I offer a range of online creative writing courses, poetry workshops and one-to-one writing support packages.

About Me

I love helping people to improve the quality of their writing as well as making the whole experience of being a writer more enjoyable, sociable and creative.

I have a degree in English Literature from Kent University, am a trained teacher and have been running writing groups for the past ten years. I’ve won competitions for short stories, travel writing and poetry with my work appearing in Best Magazine, Let’s Talk, Suffolk Magazine, The Telegraph and The Fens. (Examples of my work can be found at the bottom of ‘group achievements’ lower down the page).

I have also been a guest on Radio Suffolk’s Creative Corner, helped judge the 500 Words Short Story Competition for Children and regularly produce educational resources for CGP Publications.

I am very lucky to work with a wonderful community of writers and people wanting to develop their skills. Most are based around Suffolk but, through the power of Zoom, we are now able to welcome writers from all over the UK and beyond.

If you would like to practice using Zoom before coming to a session, book up a thirty-minute session. This costs £15 and includes the option to receive feedback on a short piece of work.

Summer 2020 Courses

How to Write Dynamic Dialogue (Click here for details)

Confidence Building for Writers (Click here for details)

Exploring Eighteenth Century Poetry (Click here for details)

Creative Writing Feedback (details coming soon)

Reading and Writing Short Stories (details coming soon)

Exploring Twentieth Century Poetry (details coming soon)

Working One to One – £25 per hour.

If you are working on a specific project such as a family history, poetry collection or novel submission, you may enjoy working one to one. This is also a good option for people new to creative writing who want to build their confidence before joining one of the groups or attending the Weekly Writing Cafe. Discounts are available for block bookings.

Here’s a lovely recommendation from Barry Eley (pictured below) about his experience of working this way.

I wholeheartedly endorse Mai as a tutor. She has taken my writing from a series of official-sounding reports to a fully-furnished novel, rich with descriptions and interesting characters. All done with gentle prodding and always a smile.

Free Monthly Writers Cafe (on Zoom)

On the first Friday of each month, from 7.30pm to 8.30pm, I hold a free Writing Cafe. This is open to everybody – whether you or not you are a course participant.

Each time there will be a special guest – a writer, publisher, agent or other industry professional – who will be there to answer your questions.

During the session, you will have the opportunity to share your work with others. You can choose anything up to 250 words, eg. a poem, short story or novel extract.

If you’d like to come along, email me for a Zoom invite. suffolkwritersgroup@gmail.com

Here’s some feedback I’ve received from group members

Jacqui Martin

Mai is so welcoming and, as new writer venturing into the unknown, everyone is reassuring, encouraging and also really constructive.

Megan Musgrove

I joined the Writer’s Group as way to improve my writing skills. I stayed because the encouragement is fantastic, it has inspired a lot of new ideas and the people are just lovely.

Graham Cleaver

The combination of a friendly group of like-minded people and expert, supportive tuition is just what I needed.

suffolkwritersgroup@gmail.com

Individual Achievements of Group Members

• Lesley won two hundred euros and had her travel piece published in The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-writing-competition/’ 

• Cat Franklin has gained a literary agent and secured a three book deal with a major publishing house.

• Kelly was a joint runner up in the Felixstowe Short Story Competition one year and on another occasion had a story shortlisted. She also won our concept competition and received very encouraging feedback from literary agent Meg Davis.

• Aaron won our synopsis competition to receive feedback on his work from literary Meg Davis

• Teresa had a story published in Your Cat magazine.

• Elliot had his story published in Fiction Vortex Magazine

• Graham has written a variety of interviews and record and theatre reviews. He says there’s a lot more to come so watch this space.

• Megan Musgrove has had a number of novels published. Click here to take a look.

• Timothy Howard has published a number of novels including The Buried Man and Clockwork Hearts.

• William won a competition to be one of Suffolk’s Young Poets of the year and read his work alongside Allan Ahlberg

• Ipswich Writing Group published ‘Four Word Stories’ on Amazon

• Teresa, Jay, Carl, Ann and Samantha have had work published on the Ipswich Town and Waterfront website.

• Kes has had an article published on the Ipswich Town Talk website entitled ‘Town’s Last Premiership XI – Where Are They Now?’

• Mike, Barry, Georgia, Ian, Charli, Simon and Karyll all had work published on The Tourist Trail website.

Here are two examples of my own work:

Short Story in the Fens Magazine.

Travel piece in The Telegraph.

Examples of Recent Activities

Sometimes we have a competition to see who can write the most words in a week. Here’s a recent winner with his well-earned prize.

Sometimes we try out the famous ‘cut up technique‘ as used by David Bowie and TS Eliot-

The first is a good way to chat to other creative people, ask questions and share information. (You don’t need to live in Suffolk to join)

Suffolk Writers Group Facebook Site 

Writing Competitions