Writers’ Circle
Booking and listing information available via Katie’s Ticket Tailor. If you’d like to be notified when the next group is listed, please sign up to my monthly mailing list by clicking here.
A warm, supportive online space for anyone wanting to nurture their writing practice and find community with other writers.
Writing can help us make sense of ourselves, our experiences and the world around us. But sustaining a writing practice can be difficult in isolation. Many of us long for a regular space where we can return to the page, reconnect with our voice and write alongside others who understand the value (and challenges!) of creative and therapeutic writing.
The Writers’ Circle is an informal and supportive online writing space designed for people who want gentle structure, meaningful connection and dedicated time to write. Whether you’re journaling, working on poetry, exploring therapeutic writing, or progressing a memoir or auto-fiction project (or something else entirely), this is a space to arrive as you are and write in good company.
These sessions combine some of the most-loved prompts from the Writing the Self programmes with Parallel Writing Club’s body doubling and facilitated whole group discussion. We hope you’ll leave with tools to support a regular creative practice, make meaningful progress on your personal projects, and form lasting connections with other writers.
What’s included in the fee?
Six live online sessions taking place twice a month
Structured writing prompts inspired by the Writing the Self programmes
Focused time to work on your current writing projects in parallel with others
Small breakout rooms for more intimate connection and discussion
Whole-group conversation facilitated by your tutors
Three months of informal writing community and encouragement
A supportive and trauma-informed environment designed to nourish your practice
Who is this space for?
The Writers’ Circle is for anyone looking for consistency, accountability and community within their wider writing life. You might be:
Hoping to maintain a writing practice after completing a Writing the Self programme
Looking for more writing spaces after attending Parallel Writing Club
Wishing for a gentle and encouraging structure to help you keep writing
Wanting dedicated time for a creative project
Interested in therapeutic or reflective writing generally
Seeking connection with like-minded writers in a supportive environment
Keen to return to writing after time away
Typical session structure
Setting writing intentions as a whole group (10 min)
Small group check-ins using breakout rooms (20 min)
Optional guided writing exercise (20 min)
Comfort break (10 min)
Independent writing time for your creative project (20 min)
Whole-group discussion (10 min)
A few notes on the space
Sharing writing is, and will always be, optional. All levels of contribution have value, even if that’s just listening. Although the main focus of the session is writing, you are welcome to engage with other creative activities – like thinking, doodling, reading, crafting, and moving around the space!
Each Writers’ Circle will be closed and kept relatively small to protect the integrity of the space and to ensure a quality experience for all participants. Having our cameras turned on is preferred (but not compulsory) to help aid feelings of transparency around who is attending. If you have any access needs you would like to share ahead of the session, please get in contact with Ennis at enniswelbourne@gmail.com.
The Writers’ Circle is facilitated using trauma-informed principles in its delivery, structure and content. It is important to note that is not group therapy or intended as a substitute for mental health treatment – our focus remains on writing, creativity and community. You are responsible for managing your own self-care throughout the sessions.
Please familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions below before booking. If you would prefer to arrange payment via installments, please contact Ennis at enniswelbourne@gmail.com. Each Writers’ Circle will run with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18. Suitable for all experience levels. Open to writers and creatives aged 18+.
The session Zoom link for our meeting room is available via your Ticket Tailor booking confirmation email and will also be sent out in a welcome email before the start of the course. After booking, your email address will be added to Katie and Ennis’s monthly newsletter. You can opt-out of this by replying with 'X'.
Session Dates: 8th and 22nd July, 5th and 19th August, 9th and 23rd September | Wednesdays 6–7:30pm UK Time
About your facilitators
Katie Watson (she/her)
Katie offers workshops, courses and bespoke sessions in therapeutic writing using a trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive methodology that is underpinned by international research. In 2017, she received a scholarship to train with Write Your Self, a global movement that supports people to reclaim their voices through creative writing after trauma. She was the first guide to be trained in this methodology in the UK. Katie also practises as a psychotherapist and currently works in the North West of England in Liverpool, as well as online. Outside of her private work, she has worked in the charitable sector with disadvantaged people for over the last 10 years. You can find out more on Katie's website.
Ennis Welbourne (they/them)
I am passionate about facilitating and leading groups and workshops for writers and creatives – I do so under the banner, Access Narrative. I have worked alongside Katie for the last five years and have facilitated 8 Writing the Self offerings. I have provided online facilitation for over 88 writing workshops and courses, and I have ran over 100 body doubling sessions. I completed the UpFront Survivors creative leadership training programme which has improved my skills with designing and facilitating safer creative spaces for survivors of child sexual abuse. I am a survivor of sexual, physical, emotional and neglectful child abuse. I use my lived experience to develop more accessible community for those who are non-conforming, disabled, poor and who have experienced abuse. I am a writer and artist living in Bristol, UK and I hold a first-class degree in creative writing. You can find out more on my website.