In a change to our programme, Alice Jolly will now be our speaker in January, and for November we’re happy to see the return of the popular local author and teacher Joanna Barnard.
Joanna won the inaugural Bath Novel Award in 2014 with her first novel, Precocious. She considered entering that competition to be the ‘last throw of the dice’ for her manuscript, and the decision led to her securing an agent, a two-book publishing deal, and a new career. Since then, Joanna has participated as a reader and longlist judge for the competition, and this year gave her ‘golden vote’ to the eventual winner. In this talk, Joanna will share what she has learned about writing competitions, including: how to hook the reader with your opening pages; common mistakes new authors make; and how important the synopsis really is.
Joanna Barnard is a published author, workshop leader and writing mentor, based in Surrey. After winning the Bath Novel Award in 2014, Joanna’s first two books were published by Penguin Random House, and she subsequently also qualified as a counsellor. Joanna’s two main passions, therapy and words, led to her designing and facilitating a series of workshops in Writing for Wellbeing. She also works as a freelance editor and writing coach and teaches creative writing classes for adults. Joanna continues to write and is working on her next novel.
Our guest speaker is Wendy Couchman. Wendy is a Winchester based artist and a retired academic from health and social care education. Her art practice is in telling human stories, informed by her professional background.
Wendy will talk about her book Flora Twort’s War: the wartime diary of a Hampshire artist.
Flora Twort was an artist in Petersfield, remembered for her sketches and paintings of the town before the Second World War. In her talk, local author and artist Wendy Couchman will describe her research and production process, drawing on her own creative background in the choice of the graphic novel format – the powerful combination of pictures and text to communicate the story.
Wendy will also be setting this month’s competition. If you’ve entered, make sure to attend so you can hear the result in person (and if you’ve won, get your certificate!)
The meeting will be Tuesday November 12th, at the Tower Arts Centre. Come along from 7:00pm. Talks start at 7:30pm. Members free, non-member tickets £10, students £2 (no advance booking, payment on entry).
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