Have you always been a reader? Have you ever fancied having a go at writing creatively but haven’t yet devoted time to it? Perhaps you are an experienced writer looking for a new form to explore or need some good old-fashioned inspiration.

Becky Cherriman curates a series of creative writing workshops, which will run on the third Saturday of every month at The Leeds Library. Beginning with January’s fresh page, each workshop will deal with a particular aspect or genre of writing. Guided by established writers, you will draw inspiration from the library’s collections to write and then receive feedback on your work in this stimulating environment. Workshops will draw on Dewey Decimal themes such as Contemporary Fiction, Home and Family Management, Biography, Sociology and Anthropology, Philosophy and the Theory of Religion.

15th June: Ali Harper – crime fiction

The workshop is from 10am-12pm with the option to stay from 12-1pm for feedback.

Ali Harper is a Yorkshire-based, feminist crime-fiction writer. She writes about two women, Lee and Jo, who have just opened No Stone Unturned – Leeds’ first missing persons’ bureau. The first one in the series, The Disappeared, was published earlier this year by Harper Collins. She writes feminist noir because she loves adventures where women get to be at the centre of the action.

Becky Cherriman is a Yorkshire writer, workshop leader and performer. She works part-time as Creative Writing Development Officer for The University of Leeds.

Published by Seren, Mslexia, New Walk, Envoi, Mother’s Milk, Bloodaxe, Well Versed, Moving Worlds and The North she was resident poet for Morley Literature Festival in 2013 and lead artist for Altofts Festival In A Day 2016. Echolocation, her first poetry pamphlet, and first collection Empires of Clay were published in 2016 by Mother’s Milk and Cinnamon Press respectively. Her agnostic poem Jesus Lives was highly commended in the Forward Prizes 2017.