Writers and Readers Day - book fair, book talk, writers' chat, and creative writing workshop!
10th May 2025
10:30am – 4:30pm Swindon Hub, Upstairs, 36 The Parade, Swindon SN1 1BA.
Presented in a partnership between Swindon Hub and the Swindon Festival of Literature.
Sponsored by Thomzo Designs.
If you are an author and would like more information about a table, please email Hello@thomzodesigns.co.uk.
A whole day for book lovers, authors, keen readers, young and old writers, and everyone who likes to connect with others who are into books, reading, and writing, taking place in a beautiful town-centre venue with comfy seating, snacks, and drinks available.
The day begins with a BOOK FAIR, with lots of books for sale of all different kinds by authors. If you want a table, please contact hello@thomzodesigns.co.uk.
From start to finish, there will be FRIENDLY PEOPLE from local writing and reading groups ready to chat with anyone new to writing or looking for a group to join.
At 3pm, there will be a CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP with presentation, guidance, and support for new or experienced writers who wish to improve their writing skills. The workshop will be run by established local author and experienced writing tutor Judith Cranswick. If you wish to sign up for it in advance, please click on the link or you can register on the day at the venue.
All day, there will be a warm welcome and HUB & FESTIVAL BUZZ for everyone to enjoy, created by lovely local writers, readers, and friends of Swindon Hub and the Swindon Festival of Literature.
Come along and join the literary fun!
Featured Authors
Zozo Thomas
Zozo Thomas – stories to colour in. Read the story and colour the words and images as you go. With puzzles and activities related to the story there is plenty to keep the whole family entertained.
Zozo Thomas will be donating 64p from the sale of each book to support the Coeliac UK 64 Challenge.
Judith Cranswick
Judith writes cozy travel mysteries which all take place during a holiday. Her books will take you on a vicarious journey to foreign parts, either by coach to various European countries, by air to more exotic places such as Morocco, Japan and Persia and by sea to places such as Greenland.
Phil Gilvin
Phil is a writer of YA/dystopian/ climate fiction novels and short stories. Truth Sister is set in a dystopian future Britain affected by climate change and dwindling resources, where epidemics have decimated the population and a women’s republic has arisen.
A.A. Abbott
A.A. Abbott chose her pen name to snag first place on your bookshelf. Also known as Helen, she writes psychological thrillers about women finding strength in the face of danger. She publishes in a range of formats, including audiobook, ebook, Kindle Unlimited, hardback, paperback, large print and dyslexia-friendly Lexend font.
Karl W Newton
Karl W. Newton, a Birmingham native, has spent his life turning imagination into words. At forty, Karl has found in writing a powerful outlet for his experiences with mental health, addiction, and recovery. His words, raw and honest, explore the depths of the human experience, weaving together humour, insight, and a touch of vulnerability.
Stuart Lloyd Gould
Writing Children’s Books and books on Mental Health. ‘My Nervous Breakdown’ documents my own struggles over a 15 year period which in part lead to me writing ‘NUTS’, my first Children’s Book, as a means of making myself smile. I’m really happy to talk to people about their own Mental Health struggles and I also love entertaining young children, their joy and enthusiasm is so infectious!!
John Cullimore
I’m a retired surgeon from Swindon with a lifelong interest in local poet-writer Alfred Williams. My debut historical novel explores his life, artistic struggles, and pursuit of recognition amid the upheavals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Roderick Mountain
Ex-professional tennis player, environmental scientist, Net Zero consultant, romance author (‘Priceless Union’ is first of three in a series), author of ‘Game, Set and Facts – 65 Years of Tennis Extremes,’ author of ‘Beat Energy Bills and Climate Change,’ living in Swindon in Carbon Negative home (negative energy bills).
Nigel Messenger
I was inspired to start writing when I read about an extraordinary story which took place in 1918 during WW1. I went there to investigate and then wrote my first book The Michmash Miracles. My theme is WW1 in the Middle East. I have just written Magnum Opus, a fictional book about the Crusades.
Lis McDermott
Lis McDermott is now in her third career, as an author and writing mentor. She has written several poetry books, an autobiography and three novels, “He is Not Worthy”, “Echoes of Drowning” and “The Identity Enigma”. Presently she is working on a series, based in a fictional forest.
C Flemming
I have been writing fiction since I was seven years old, and set up a “writers circle” with my schoolfriend when we were just thirteen. My career has taken me into the world of broadcast journalism, PR and publicity and more recently, transport behaviour change and social marketing. I write in my spare time purely for enjoyment and have four published “contemporary fiction” novels, with the fifth in production.
G Clatworthy
G Clatworthy started writing during the 2020 lockdown (her first book was called The Girl Who Lost Her Listening Ears, which tells you all you need to know about lockdown!). She soon switched to urban fantasy and she loves mixing the magical with the mundane, especially if it involves dragons! She lives in Wiltshire, UK with her family and two cats. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing board games, drinking tea and eating chocolate.
Emma Bloor
Part time writer, part time accounts administrator living in Wiltshire with my husband and grumpy teenager. In addition to writing unpredictable thriller novels, I ghostwrite tragic romances and have a piece of flash fiction published in a compilation book.
The Independent Writers Bookstore
The Independent Writers Bookstore is a collaboration between authors of the Calne Wordfest Writers Group to promote and sell their books together recognising the power of working together as a collective. They look forward to meeting you at the Writers and Readers Day.
Featured authors include (clockwise from top left):
Bob Fairbrother
Living near Torquay, Bob has just completed his first novel Project Deadhead: set in the near future, it is a crime / climate / political / noir thriller. DCI MacGillivray has a moral dilemma while the town falls prey to a threat from an unexpected direction.
Christine Tipper
Christine Tipper lives in Swindon. Having lived in France, Spain and Nepal, she’s fluent in several languages. Her hobbies include travelling, reading, painting, creating mosaics and keeping fit. Her Paige Harper Mysteries are about an amateur sleuth who runs a bookshop in Exeter and solves crimes with her terrier Sprite.
Lisa Mullan
Lisa is a biochemist by training and writes story-telling science. She is the author of several illustrated books for children and their favourite adults.
For 3-7 years: Join in with an interactive pattern-matching mystery and help find out who did it in these cute, rhyming and beautifully illustrated picture books.
For 9+ years: Immerse yourself in tales of biology and disease as Alina takes a DNA-eye view at some of the science rampaging through our bodies.
