26

So many stories So little time Words to lay down Line by line Feel the need to nurture your creativity? Want to hone your craft with others who love words? Don’t wait. Head to our bio and click the link to join 26! ✅ You don’t want to miss out on the monthly newsletters that spill the beans about upcoming creative opportunities! ⭐️ ➡️Let your fingers (or thumbs) do the clicking on the bio! 👌🏽 #writers #writing #writingcommunity #writersofIG #writersofinstagram #writersnetwork #creativenetwork #creatives

Welcome! 😀 Do you write for a living? Do you sometimes wish you could flex your creative muscles more and dive deep into the wonder of words? Perhaps you crave creative community? Don’t you just want to celebrate the magic those 26 letters can weave? We’ve got you! 🥳 ✅26 bridges the gap between work and play by offering a creative space and inspiring opportunities. Need to know more? 👀 Go and explore the links in our bio and become a member. Don’t miss out! 🤩 #writers #writing #writingcommunity #writersofIG #writersofinstagram #writersnetwork #creativenetwork #creatives

Alastair Creamer has been a bit overcome in his garden this month, as it’s all been happening! In the Japanese calendar we’ve had - First Cherry Blossom, The Sound of Distant Thunder, Swallows Return, Wild Geese Fly North, First Rainbows & Reeds Sprout. It’s the beginning of a poem in itself! He chose the allium as he writes that this month has been all about colour. Hasn’t it though? We note that some 26 members are fixated on Wisteria. It’s such a lovely insight into a different gardening calendar and then Alastair’s own patch of southern England. To read more, follow the link in the bio. 📷 Alastair Creamer

The author Q & A sees Jill Hopper talk to Rebecca Zeman about her the publication of her first poetry collection, Preloved. Rebecca reveals how she came to write the collection, find the title and inspiration and her publication story. Spoiler: she published with Grey Hen Press whose mission it is to give ‘older’ women a voice. To read the conversation, head over to our website. Link in bio. 📷 by Rebecca Zeman

The April Mini Project asked members to contribute the oddities of their bookshelves. The result? Some intriguing items! What caught my eye, was the oddities in them. What happened to the names scribbled in the books - Phebe or Mildred? I also love that our brilliant @irenelofthousewriter gave us a book of childhood (Folklore, Myths & Legends) that really inspired and shaped her life. To read what our members found, head to our website! Anyone found anything quirky in books? Richard Axtell could place where he bought his book because of a bus ticket tucked in the pages. Perhaps you’ve found something? My mum’s friend told her that when she died her daughter should go to Oscar Wilde… We never found out, but always suspect it was cash! 📷 Pavlo Semeniuk via Unsplash

This month, Anita Holford, our guest-writer for A Writing Life has come back to her promise of sharing what’s going on in her current writing life. In a generous reflection of herself as a practitioner, she talks about how many ‘tabs’ are open - on her screen and in life. Sound familiar? Head over to our website, link in bio, to read more of Anita’s lovey article (naturally in our ‘articles’ tab). 📷 by Gene Callin via Unsplash

26’s First Impressions launches this evening at Eames Fine Art gallery in London. Huge congratulations to the 20 print makers & their 26 writers. The project celebrates the process of making, through intimate portraits (in words!) by the writers. They have created a sestude (a poem of 62 words) and a field diary for the print maker they met in their studio (from Aberdeen to St Ives via Madrid and New Zealand..) Not only that, film maker Mike Southon has made a documentary film of the project, including the artists and writers. We hear it is STUNNING! The film launches tonight, but we will share it with you when it’s live. 📷 Melody Zimmerman on Unsplash

A love of words. It’s a privilege (and a workout) to hold this substantial trophy received from @26writers on winning Emerging Writer of the Year. They’re a community of writers who put on writing projects, set each other challenges- anything that promotes a love of words and provides channels for companionship to momentarily lure writers away from their solitary endeavours. The “26” is a reference to the number of letters in the alphabet and this is an example of one of their recent challenges: Choose a single life-shaping event between 2000 and 2025. You have just 20 words to bring the event to life for your reader, and another 26 to reflect on how it helped shape the person you are today. To have been recognised by peers as a “one to watch” feels fantastic and I will use that energy to write better and push myself to go for opportunities that stretch me. It’s so easy (especially I think for women) to be hemmed in by our own limits- from imposter syndrome to a reluctance to make ourselves more visible. I was lucky to have been brought up by parents who made me feel that I can do anything I set my mind to and that same level of faith and support from my own family propels me now. Winning this award is also a thank you to them for believing in me. #awards #writingawards #loveofwords #writingchallenge

March’s mini project attracted a small gathering of participants celebrating Place as Protagonist. The responses were poetic. Here’s an extract from Paul White’s… Latitude 360.85’ South, Longitude 1740.84’ East at this low tide time of day there are only shallow pools of inspiration left behind OOF! To read the three wonderful contributions, head over to our website. Link in bio. 📷 juliawebbharvey (Boscastle, Cornwall)

APRIL MINI PROJECT CLAXON! 26’s newsletter editor, Max Parfitt, is after your “loveable oddities” in book form. He’d love to hear from you, by Saturday 25th April. Members only! The Challenge: What is a strange book you have on your shelves? Why do you have it? Why does it matter to you? (Or does it matter to you?) Tell me about an oddity from your bookshelf in anything from one sentence to 250 words – and if you can make sure to include the title and author, and perhaps even a short quote or extract, that would be superb. More details on the website, in the articles section. Or DM and we’ll get it to Max. 📷 Ed Robertson on Unsplash

The latest episode of Why Words Matter has dropped. It’s a beautiful conversation led by 26’s Martin Lee about ‘First Impressions’ the next 26 project to roll out. But the conversation is about so much more than that - it’s about the heart of creativity, place, legacies, writing… it’s a lovely way to absorb time (better for the soul than the News!) First Impressions is a collaboration between Eames Fine Art Gallery and 26, where our writers responded to the process of printmakers. Expect poems and a film, but you’ll hear more in the podcast. With grateful thanks to Bloomsbury Radio for making this series with us 🙏 @eamesfineart

Anita Holford’s A Writing Life for 26 is about taking leaps, synchronicities and going in… “One of the things the week gave me was a gentle push: to take a risk, to be vulnerable, to be uncertain and to trust the leap.” To read more, head over to our website. Link in bio. 📷 Micah & Sammie Chaffin