Writers Group

We are a bunch of writers, poets, creative people who meet regularly in Canterbury (and sometimes other places) to write, have coffee and plan new and exciting adventures and outlets for our work. We also get together online for some pressurised intense-time writing when our international members can join in. We love a bit of a challenge and pushing the boundaries but most of all we love words and writing and having fun.

Contact: info@alibiwriters.co.uk

Who we are

News

KATE ADAMS

FARAH AZIZ

MARTIN CORDREY

SUE DONALDSON

GILLIAN LAKER

LUIGI MARCHINI

GERALYN PINTO

LAURIE PORTER

GARY STUDLEY

Publications

Fragments

(2014)

Ekphrastic writing from Manet's "Execution of Maximilian" painting shown at the Beaney Museum and Art Gallery

House of Soords

(2015)

Ekphrastic writing from Open Houses Exhibition at the home of artists, Clive and Lindsay Soord

Enquiries to info@alibiwriters.co.uk

Things we have done

January 2016

House of Soords

Jolly Sailor, Canterbury

House of Soords Anthology had another outing at the Jolly Sailor courtesy of the generous bods who run the literary and open mic events (a.k.a SaveAs Writers and Cornerstone Writers).

We filled our slot with readings from the anthology accompanied by a slide show: a "visualiterary" smorgasbord

May 2014

Cuckooland

Curious Curator

Sounds New

We were thrilled to participate in the Curious Curator project as part of the Sounds New Festival 2014. Inspiration was taken from the Cuckooland album by Robert Wyatt - famous for his links to the Canterbury Scene. Our writing was featured alongside the work of artists in the Palette Gallery, Canterbury College

Special days

2012 onwards

High Days & Holidays

We've had some wonderful creative and writerly adventures ...on theatre trips, visits to the Poetry Library in London and Charleston House and we've had our very own week-long residential in a fabulous Landmark Trust Property

June 2014

WWI Centenary

Canterbury Heritage Museum

We thought it fitting for our little group to be part of the centenary commemorations in Canterbury so we spent an emotional and poignant morning in the Heritage Museum in Canterbury. We had special access to archived material - a rich source for writing inspiration.

April-May 2013

Universe of Sound

When the Amazingly Inspirational Unusual and Unique Universe of Sound Exhibition came to town, we jumped aboard and wrote in response to pieces of music.

Our writing was featured in the community exhibition at the Beaney Museum as part of the Sounds New Festival's Curious Curator project.

We attended the launch and were pleased to let Gary represent us by reading some of his writing.

October 2014

Canterbury Festival

East Kent Open Houses

In 2014, following some culturally enriching visits to the East Kent Artists' Open House at Ethelbert Road, Canterbury, hosted by Lindsay West and Clive Soord, we began work on a bunch of ekphrastic writing in response to the artwork, the house and the garden. A year later, our second anthology "House of Soords" was published with just a selection of the vast amount of writing we did. The writing was complemented by amazing photographs taken by the talented and generous Ian Laker, featuring the inspiring artwork and artefacts in the Soords' home.

January - March 2014

"Execution of Maximilian"

We celebrated the arrival in Canterbury of Manet's painting

We were inspired by the chance to be able to see this historic painting on loan to the fabulous Beaney Museum in Canterbury. It didn't take long for the creative juices to start flowing - and before we knew it, we had put a little anthology together ... our first proud publication ....

October 2016

Littlebourne Nature Reserve

Littlebourne, Canterbury

We spent a wonderful autumn day at the small, but perfectly formed Littlebourne Nature Reserve using a list of plants as seeds for new pieces or writing.

October 2015

House of Soords

Anthology Launch

Another first for us ... launching our House of Soords Anthology at the House of Soords. Like wandering minstrels we made our way through the house and gardens, stopping in the places we'd visited a year ago, perfoming our work in front of the artwork or objects that had inspired the writing. And the artists got a chance to talk about their work too - a sumptuous cultural exchange.

6 April 2014

A Write in the Museum

We were pleased to be part of the WiseWords Festival in April - presenting our work from our anthology, Fragments, along with a slide-show of poignant images reflecting our creative processes when writing from Manet's Execution of Maximilian. The reading was followed by a free workshop on writing from art in the fab Learning Lab in the Beaney.