Huntly Writers

About Us

Huntly Writers is open to anyone over the age of 18 years who is, or wants to be, actively engaged in creative writing. We are based in the market town of Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where we usually meet on a fortnightly basis. All meeting dates, times, venues and events plus contact details are available on the website www.huntlywriters.co.uk.

Anyone interested in joining the group is very welcome to attend as a visitor once or twice without payment to help them decide if the group is for them. Normally the charge for each meeting is £2 and the joining fee for the year is £10. Please check before first attending to make sure that the group is on at the usual venue.

Huntly Writers is an unincorporated association of writers, which raises its own funding for the most part, with occasional help from the Scottish Book Trust with readings and workshops. It exists to support local writers by providing regular sessions where they can read their work and receive constructive criticism from fellow members. The group also arranges readings and workshops by established authors. Public performances of the work of the group take place once or twice a year and there are regular collaborations with other writers and artists. We also publish anthologies of our work and details of these can be found on the website.

The group sessions consist first of reading the minutes of the previous meeting and discussion of any matters arising or business that needs to be attended to. This usually takes 20–30 minutes. The rest of the time (90 minutes) is spent on listening and giving feedback on readings. Occasionally we do writing exercises which have been agreed in advance. Because the group has a large active membership it is not always possible for everyone to read on a given night but those who miss out will read first at the next meeting. Even if a member is not able to read at a given session because of lack of time or not having anything ready to read, they are expected to listen actively and give feedback. This is a very important role.

The group operates through a consensus of mutual respect and support for each other. Each session is moderated and members agree to abide by the moderator's guidance in the course of the evening regarding who reads, length of reading time and length of feedback time. The moderator is usually the convenor or vice-convenor.