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Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

29 June 2026

Posted by Alice Flynn

Summer Celebration: End of Term, 2026

In our final session of the term, we had a celebration online: time to reflect on how far we’ve come this season, as well as sowing a few seeds for the months ahead.

Writing can be a solitary process. It takes resilience to stay with the demands of the craft, to have faith in what we’re writing, to trust in and allow our voices and inner worlds and imagination to be expressed. Writing can be a courageous act that requires our vulnerability, truth (even when we’re telling tales – it needs us to write authentically!) and to let the words flow through us.

In coming together every Monday, we have created a supportive online community. Week after week, members of the group have generously shared what they have learned in their own writing practice. This has included how they approach challenges such as tricky plot points or how to introduce new character information subtly or how to break a writing task down into simple steps or a weekly session, so that the task doesn’t become overwhelming.

The writers have shared TV programmes, plays and films that have interested them or that have been very well-written, as well as recommending books or writing tutorial videos to each other. We’ve shared our research and resources. We have also shared our words. Each week we have come with a blank page (or screen) and the writers haves conjured up magic, making new worlds, bringing characters to life, diving into dialogue or detail or honing poems based on a theme. Not only have we had the privilege of enjoying each other’s writing, we have learned through seeing the creative choices everyone makes when writing in response to the same prompt – everyone’s voice is unique and to be valued and celebrated.

This blog post is a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of the programmes in 2025 and 2026 – your participation, generous sharing of your presence, creative flair and vibrant writing have been invaluable in co-creating our brilliant writing group! I wish you all happy scribing in the future. And please do head over to MAST’s website to sign up for Writing for Page and Stage in autumn 2026!

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