CHILTERN WRITERS
How do I become a member?
Annual membership runs from January to December and fees for 2026 are £25 per year. If you join after 30th June then the fee for the rest of the year is £13.
Alternatively you are welcome to come along as a visitor, for a fee of £5 payable at the meeting.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW DO I JOIN A MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME?
We are always delighted to meet prospective members and you're welcome to attend as a visitor for as many meetings as you like before deciding to join us. The visitor cost is £5, payable at the meeting.
If you have any queries then please use the contact page on this website. Alternatively you can email chilternwriters@outlook.com or contact us via Facebook or Twitter (@ChilternWriters).
DO I HAVE TO BE A MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE?
You do not need to be a member to take part in the meetings, including reading out your own material at our manuscript evenings. You are also welcome to attend our Christmas social in December.
However, if you wish to enter our annual writing competition then you do need to be a paid-up member of Chiltern Writers.
IF I JOIN CHILTERN WRITERS WILL ANY VISITOR FEES BE REFUNDED?
We are unable to refund any visitor fees paid unless you decide to join the group, in which case that evening's visitor fee will count towards the cost of membership.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
June 2026
Manuscript Evening
We will be holding another of our regular manuscript evenings. These allow members of the group to read out something they've written and receive constructive criticism, or to ask for views on particular aspects of their work. Depending on how many people want to read, we usually allow a maximum of five minutes per person (roughly equivalent to a maximum of 1,000 words) with a few minutes afterwards for a discussion of each piece. The quality and variety of the writing is always impressive, so even if you don't want to read something out yourself, these meetings are always worth attending..
July 2026
Andy Martin - 10 Lessons From The Modern Masters
Andy Martin sat behind Lee Child as he wrote a whole Reacher book (documented in Andy's book Reacher Said Nothing), shadowed and interviewed Sir Ian Rankin as he wrote a Rebus book (broadcast on BBC Sounds) and has interviewed bestselling writers around the world including Jo Nesbo and Gregg Hurwitz. In his talk Andy will speak about what he observed and learnt from these experiences, how he uses this in his own writing and how you can too.
Andy is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. Amid teaching at Cambridge and fellowships in the US, he has found gainful employment as a surfing correspondent. He has given philosophy lessons on Japanese television and at Sing Sing prison, where the existentialist one-liner 'Hell is other people' proved popular. His highest accolade is the time a Hollywood producer told him, 'Andy, this is better than Gatsby'. Andy is working on two film projects - "Mimesis" and "Out".
August 2026
Details to follow.
Previous Meetings and Events
February 2026
We held one of our regular manuscript evenings. These allow members of the group to read out something they've written and receive constructive criticism, or to ask for views on particular aspects of their work.
March 2026
Words are the basic building block of the writer, but how do we choose which ones to use? Perhaps it’s time to inject life into our writing by refreshing our vocabulary. Lesley Ellis ran a workshop to take us through these questions with a series of exercises
April 2026
We held our Annual General meeting and then heard the three winning entries from this year's Chiltern Writers short story competition.
Afterwards we had a fruitful discussion about various aspects of the group's past and future activities.