SNWF 2023’s theme is…
The Best of Surrey!
27th May 2023
Can’t wait? Follow us on our socials for regular updates!
Missed last year’s festival? Catch up down below and get excited about what’s to come!
Timetable for our 2022 Festival!
Saturday
| Start | End | Event |
| 10:30 | 11:45 | Taster Session: ‘Gazing Inwards: Exploring Characters’ Emotional Landscapes’ with Michael Donkor and a Q&A |
| 11:45 | 12:00 | Networking chat via Zoom |
| 12:00 | 13:15 | Conveying Identity with Dara Kalima, Ella McLeod and Joelle Taylor |
| 13:20 | 13:40 | Networking chat via Zoom |
| 13:45 | 15:00 | Lunchtime Readings: Narrative with Beth Miller, Stephen Mooney, and a Q&A with Neel Mukherjee hosted by Paul Vlitos |
| 15:15 | 16:45 | Building Brand Identity: A Panel on Small Presses with Angela Szczepaniak, Stephen Mooney, Sharron Green, Chiara Fumanti and guests from the University of Surrey |
| 17:15 | 18:45 | Psychology of the Author and the Self with Lauren Foley, Sunny Singh, and Julia Armfield |
| 18:45 | 19:45 | Dinner break |
| 19:45 | 21:00 | Headline Reading: Elise Valmorbida |
Sunday
| Start | End | Event |
| 11:00 | 13:00 | Masterclass: ‘They f*** you up, your mum and dad: Writing about Dysfunctional Families’ with Beth Miller (ticketed separately; limited spaces) |
| 13:30 | 15:00 | Open Mic Sign up here! |
Our 2022 lineup!
Headliner – Elise Valmorbida
Italian Australian author Elise Valmorbida has published journalism, poetry, short stories, three non-fiction books and four novels including The Madonna of the Mountains, which has been translated into several languages and in 2019 won Australia’s biggest literary prize for fiction. Elise is also an award-winning indie film producer and script consultant. Her latest work is The Happy Writing Book, an inspirational guide to creative writing and wellbeing, fuelled by her 20+ years of experience as writer-teacher.
Panel – Conveying Identity
Dara Kalima
Joelle Taylor
Ella McLeod
Panel – Psychology of the Author and the Self
Sunny Singh
Julia Armfield
Lauren Foley
Panel – Building Brand Identity: A Panel on Small Presses
Angela Szczepaniak
Readings
Sharron Green
Chiara Fumanti
Stephen Mooney
Beth Miller
Taster Session: ‘Gazing Inwards: Exploring Characters’ Emotional Landscapes’
Michael Donkor
Working with a selection of exciting contemporary works by authors from Deborah Levy to Caleb Azumah Nelson, Michael Donkor will take you through lively creative exercises. These will help enrich, deepen and animate moments when your characters are involved in complex self-reflection.
Question and Answer Session
Neel Mukherjee
Masterclass with Beth Miller
They f*** you up, your mum and dad: Writing about Dysfunctional Families
This year’s Masterclass session is ‘They f*** you up, your mum and dad: Writing about dysfunctional families’ and will be given by the novelist Beth Miller. Suitable for both new and practised writers, this intimate session will see Beth explore how to construct family dysfunction and the impact it has on characters. Through this workshop, writers will gain a better understanding of how to realistically present dysfunctional families in a way beneficial to their stories!
Surrey New Writers Festival 