Burton Monday Writers was formed in September 2000 by Maggs Payne who saw a need for a daytime creative writing group in the area. Maggs found the perfect venue – Burton Town Centre Library. After contacting fellow writers Josie Elson and Carol Hickebottom, Maggs launched BMW.

Maggs, who was chair for eight years and is now the group’s Honorary President, said ‘At the outset the local press gave us good coverage, the library displayed posters and within two months of its birth BMW had acquired eight members. The hallmarks which make the group successful were established in the early years and still hold good today. Friendships were formed, joys and sorrows shared but writing is our main objective. Personally, I have put a lot of time into the group, but without a supportive committee and members, there wouldn’t be a group. Our current Chair, Lynda Turner, has brought new ideas and our success story continues.’

The group meets every Monday afternoon (1.15pm - 3.30pm) at the Library in Burton Upon Trent. Lynda Turner said, ‘We have 20 members with a regular attendance of 12-14 at most meetings. As we are close to the county boundary, we not only draw members from East Staffordshire, but also the surrounding villages in Derbyshire.

‘We are a friendly group interested in producing short stories, poetry, scripts and novels and welcome anyone aged 19 or over writing in any genre. Some of our members are writing autobiographies in order to leave their family a legacy of their life and times. Others are published writers, keen to hone their skills, share their experiences and most of all enjoy writing.’

A typical meeting begins with general information, successes in the past week, competition updates and any social events planned. Members are invited to bring along pieces of work to read and constructive discussion follows which is intended to be positive, helpful and encouraging.   A writing exercise led by one of the members is included each week, about half of the meeting time is allocated for this valuable activity. Here members can try new topics, move outside their comfort zones, unleash their creativity and get over that dreaded “writers block”. It’s no wonder that the group’s motto is “Keep writing.”

Workshops led by professional tutors are an integral part of the group’s activities and occasionally full day sessions are hosted by Burton Monday Writers, recent topics have included flash fiction, writing for radio and free-verse poetry. Members have also led mini-workshops on writing the sonnet, writing short stories for women’s magazines and writing non-fiction magazine articles.

The group is a member of NAWG (National Association of Writing Groups) and several members have enjoyed success over the years in the annual creative writing competitions. In 2011Vice-chair Shelagh Wain won the Sir Alan Ayckbourn Trophy for the best Ten Minute Radio Play and Chair Lynda Turner was runner up in the same section.

The group has published four anthologies, the most recent Once Upon Another Time...  was published in June 2011.

Members keep in touch through the weekly newsletter which is distributed via email. The group maintains a website as a showcase for members’ work and an introduction to the group’s activities.

 Members’ successes over the years have been many, including two winners of Writers’ News monthly short story competition and one winner of the sister publication Writing Magazine’s monthly short story competition. The group’s poets and flash fiction writers have been published in anthologies and on the internet and several members have won poetry competitions at local festivals. Other published material has included short stories in women’s magazines and local press, non-fiction magazine articles, various letters in newspapers and magazines and Morning Thoughts written and recorded by members and broadcast by BBC Radio Derby. Writing under her maiden name, Lynda Dunwell, Chair LyndaTurner has had two novels published in ebook format by Musa Publishing in the USA. Both titles are available at Amazon.