Writing, fatshion, me: Writing Conference in Newcastle

On the 18th of May I went to a writing conference in Newcastle. It was organised by New Writing North and I saw it advertised but wasn't too bothered about it, but then I saw my soon to be sister in law Libby was going, so I thought I would go and that it would be nice to spend the day with her. I asked Lee to take me so he could spend the day with his brother Andrew, Libby's fiance. And then we arranged to meet up for tea with our friend Lianne. She's married to Lee's friend Paul, but Paul was going to an all day festival so couldn't meet up, but we of course wanted to see Lianne anyway!

Lee and I set off from our house at just after 8am. He had been unwell with a cold and I hadn't slept well, but we managed to get up and off in not too bad of a time. The conference started at 10am and I made it just a few minutes before. I went in and met Libby and we got signed in and headed upstairs for the first panel.

It was Janice Hallett talking about her writing life and it was really interesting! I've read everything she's published and find her a really interesting writer. She was a scriptwriter and I think it shows in her novels. I got her to sign a copy of The Christmas Appeal afterwards, which I've read and enjoyed. I didn't get to speak to her for long but it was nice to meet her.

Each attendee had signed up for three different talks or workshops during the day, and for the first one Libby and I were doing the same one. It was about being resilient as a writer and it was really funny. After that there was a coffee break (but sadly no decaf coffee, which is annoying!) and then another thing. I did Meet the Editor and although I do understand a lot about that process already due to my MA, I did learn some things and it was pretty good.

After that was lunchtime so Libby and I walked to M&S in the train station to pick up a sandwich each. We went back into the venue to eat and got chatting to some different people, which was nice. We did keep explaining that we do already know each other and that our partners are brothers!

After lunch the first talk was an author and an editor in conversation and it was really interesting - the author was called Eirinie Lapidaki and she is from the north east. Her book is about three women in the Highlands of Scotland who are all married to the same man, Elijah, a cult leader. It was really interesting to hear more about her craft and afterwards I ran to the book stall to buy a copy. Unfortunately I didn't see her again to get it signed, but I would have liked to.

My last workshop was Life Writing. I LOVE life writing (I do a lot of it in my zines) and I enjoyed the workshop. Then we were back in the main hall for the last talk, which was two northern writers talking about living and writing in the north. I was sat towards the back and I started to flag at this point, but I did still like it.

The whole thing finished just before 5pm. There was a bar downstairs so we headed there for 'networking'. Libby and I shared a bottle of wine and we chatted to two people and made friends on instagram and stuff. It was really lovely! We wobbled out of there just before 6pm and walked to Super Natural.

It is an all vegan restaurant and as Lianne is vegan and I am vegetarian it was ideal. Lee and Andrew and Lianne were already there. I chose one thing that I wanted but it turned out that it wasn't available after 5pm which was a bit annoying. I ended up going for a falafel platter instead. It was nice, but maybe a bit odd, and not what I had originally wanted. I had a tequila sunrise too which was delicious. They had vegan puddings so I had chocolate and clementine torte which was SO nice, it was really orangey.

We chatted for a while and then about 8pm Lee and I said goodbye and everyone headed off home. We got home just after 10pm, both absolutely knackered so we just crashed into bed. I was asleep by 11.15!

I was really happy I bothered to go to the conference though. I've been trying to write again more, and I feel like this really reignited my spark for writing. It was lovely to spend the day with Libby - she's a lot of fun - and meet new people!