Contributors

It's hard work, there's a lot of thinking involved, but someone has to do it. We hope the list of contributors keeps growing...

Judy Mitchell

For me, home is a village in the Pennine foothills: the Don and Dearne Valleys and the Vale of York falling away into the distance. Over my shoulder, the Woodhead Pass shines like a wet snail trail, westward. My love of Yorkshire, the greatest of counties, has kept me rooted in the north. My writing is fiction and non-fiction and I am currently working on my first full novel set in Yorkshire in the nineteenth century.

Juliet Thomas

Juliet has written throughout her career in Marketing and PR roles but much prefers writing creatively. She’s written short stories and poems all her life but always dreamed of one day having a novel on a Waterstones' shelf. She is well advanced on her first draft but has decided she needs to do some quick-fix, feel-good writing. She’s an artist and photographer too and pulls it all together in her website and  blog; www.thecuriouscreativeclub.co.uk where she blogs about all aspects of creativity, inspiring people to just give it a go. Juliet runs a creative writing workshop for beginners. When she’s not blogging or writing the novel, she’s out walking the dog and taking photos for her Instagram accounts, @soothedbynature and @thecuriouscreativeclub and coming up with thought-provoking captions.

Virginia Hainsworth

Virginia is an aspiring writer who loves to travel. No surprise, then that she particularly enjoys travel writing. Her aim is to enable readers to journey far and wide, all from the comfort of their own armchairs. She also loves to write poetry, drawing inspiration from many sources, more recently the centenary of the First World War. Her short stories are often inspired by her travels and some contain a poem or two. She has no intention of writing a novel, but then she has done lots of things in her life which she never intended, so who knows?


Owen Townend

I am a habitual scribbler from Birkby with a BA and MA in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. 

I began writing when I was 10 years old: foodie poems, beat ’em up videogame concepts and a lengthy fantasy yarn titled The 13th Dimension. Since then I have turned my hand to writing science fiction short stories, Western novella, pun-based poetry and whatever else appeals.

I have had short fiction published in Liberty Tales by Arachne Press (2016), AI Stories by Comma Press (2020) and Flashy Gifts by Oxford Flash Fiction Prize CIC (2023), among others. I have also seen poetry published in Village Voices by Maytree Press and ‘Ey Up Again by Bent Key Press (2023).

Jo Cameron-Symes

Jo Cameron-Symes has recently got back into creative writing after a long break. She enjoys writing short stories and has a particular fondness for magical realism and crime narratives. When she’s not writing creatively (sometimes in favourite cafes) she blogs about other cultural things such as books, films and exhibitions at www.culturallifeconnection.org. She has really enjoyed being joining the writers’ lunch, and loves the diversity of the posts produced. She is also enjoying collaborating on a screenplay with fellow writers.  She also tries to look at benefits of insomnia, in that you read an awful lot of books in a year!

Dave Rigby 

Dave started writing when he retired fifteen years ago.

A creative writing class really helped to get things moving. Short stories led to longer stories and after a few years to the self-publication of his first book, Darkstone, (2015) set in Scotland, in a dystopian near-future.

He has since published the Harry Vos trilogy, Shoreline, Redline and End of The Line, about a private investigator based near Antwerp.

2022 saw the publication of Mac which is set in Edinburgh and features Detective Inspector Calum Larsen who has Norwegian heritage. The second book in the series will be published in late 2024.

Dave enjoys the variety involved in writing short stories and poems for the blog.

Vivien Teasdale

Vivien lives in Huddersfield, has been writing for many years, on and off and has published eight local history books as well as contributing to family history magazines.  She has been a past President of the Huddersfield Authors' Circle and their Treasurer for a number of years.

Her focus for the future is creative writing, mainly short stories, historical/crime stories and some poetry. 

Yvonne Witter

Wanted to write since a young child and has done so in short bursts. Letters to editors, opinion pieces, a love poem here, a narrative there. A column writer on business-related topics for a while. Sporadic journal writer. Contributor to web blogs. Now making a serious commitment to writing, by joining writing groups, and attending numerous writing / literary festivals. Finally settled on the short story genre as the preferred medium and is working on a collection of short stories.

Susie Field

I was born in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, but have lived in the village of Clifton for 50 years. I have been married for 56 years to my husband Jeff, and we have a son and a daughter and three granddaughters.

I first started writing whilst at school, and since retiring, I have had six books published.

I am Vice President of Huddersfield Authors’ Circle (HAC) and also a member of Rastrick Poetry Group and Yorkshire Writers.

My previous publications are as follows:

The Perfect Gift of Love (2003)

A collection of romantic Short Stories

Poetic Thoughts (2005)

A collection of Short Stories and Poems

Precious Moments (2009)

A collection of Short Stories

Poetic Moments (2011)

A Poetry Collection

Step Into the Unknown (2019)

A collection of Short Stories and Poems (Proceeds to Leeds Spinal Surgery Research Fund)

A Moment in Time (2021)

A collection of Short Stories (Proceeds to Leeds Spinal Surgery Research Fund)

I am currently working on my next book, called Pause for Thought, which is a collection of poems and very short stories.

Amy Williamson

Amy graduated from University of Huddersfield in 2011, with  2:1 in Creative Writing and English Literature. A recession, a wedding and a pandemic diverted her creative focus into the workplace. 

For more than 8 years, she's channeled her writing skills into marketing for various companies and charities in West Yorkshire. Now, she's dedicated to the publishing industry and the Yorkshire writing scene through Northern Voices Content, offering marketing support to writers in the region.

She's currently working on her debut novel - a modern take on Norse myths.