Guest arrivals\, refreshments on arrival\n6.40pm – Welcome and performance from Keith Jarrett\n6.50pm – 8 performances (30 mins)\n7.20pm – Refreshment break\n7.40pm – 8 performances (30 mins)\n8.10pm – Closing comments from Keith Jarrett \n8.15pm – Networking & refreshments\n8.30pm – Ends\n\n  \nThe Line up\nKeith Jarrett – Host \nKeith Jarrett’s poetry\, fiction and essays have been widely anthologised. A multiple slam champion\, he was selected for the International Literary Showcase as an outstanding LGBT writer. Keith teaches at NYU London and holds a PhD from Birkbeck. His poetry collection Hide Me Under the Blood and I Shall Be Satisfied is a PBS Spring Recommendation.   \n  \nEvan John – Performer\nEvan L John writes poems and short stories in his spare time. His poetry focuses on faith and nature\, and particularly the persistence of faith in the face of doubt. \n  \nA.K Davidson – Performer\nA.K. Davidson’s poetry has been published in Good Housekeeping\, Pennine Platform and other magazines. Her debut collection Poetry for Life and Other Chronic Conditions is available from all good bookshops. Find her work in progress on Instagram\, @mondayispoetry. \nWebsite: therightword.co.uk \n  \nJeff Probst – Performer\nJeff Probst\, a Californian\, saw many of his poems\, including ‘Fear of Folkdancing’\, published in America in the Eighties. He moved to the UK in 1990; his Nineties memoir is ‘Teaching Shakespeare to Hairdressers: An American Teacher in London’. His novels include ‘When the Moon was White‘ and ‘Bachelor Butterflies’. \n  \nDr Miranda Anderson – Performer\nDr Miranda Anderson is a philosopher of mind and of the arts and humanities\, a literary scholar\, a historian\, an art curator\, and now a poet. Her first published poetry will appear in a special issue of The Philosopher (Spring 2027) on The Weaponized Earth.  Her book\, The Renaissance Extended Mind\,  explores current and Renaissance ideas of the mind as not just brain-bound but as extended across brain\, body and world and through imaginative flights. She edited four volumes on ideas about the mind between antiquity and the twentieth century and curated The Extended Mind a contemporary art exhibition with Talbot Rice Gallery (2019-20). She has performed a one-woman show for the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas during Edinburgh Festival (2018\, 2022). She is working on her first poetry collection which is inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s claim that to write a single poem it is necessary to have many\, many experiences till they are forgotten and then to patiently await their return when they have become translated ‘into our very blood\, into glance and gesture’. She is available to review films\, art and culture. \nEmail: miranda.anderson@ed.ac.uk \n  \nFlorence Chukwuonye– Performer\nFlorence Njideka Chukwuonye is a Nigerian author\, poet\, performer\, and English teacher based in the UK. Her debut anthology\, Tranquillity in Turbulence\, showcases poems of conviction and quiet strength – poems that insist that in turbulence\, tranquillity can be chosen. She writers to inspire reflection\, nurture imagination\, and affirm human values. \nInstagram: @florencechukwuonye22  | Website: www.florencechukwuonye.com | LinkedIn: florence-chukwuonye \n  \nLiz Kendall – Performer\nLiz Kendall’s poetry is rooted in nature\, wildness\, and connection. She co-authored the award-winning book Meet Us and Eat Us: Food plants from around the world and runs Creative Relaxation poetry workshops in Surrey. Publications include The Black Cat Poetry Press\, Candlestick Press\, and Mslexia. Her website is theedgeofthewoods.uk. \n  \nRósalín Callaghan – Performer\nRósalín Callaghan lives in Derry with rescue cats Beannacht and Réaltaín\, and hereditary amyloidosis\, a rare genetic condition. Founder of Amyloidosis Ireland\, her poetry has appeared widely\, with award-shortlisted and slam successes. A former barrister\, she spends her time writing\, neglecting housework\, killing houseplants\, and pursuing reluctant feline affection. \n  \nHilary Davies – Performer\nHilary Davies’ fifth collection\, Compass Light\, appeared from Renard Press in autumn 2025. She is a former Chairman of the Poetry Society\, and has been an RLF Fellow at King’s College\, London and the British Library. She is a  Hawthornden Fellow and Fellow of the Temenos Academy. \n  \nJenny Mitchell – Performer\nJenny Mitchell has three collections: Her Lost Language was joint winner of the Geoff Stevens Memorial Prize; Map of A Plantation won the Poetry Book Awards and is a university set text. Resurrection of a Black Man contains three prize-winning poems. She is a poetry co-editor for the Morning Star. \n  \nJasmina Bolfek-Radovani – Performer\nJasmina Bolfek-Radovani is a London-based poet and interdisciplinary artist of mixed cultural heritage (Croatian/Algerian/French). Her poetry in English\, French and Croatian has been published in the UK\, Canada and Croatia. Jasmina’s collaborative poetry project “Unbound” received funding from the AHRC-funded Language Acts and Worldmaking Small grants programme in 2018 & 2019. She has (co-)directed several multilingual poetry recitals and live performances in the UK\, France\, and Croatia\, and she has given talks\, written essays\, and facilitated panels on multilingual poetry practice. She is currently studying Arabic calligraphy and the Arabic script as part of her latest familial history project. Website: \nWebsite: https://jasminabradovani.com \n  \nRichard Adams – Performer\nRichard F Adams writes poems built from scenes rather than arguments — chip shops\, train platforms\, hospital corridors\, Barnsley backyards and Weybridge suburbs. His debut\, Not Yet\, runs from a Yorkshire childhood to the day he watched himself die. It includes a critical edition of Kubla Khan set in Tesco Express. \nHe is a working artist\, building an AI anti therapist\, a former senior academic/principal/senior fellow/visiting prof/founder/charity chair as well as interactive TV pioneer\, game programmer\, business partner and more. He is writing a book on emergent post-human aesthetics and radical creativity through next gen AI. By day he’s Head of technical architecture in rail. \n  \nLucy Coats – Performer\nLucy Coats’s poetry encompasses nature\, war\, grief\, mythology\, queerness\, and the effects of patriarchy on women. In 2024 she was shortlisted for The Bridport Poetry Prize\, and in 2022 won the Latin Programme Poetry Prize. Her debut poetry collection is out on submission\, and she is currently writing about matriarchal goddesses. \n  \nJanice Whyne – Performer\nJanice Whyne – Jamaican heritage\, London-based poet and community development practitioner. Explores identity and social justice; two-time runner-up at Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Poetry Slam. Publications include The Caribbean Writer\, Volume 39\, Part 1 (2025)\, Her Locks Unveiled… (2023)\, and two collections: In Conversation (2022) and Say It with a Haiku (2024). \nInstagram: @jjsmuse | Facebook: JJ’s Muse \n  \nApril Winstock – Performer\nAs a Speech and Language Therapist\, April spent years helping others to communicate. At 70 she began writing CNF. Now 73\, April writes spontaneous\, often funny poems for strangers\, on public transport\, cafés\, parks. She loves performing at open mics\, believing in their power to foster community\, connection and conversation. \n  \nRishika Williams – Performer\nI am a poet\, performer and cultural producer working across two central strands. The first is long-form and performance poetry addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG)\, drawn from lived experience of abduction and sexual violence. The second is Sindhi heritage: Language\, Partition\, Displacement / Loss of homeland. I explore this through poetry\, performance and community work. Both my families left Hyderabad\, Sindh\, around Partition. Alongside my writing I produce participatory South Asian literary and heritage events under Sindh Arts UK\, and I am studying for an MA at the Poetry School. \nInstagram: @rishikathepoet \nSimon Maddrell – Performer\nSimon Maddrell is a writer\, editor & educator. His debut\, lamping wild rabbits from Out-Spoken Press\, is Highly Commended in the 2026 Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection. Since 2020\, he’s had seven pamphlets published and appeared in Gutter\, Magma\, Poetry Wales\, The London Magazine\, Stand\, The Rialto\, and others. \nWebsite: www.simonmaddrell.com | Instagram: @simonmaddrell | Facebook: @simonmaddrellpoetry | LinkedIn: simonmaddrell | Bluesky: simonmaddrell.bsky.social \n  \nAccessibility\nOur Events space is located on the ground floor of our office. We have a wheelchair ramp at the side entrance of the building. We also have an accessible toilet by the side entrance. \nIf you have any access requirements\, please email events@societyofauthors.org \n  \nFeeling unwell?\nWe recommend the following: \n\nStaying home if you’re feeling unwell or have flu-like symptoms\nWashing your hands when coming in from the outdoors and / or before touching your face\nApplying alcohol hand sanitiser (we will have these on site)\nWe advise attendees to wear a face mask if they feel comfortable doing so\n\n  \nTickets \n£9.50 for SoA Members \n£19.50 for Non-Members \n  \nBooking\nBook your place using the booking from below. Places are limited. \nPlease read our event booking Terms and Conditions: https://societyofauthors.org/legal-privacy/event-terms/ \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Accordion Title\n \n Accordion Content \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Society of Authors’ Access Fund - donate now\n \n Giving authors support for travel\, subsistence\, childcare or access needs for events\, residencies\, and retreatsEvery contribution helps us ensure that these needs and costs aren’t barriers to authors wishing to access events. If you are in a position to help\, please donate via the link below. If you are an author facing access issues\, please click here to see if we can help. DONATE NOW\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n SoA Fundraising Bookshop\n \n Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in our events programme. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links\, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund\, giving authors support for travel\, subsistence\, childcare or access needs for events\, residencies\, and retreats. URL:https://societyofauthors.org/event/poetry-and-spoken-word-group-open-mic-night/ LOCATION:The Society of Authors\, 24 Bedford Row\, London\, WC1R 4EH\, London\, WC1R 4EH\, GB CATEGORIES:Poetry and Spoken Word Group,SoA in Person ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PSWG-Open-Mic-Night_with-performers-12.jpg GEO:51.5206792;-0.1162502 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=The Society of Authors 24 Bedford Row London WC1R 4EH London WC1R 4EH GB;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=24 Bedford Row\, London\, WC1R 4EH:geo:-0.1162502,51.5206792 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR