click on the pic for a sample
BEATRICE HANSEN-SUDBURY
PROFILE
Education professional. Born and educated in Nigeria where I obtained my First and Masters degree prior to moving to the UK in 1983 on a PhD Research Fellowship to King's College, University of London. Worked for many years in Research, in Teaching, as Open University Course Tutor and Lecturer in Further Education.
My work brought me into contact with the lives of migrant students who filled me in on their trials, tribulations and survival skills.I developed an interest in writing about emigration and so I spent some time sourcing background information from across the range of ethnicities and cultures in British society. Initially, my book was conceived as a work of non-fiction but I soon realised that a novel with a love story would be a more interesting medium to explore this theme on a lighter note. I have been putting final touches to my manuscript and hope to see it in print this year.
My success so far with writing has been limited to non-fiction. I have had professional papers published in journals during my time in research. Some of my work has found its way into my Professor's books. I also edit and proof-read works by friends and writing buddies.
INTERESTS
I enjoy biographies, works of fiction set around social history e.g. books by Toni Morrison, Catherine Cookson, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Danielle Steele, Michael Gayle amongst many others.
I love travelling and experimenting with foreign food.
I live in South Croydon, Surrey.Married with two children aged thirteen and six.
DIANE BATTENBERG
I did not start writing until ten years ago. Since then I have won several competitions in the Writers’ Circle, had a story read on local radio, published some poems and I’ve written many letters to local newspapers.
Several of us including Maisie Dance, John Lawson and the late Anne Edgar-Walters, in a group known as the Strolling Writers, (an off-shoot of the Circle) gave light hearted readings of our work at various church halls and retirement homes around the district. I took part, produced and wrote the programmes for these events. (this involved driving us all there, including props and sometimes dressing-up before getting there, so if you saw a car bursting at the seams with strangely-dressed people - yes, that might have been us.
In 2005 I helped in organising the Diamond jubilee of the Croydon Writers’ Circle, which we celebrated by performing sketches and poetry in the Fairfield Halls before the then Mayor Maggie Mansell.
At present, I am mainly concerned with editing a local community magazine, and writing the odd article for it.
JOHN C. LAWSON
TO GET PUBLISHED OR NOT? IS THE QUESTION
What I have achieved in my writing life has reached a certain level - beyond which I would love to go. But it seems I can’t at the moment. A vanity publisher when I was still employed and earning an income, persuaded me to part with thousands of pounds because he told me how much they liked my short stories. Oh, good, I thought, I can get my work published after all these years, so I pressed ahead with the project. Great stuff!
When I looked at the cover of The Phantom and Other Stories, I could see how well they had done the picture on the front. Then got rather concerned that the publishers were getting into financial difficulty; then when I rang up to ask about receiving payment I was told they were going into liquidation. I found I had been put straight onto the solicitors, who asked me if I wanted to take action against the publishers. Why had I felt sorry for them and told them no, I wonder?
Throughout the years I have sent poems to various newspapers and anthology firms and they have published them. So I was getting success in this field.
A local common has surprisingly Caesar’s Well in it. Right, I must find out more about the man. The book by Peter Beresford Ellis was written about Caesar’s invasion of England. I became inspired and wanted to write about the tribesmen who opposed him. The hill-fort near Canterbury, which Caesar had burnt to the ground, was the setting.How had they reacted to this barbaric act? Those details I wrote down followed…
Whereas my poems so did well, my prose did not. To date I have no short stories in magazines nor a novel published neither. What am I doing so wrong?
MAISIE DANCE
Maisie Dance has been full secretary of the Croydon Writers’ Circle for ten years, and seven years before that was membership secretary.
Maisie won two of the Circle’s competitions in 2007 with her true childhood stories, and is currently engaged in putting them into book form. Some interest has already been shown in this project. She has recently been published in Best of British magazine and Yours magazine. Maisie also like writing poetry. She lives a busy life, helping fund-raise for her favourite charity (HDfDP) and helping in her daughter’s florist shop, but always has time to encourage other members with their writing. And of course, to make her home made cakes for the workshop meetings.
