By Damon Cooper
Nestled on the bustling Cavendish Street in between The Northern Snooker Centre and Kirkstall Brewery is Archive Leeds, where a writers group gathers every Wednesday from 6pm till late to socialise alongside working on their own individual projects.
From novelists, poets, screenwriters, comedians writing their own material to community reporters, everyone is welcome to just turn up and start writing.
The first hour and half is for attendees to work on their own projects before the event drifts into more of a social.
James Damm, Leeds-based author of two supernatural suspense thrillers, is one quarter of a leadership team that has been hosting regular writers groups for over five years via meetup.com, where membership is 3,040 strong.
Don’t worry though, Archive has a huge events space at the back and it’s unlikely anywhere near 1,000 writers would turn up at once!
James had this to share about the group on his blog: “We can have as many as 20 to 40 faces turn up. The concept is simple; turn up and start writing. We create the environment needed to concentrate and work on passion projects. After the writing finishes, we go for a drink to socialise.”
The group sometimes has online feedback and discussion on writing sessions via zoom if you cannot get to an actual event in person.
The next one will be held on Monday, June 19 from 6.30pm and will be hosted by Daniel. Link is here.