Below is a list of writing groups in our region, covering Nelson and Tasman, Marlborough, West Coast and Golden Bay (Click on a highlighted name to go to the relevant link. It will open a new window.) If you want to advertise your own group here, or know of one we've missed,please let us know.
FUNDING FOR GROUPS The Top of the South Branch offers small grants to support workshops for writing groups. If you want to know more, click on the button to the right
NELSON & TASMAN Boulder Writers This group of writers based in the Nelson area is mainly focused on poetry, although fiction and non-fiction are also written. They meet on the fourth Saturday of the month to share and critique their work. Enquiries re membership vacancies can be made to Carol Ercolano at [email protected] Ph 03-545-0162.
Motueka Creative Writing Group On the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30 pm, this group meets at a member’s house, somewhere in the Motueka-Tasman area. Get on the mailing list to be invited. A topic is chosen by consensus and the following month each member of the group contributes a maximum of 800 words on that topic, or anything that has inspired them. At present they have 10 – 12 active members, and welcome other like-minded persons to come along and see if they like each other. Join the Facebook Group Motueka Monthly Writers for more details and contacts.
Nelson Live Poets Meets on the third Tuesday of each month (except December and January), 7 pm at Yaza Cafe, Montgomery Square, Nelson. All listeners, watchers, speakers, ponderers, wonderers, writers, and in-betweens are welcome. Koha entry ($ optional - your presence is a gift). Follow us onFacebook for updates. Contact: Russell 021 402264 Richmond Writing Group The group meets on the third Tuesday of the month, 1 – 3 pm, in the Constance Barnicoat Room at Richmond Library. In the first hour there is a guest speaker followed by discussion, with optional sharing of your own writing and a creative writing activity in the second hour. Free entry, everyone welcome. Contact:[email protected] Rock-up & Write! Tui Tui Whakaaro Join us on the 4th Saturday of the month, 10.00 am to 1.00 pm at The Honest Lawyer, Songer St, Monaco. The venue has all facilities and welcomes us for the price of buying a coffee. Come along and write! All writers of all genres are welcome. The format is simple: sessions of silent, focused writing, split by a break for coffee and a chat. There's no reading out loud and no pressure, just a supportive bunch of people trying to get some words on the page. For more information, contact Kate Shaw [email protected]
S.T.E.M. Writers Nelson Meets on the second Tuesdays of each month, 1 – 3 pm in the activities room at the Elma Turner Library, Halifax Street, Nelson. Coffee and home-made cake provided. This small, active group is open to all who are interested in writing, whether for your private enjoyment or publication. We set a monthly writing theme, read our work to each other, and offer critique. Everyone is welcome. Contact: Jackie Cook at [email protected] WHAM! – Write Here at Motueka This group meets at Motueka Library, 32 Wallace Street, on the third Wednesday of every month from 12 noon – 2 pm. Members share their writing and receive feedback in a positive and supportive way, with the aim of eventual publication. The group is open to everyone, no matter what their level of writing experience. Contact: Bettina Fautley, [email protected]
Writers at Lunchtime Meeting on the first Wednesday of each month (except January) at The Honest Lawyer, Songer St, Monaco. There is a guest speaker each month (except for December and February), starting at 12.30 pm. Come any time between 11.30 am and 1.30 pm. Everyone is welcome, and there is a variety of food and drink on offer in the cafe. Come early to chat, eat and drink. Gold coin donation. Contact: Belinda at [email protected] or 027 521 4695. Get on their mailing list to join, and receive the latest updates.
MARLBOROUGH
Picton Poets This group meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 10.30 am at Picton Library. They share their own original poems in a friendly, constructive atmosphere. New members welcome. Contact: Joyce Elwood-Smith at [email protected]
Writers of Picton Usually meet with a writing challenge on the first Tuesday of the month in the upstairs room at Picton Library, 2pm - 4pm. Visitors and new members welcome. Contact: Irene & Peter Thomas at [email protected] Tel: 03-573-5501.
Blenheim Writers Join us every second Monday of the month at Marlborough Library Room 2, 10am to noon. Contact[email protected]
REEFTON/WEST COAST Mawhera Writers (Greymouth) This group welcomes writers of all genres to write together, get feedback on their work, and to discuss all things ‘writing’ in a respectful, encouraging environment. Don't worry about your level of experience – everyone is welcome! The group meets on the second Wednesday of each month, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, at Whare Manaaki, Cnr Tainui Street and Murray Street, Greymouth. Contact Mary Prendergast [email protected] for more details and to go on the group mailing list. Follow them on Facebook to find and share writing-related updates and discussion relevant to the group.
Reefton Writers Meets on the first Thursday of each month 4.30 pm - 6.00 pm. This small eclectic group of writers gather at one another's homes to write together, usually with a writing prompt and a cup of tea in hand. Sharing work is optional and confidential. All levels of experience and genre are welcome. Contact Iona Winter on 0274 313 883 for more details.
GOLDEN BAY
Golden Bay Live Poets' Society Meetings are held in the famous Mussel Inn, Takaka, usually on the third Thursday night of each month at 8 pm. Local (and occasionally international) musicians/singer-songwriters feature in a slot before the open mic begins, and a guest poet often complements the open mic. Everyone is welcome. The entry is by koha. Click here for details and join our Facebook Page for updates and line-up. Contact: Mark Raffills Subscribe to CRUMBfor details on all the events sponsored by Golden Bay Live Poets Society plus a few other gigs and community happenings.
Golden Bay Writers Group All are welcome. If you love to write, join us at our Golden Bay Writers Group. Monthly meetings are at the Tākaka Cohousing office, at 65A Commercial Street. We make use of an adapted Amherst Writer’s framework:
Everyone’s writing is treated with equal respect and value.
Writing is kept confidential and treated as fiction. We refer to the Narrator, rather than the individual, when responding to each other's work.
Writers are not obligated to read their work aloud.
Responses to just-written work reflect the impact it has on us as a listener, reflecting back what images, words or phrases land with us.
Through the practice of writing we support the development of our writing voices and through the practice of deep listening we allow the collective to influence and spark the creative threads in our feeling, thinking and writing process.
For more information and to join the mailing list contact [email protected]