Happy Publication Day to our course director Cathy Hayward whose third novel THE MISSING MOTHER OF ROSE COTTAGE is published today by Lake Union in paperback, on Kindle and audiobook. The story is a dual timeline tale of twisted family secrets set in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Brighton.

Congratulations to second year student Qian Liu who has had a short story published in the online literary magazine Books & Pieces.

Congratulations to our former student Hannah Doyle who has signed with with Stephanie Glencross at David Higham after receiving five offers of representation for her literary suspense/psychological thriller set in Paris.

Congratulations to our seven fabulous students and alumni who shared their work at our student reading last night at Kemptown Bookshop. We heard poetry and prose, fiction and memoir.

Congratulations to former student Clive Edwards, whose second book LOST IN A YELLOW WOOD comes out in September. It’s a thriller with a supernatural twist.

Julie Corbin has written nine psychological/suspense thrillers, translated into eight European languages. An alumni of the Creative Writing Programme in 2008, here she talks about her writing journey.

Congratulations to our seven students who shared their work at our spring reading last night at Kemptown Bookshop, Brighton. They read a mixture of novels and memoirs in progress, flash fiction and poetry inspired by everything from loss, motherhood, racism, violence and the current state of the world.

Kate Bradley took the Creative Writing Programme from 2005-7 and finished her first novel on the course. Her fourth novel – The Institute – comes out this week. Here she talks about the inspiration behind the story.

Congratulations to T.M Munyori who has published her debut novel A Holiday Reboot. She’s in the second year of the Creative Writing Programme, studying in Brighton. Here she talks about her journey to publication and her writing life.

A huge congratulations to our eight students and alumni who shared their work at our winter reading last night at Kemptown Bookshop, Brighton on inspirations as diverse as greek mythology, doppelgangers, the NHS and laundrettes.

Kate Gillhespy has been shortlisted and highly commended in the Novel category of the 2025 Yeovil Literary Prize.

Philippa Groom, a graduate of the Life Writing Programme, is one of ten winners of this year's prestigious Fish Publishing Memoir Prize.  Her winning piece, an extract from her memoir, My Hummingbird Heart, is published in the Fish Anthology 2025. 

Congratulations to Advanced Poetry Workshop alumna Lucy Heuschen whose debut poetry collection came out recently. Daughter of Fire is a fierce retelling of the life and legacy of Margaret of Anjou.

Lisa Lintott completed the Life Writing Programme in 2016-2018 and has since written an award-winning play and screenplay. She is currently editing her first novel. Here she talks about her writing life.

Well done to Dorian Nightingale whose poetry pamphlet Songs from Last Imaginations has recently been published by Flight of the Dragonfly Press. Dorian is an alumni of the Creative Writing Programme where he studied short story writing under the tutelage of Rosie Chard and poetry with John McCullough. 

Ieuan Goodwin, who has just finished the two-year Creative Writing Programme, has been shortlisted for The Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers with his short story Lily.

A short story by CWP alumna Lisa Fransson has been included in an anthology of stories to bring hope in dark times. Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s famous poem, the stories included in HOPE: The Thing With Feathers each have a feather motif and a hopeful positive ending.

Life Writing Programme alumna Carole Aubree-Dumont won the Emerging Authors prize at this year’s Brighton Book Festival with a reading from her memoir Dumb. Here she talks about her writing journey.

Congratulations to Carole Aubree-Dumont, alumni of the Creative Writing Programme, who won the Emerging Authors prize at this year’s Brighton Book Festival today with a reading from her memoir Dumb.

Congratulations to Clare Finan for securing representation with Jennifer Thompson at Nordleyset Literary Agency for her book The Lobsterman. She started writing the novel on the Creative Writing Programme in 2018. Fingers crossed for Clare as she goes out on submission.

Erin Martin took the Life Writing Course in 2019-20 out of which emerged her memoir Trains, about her childhood growing up near a mental hospital where her mother was intermittently a patient. It received recognition with the Bridport Prize. Here she talks about her writing life.

Congratulations to alumnus Stuart Gillespie whose hybrid memoir Food Fight is published today. Here he talks about his experience on the Life Writing Programme and how he started his writing journey

Kristin Burniston is a British American writer with an MA in Screenwriting from the University of the Arts London and a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She took the Creative Writing Programme from 2018 to 2020.

Congratulations to alumna Sue Paterson whose debut novel The Department of Certainty has been published by indie publisher Stairwell Books. Here she talks about her writing life.

Congratulations to alumna Rosalind Eyben whose biography of her father has recently been published by Taylor & Francis.

Congratulations to alumnus Stuart Gillespie who has secured a publishing deal for his hybrid memoir Food Fight.

Sue Orton finished the Life Writing Programme in 2022 and has since self-published her memoir Gathering Threads, which she started during the course. Here she talks about her writing journey.

Congratulations to course alumna Jane Crittenden whose second novel SUMMER EVER AFTER is published by Lake Union today!

Sophie Anderson took the Creative Writing Programme from 2016 to 2018. She has since had two novels – The Butterfly Garden and The Sapphire Cove – published and is currently out on submission with her third.