This event will take place on our Clifton campus at 7 Woodland Road, where writers from all backgrounds can come together. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, it's an opportunity to enjoy a day devoted to your craft and to celebrate the power of prose and poetry. 

You'll hear from best-selling and emerging authors, take part in workshops to increase your skill and stimulate your imagination, hear speakers talk about the latest issues and ideas in writing, and listen to those in the know discuss what they think about the future for publishing new work.

The day starts with registration at 9:30am for a 10am start, and will end by 4:15pm. 

Headline Talks

Vanessa Kisuule is a writer, performer and facilitator based in Bristol. She has won over ten poetry slam titles and performed nationally and internationally. She has worked with the BBC, the British Library, the Tate, Royal Academy of Arts, Bristol Old Vic, CILIP and Glastonbury Festival. She was the Bristol City Poet for 2018 - 2020 and her poem on the toppling of Edward Colston's statue ‘Hollow' garnered over 700,000 views and is frequently used as a resource in schools and universities. She wrote and presented ‘The Poetry Detective’ for Radio 4 and has two collections with Burning Eye Books. Her poetry has been anthologised widely, including in the Forward Poetry Prize Anthology 2019. She is the co-tutor for the Southbank New Poets Collective alongside Will Harris and was a judge for the Forward Prizes and the Foyle Young Poets in 2024. Her debut non fiction book Neverland was published by Canongate in 2024.

C.J. Skuse is the bestselling author of the Sweetpea series, a crime quintology for adults featuring female serial killer Rhiannon Lewis. The series was adapted into a hit TV show that premiered on Sky Atlantic in late 2024 with a second season already commissioned. C.J. is also the author of five Young Adult novels and her writing has earned her several accolades, including the Prix Litteraire in France and Dumfries Book Award in Scotland. She has been shortlisted for the BookTrust Best Book Award and longlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase. In addition to her publishing career, C.J. has previously worked in children's publishing, manuscript consultancy and more recently, academia as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing.