2023 Committee
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"I've had the most wonderful time. I've learned a great deal and have lots of inspiration to take home with me. Next year's dates are already in my diary."
2022 Committee
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Cathy Grimmer
Chair Cathy writes to escape the excitement of being a specialist tax consultant in her day job. She lives in Ripon in North Yorkshire, having started life much further South. She enjoys walking in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside, performing with a local AmDram group and cooking. Having started out writing short stories and humorous poetry, she has developed a taste for play-writing after taking part in Swanwick’s Page To Stage. Cathy has been coming to Swanwick since 2008. Email: chairman@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk |
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Maria Hennings Hunt
Vice Chairman Maria is both a successful published writer and a fully qualified dance teacher. She worked in publishing for more than 20 years, spending 13 years with Travel Trade Gazette – the leading travel trade weekly newspaper in the UK. She also did a three month stint on the travel team at the Daily Express and wrote short stories for the women’s fiction market in her spare time. Maria went freelance in 1999, specialising in writing brochures and copy for the travel market whilst at the same time qualifying as a dance teacher. Maria now runs her own SE London based Dance school called Dance Generation and still writes shorts stories in her spare time. Maria first came to Swanwick in 1992. Email: vicechair@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk |
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Ingrid Jendrzejewski
Secretary Ingrid Jendrzejewski grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, studied creative writing at the University of Evansville, then physics at the University of Cambridge. She started submitting work for publication in 2014 and has since found homes for around 100 of her pieces, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Vestal Review’s VERA Award, and twice for Best Small Fictions, and won her first trip to Swanwick through Writing Magazine's short story competition. In 2017, she gave her first Swanwick workshop on writing for competitions. Ingrid currently lives in Cambridge where she writes, freelances, and occasionally runs writing workshops. Email: secretary@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk |
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Lesley Deschner
Treasurer Lesley has been a keen writer for many years and is part of the group, LiterEight (eight wonderful and mature women from Ayrshire) with whom she has produced three anthologies of poems and short stories. She has written several short plays, sometimes working in tandem with Helena Sheridan, another member of LiterEight and has acted with two local theatre companies showcasing new plays. Lesley is a previous Secretary of the Summer School (2013/2014) and has recently gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling at the University of Strathclyde. Email: treasurer@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk |
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Andrew Roberts
Committee member Andrew was born in Rochdale but moved to Staffordshire when he was 9. He has been writing as a hobby since the age of 17, having developed an interest through table-top roleplaying games. He predominantly writes actions/adventure in historical settings, with a particular fondness for writing about pirates. After discovering Swanwick in 2016, he decided to take his writing further. In 2018, he left his full-time job as an accountant to study Creative Writing at De Montfort University. He decided to stay in Leicester after graduation, and is pursuing freelance opportunities in writing. In addition to his pulp stories, he blogs about popular culture and dabbles in poetry. He's also an avid video gamer. |
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Sharon Payne
Committee member Sharon was born in the crater of a volcano in Yemen the same year as comedian Izzy Izzard. She travelled throughout her childhood with her R.A.F. family. The result was a shy child who listened to records and read Enid Blyton. Thirteen schools in fifteen years wasn’t funny. She loved drama and dreamed of being cast as George in The Famous Five (Enid Blyton) on T.V. At nineteen Sharon enlisted in the R.A.F as a cook, which included a tour behind the Iron Curtain in Berlin. Following a lengthy career in catering she retrained in food technical management. This involved technical writing and control of the quality management systems (food safety). She was responsible for staff training and designed pictorial procedures to help Polish staff grasp the instructions more easily. A colleague commented she should be a creative writer and it sowed the seeds. |
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Swanwick beckoned in 2013. Since then it has been an addictive experience, nourishing her mind, body and soul. Sharon has many hobbies and interests and loves to engage with others. She dabbles in short stories and poetry, and dreams of being a psychological thriller author.
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Leonie Martin
Committee member Leonie is a Derbyshire- based freelance writer, Writing for Wellbeing workshop facilitator, poet and author with a particular interest in the transcendent power of the written and spoken word. She has delivered regular Writing for Wellbeing and bespoke workshops for a range of community groups in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and is currently studying an MA in English (Creative Writing) at The University of Sheffield. Leonie is researching and writing a novel based on the reimagined life of a medieval Dutch girl believed to have the first documented case of MS, exploring themes of invisible illness and its enduring stigma. She is a member of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) and LAPIDUS. She has been coming to Swanwick since 2006, discovering a latent acting talent which (almost) won her a coveted Swanny award for Best Supporting Actress in a Page to Stage comedy. Watch this space |
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Maria Dorman
Committee member Born, bred, and educated in Kent, Maria waited until she retired to graduate. A lifelong avid reader and occasional dabbler in the written word, she discovered a love of writing in 2004. Still employed then in the Civil Service, Maria had to exercise patience for a further eleven years until in 2015 when she began a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, which led to her first visit to Swanwick in 2016. Pesky viruses aside, she has been again every year since and currently co-ordinates Lift Up Your Hearts. Maria’s genre of choice for writing is cosy crime, but she enjoys having a go at anything, so long as the word count is low! To date her only publishing success is to be part of a team providing resources for Sunday services on the Ely Diocesan website. Although she sometimes uses fiction in her sermon writing, she has found that cosy crime doesn’t quite work. With a passion for volunteering and generally being involved – she takes after her father – Maria is looking forward to helping support both her local Church and Swanwick over the coming months and years. And maybe selling some more raffle tickets… |
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Email the whole 2020 Committee: committee@swanwickwritersschool.org.uk
