Events


GAW Meetings
GAW join

The next Zoom meeting for GAW members is on 9 March 2025 at 3 p.m.

These meetings are held regularly at 3 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month.

More details can be obtained by contacting Gay Authors Workshop

Please note that these meetings are for GAW members only. If you are not a member and wish to attend, see How to Join or use the hashtag #join_GAW_to_join_in



Read Writing!
Read writing

1 March 2024 from 15:00 to 17:00

Founded in 1978, Gay Authors Workshop provides opportunities for LGBTQ+ writers to meet, read, discuss and develop work in progress.

At this free event to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month 2025, members of GAW will read items from published and unpublished pieces including a chapter from a novel, flash fiction, poetry and monologues. 

Audience members will be encouraged to ask questions, read their own work to those present, and consider joining the Gay Authors Workshop.

There will also be an opportunity to purchase titles published by Paradise Press, which was established in 1999 to get quality work into print, and provide mutual support to make our voices heard.

Book your free tickets now


Creative Writing Workshops
Creative Writing Classes

February 2025

A new series of Creative Writing Workshops commenced on Monday 3 February 2025.

It will continue for four consecutive Mondays until 24 February.

Join us at Maida Vale Library for an exciting opportunity to explore your creativity in a supportive and inclusive environment.

Our workshops are designed for individuals who identify as LGBT+ or as straight allies, and want to express themselves through writing. 

Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, these sessions will inspire and empower you to share your unique voice. As a bonus, we hope to offer opportunities for publication of the best work to come out of the workshop.

Through a series of interactive exercises and discussions, you'll have the chance to connect with like-minded individuals and develop your skills in storytelling, poetry, and more. Don't miss this chance to be part of a vibrant community of writers who celebrate diversity and authenticity.

To sign up for this first series of the 2025 LGBT+ Creative Writing Workshops, please email homopromos@gmail.com 
NB This event is sold out on Eventbrite, but we'll try to squeeze you in.

Each session is on a Monday at 17:45 to 19:45 for four weeks. There are no fees, just bring yourself and your writing implements, your commitment and enthusiasm. Punctuality appreciated.



Readings at Care Home
Wandsworth Common Care Home

25 February 2024 from 11:00 to 12:30

GAW/PP members Jeff, John and Micky will read from recent Paradise Press publications at the LGBTQ+ Coffee Morning being held at Wandsworth Common Care Home, 94 North Side, Wandsworth Common, SW18 2QU.

This monthly gathering is sponsored by Avery Collection and Wandsworth Age UK with free refreshments, delicious cakes and great company in a welcoming and inclusive environment. 

Audience participation is encouraged.

Please confirm your attendance by calling 020 3751 1764.

Image: A recent coffee morning at Wandsworth Common Care Home



Readings from Flash Dances
Flash event

27 February 2025 from 18.30 to 20.00

As part of LGBT History Month some of the authors featured in the Flash Dances anthology
are going to be appearing at the Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, London SE5 9QY

Flash Dances is the bumper bundle of short (very short) stories by 32 LGBT+ authors collected by Homo Promos Theatre and Gay Authors' Workshop.

Five published novelists, two award-winning playwrights and eight debutants, deliver over 100 little tales with a twist. The subjects range wide beyond conventional LGBTQ+ material: historical, fantastical, political, social.

Flash Fiction lives, breathes and dances across the page in stories from eight words to 1,000. Funny and fire-breathing, sad, savage and sexy. If you don't like one story, there'll be another along in a Flash. Which, among other things, makes it an ideal toilet book!

Book your free tickets for this event and hear some of the best of them. Refreshments provided.


Past Events
Creative Writing Workshops
Maida Vale Library

October to December 2024 at Maida Vale Library.

After three successful series, leading to a forthcoming anthology, Homo Promos and Gay Authors Workshop  joined forces for an autumn series of workshops.

Authors were invited to explore their creative side, use their imagination, and play with words within a safe environment with other interesting creative people.

It was open to all LGBT+ people and allies and no writing experience was needed.


Readings from Flash Dances
Camberwell Library

July 2024 at Camberwell Library

This was a special invitation to hear readings from Flash Dances to be given in the presence of the Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Sunny Lambe.

Editors Peter Scott-Presland and Stephanie Dickinson introduced the evening; they were joined by Richard Thompson, Philip Inglesant and Bodicea Bactawar reading a variety of short pieces.

These readings of short stories and poems by members of the Gay Authors Workshop were selections from the anthology '100 Little Queer Tales' to be published later in 2024, and supported by Southwark Council.


Readings in Haringey
Hornsey Library

July 2024 at Hornsey Library

Following our readings in February, GAW was invited back to Hornsey Library for another round.

Members Jeffrey Doorn, David Flybury and Richard Thompson read a selection of works in progress and passages from Paradise Press. 

Attendees, who are budding writers, were invited to bring and share their own work and consider joining Gay Authors Workshop.


Writing Proud
Writing Proud

June 2024 at Hammersmith LIbrary

Various members of Gay Authors' Workshop read from stories, poems and essays around the themes of Pride, self-respect and discovery. 

This was associated with an anthology called SHIFT_, about moments of change.


Lost Places: GAW at South London Group
Bread & Roses

May 2024 at Bread and Roses

A bitter-sweet evening of reminiscence.

We all have places which hold special significance in our lives, places which often have disappeared, remaining only in our memories.

Lost Places is a collection of memories of such places by LGBT authors, published by Paradise Press. Poems, celebrations of collective endeavours, toilets, cinemas, bars ranging from Oxford to Paris.

Authors reading at this free event included Jeff Doorn, John Dixon, David Flybury and Peter Scott-Presland.

A special treat was the short film, Let Me In which is about closed or missing public lavatories, and made by GAW members Richard Thompson and Jeff Pickering. 

We also encouraged the audience to share their memories of places which were special to them, evoking some nostalgic discussion.


Lost Places Presentation
Jill Gardiner

April 2024 at Somerset Day Centre

Jeffrey Doorn presented Lost Places to Older & Out, a meet-up group of 50+ LGBTQ+ folk.

Special focus was the writings of Jill Gardiner, who lived in Brighton and to whom the book is dedicated. 

Associates of Jill read her poems and sections of her prose piece Finding and Losing Lesbian Spaces in Brighton and Hove, and Beyond.

Adrian Risdon's Old Steine set poem One-way Transaction was also read and V G Lee join them from Hastings with a reading from The Last Gold Star Lesbian.


Poetry Evening
Books

March 2024 at Camberwell Library

Founded in 1978, Gay Authors Workshop is a cooperative of LGBT+ creative writers who meet regularly to discuss and develop their work.

Members presented a variety of their published and unpublished poems as well as examples by other members. Budding LGBT+ poets attending were also be invited to share their original work.


Writing on Health And Mental Health
Dr Hastie Salih

March 2024 at Westminster Reference Library

An evening of readings about LGBT+ health and mental health, headed up by Hastie Salih's presentation. Hastie is a semi-retired doctor who has specialised in this area.

She's also a member of GAW, a poet and author of the romantic lesbian thriller, Dahlia and Carys. Other GAW members read related stories and poems. Members of the audience were also invited to bring along their work and read short extracts from it.


Launch of Lost Places: An LGBT Anthology
Biograph Cinema

February 2024 at Carnegie Library

We all have places which hold special significance in our lives, places which often have disappeared, remaining only in our memories. Lost Places is a collection of bitter-sweet recollections of such places by LGBT authors, published by Paradise Press.

Reading from the collection were writers Ian Townson on Railton Road, John Dixon on public conveniences, Jeffrey Doorn on The Biograph, Peter Scott-Presland on The Cape of Good Hope, Oxford, and poems by Beth Lister and Stephanie Dickinson.

This was the first airing of this haunting collection.


Readings and Promotion of Paradise Press
Jeffery Dorne

February 2024 at Hornsey Library

Jeffrey Doorn has been involved in the gay community for over fifty years. He was a regular at the Stonewall Inn before it became a world-wide symbol of resistance. He's edited several PP anthologies.

Attendees were encouraged to bring along a short sample of their own work to share with everyone.

Photos from Event

Lost Places
V.G Lee

February 2024 at Shoe Lane Library

A Lost Places presentation evening with V G Lee, Stephanie Dickinson, Jeffrey Doorn and Micky Silver.

Photos from Event
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