What we’re about
The Oxford Writing Circle is a vibrant community of writers based in Oxford. We are equally open to complete beginners, very experienced writers and everyone in between. While the majority of our current members are writing fiction, many others are poets, non-fiction writers, dramatists, comic artists… all genres are welcome.
We give our members the opportunity to share their work (this is always optional) and receive feedback; to participate in discussion about other members’ writing; and to socialise with other writers.
If this sounds interesting, please just come along to one of our events to get an idea of what we’re about!
Typical events involve a few of the group’s writers each sharing a piece of their work (usually by reading aloud with listeners following along on paper or electronic copies). There is then a facilitated discussion of each piece, aiming to provide helpful feedback and critique. There is no obligation to share your work, or to comment on pieces, though we encourage as much discussion from as many voices as we have time for. We also have themed events - such as writing to a prompt - and more social gatherings. You can find more information on the individual event pages. All events are currently online.
As well as our facilitated events during the week, we also run a drop-in writers’ brunch (currently online) on Saturday mornings. This is simply a communal writing session, a chance to work on whatever you like amongst like-minded company.
Our Community Rules
Please read our guide on how to get the most out of our feedback sessions, available here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQYioGi0fnuWTszxJCdvVJPG82qoeA87xQinsChnjXoTyffFUsC9ZIhAyQkKEVWaxDgbg6HBewb11cz/pub
Our full Community Rules can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vRafGOfNvI6IzQW8KyejZzM17cWjqBP4VQdLAEXN5baq48vDJuras_5YMEV6sqAAGfUbMzM0ZhqAOBu/pub
In brief, however…
The OWC aims to be a welcoming space for everyone. We are not perfect, but we strive to be anti-sexist, anti-racist, queer-friendly, trans-inclusive and non-ableist. Our group is generally lovely and people usually communicate constructively with each other, but in the rare event that you are made uncomfortable by the behaviour of another member, or if you feel that the group has acted contrary to the values stated above, we absolutely want to know about it so the group continues to be a fun, productive and safe community. If you have questions, concerns or queries, you are welcome to contact the group organisers (Tiffany Williams, Abigail Vint, Ian Robertson, Sarah Milne Das, Sarah Jones and Sophia Holme). Email us on [email protected], or message one of us on Facebook or Meetup.
