Huntly Writers has continued to thrive in 2009. Meetings are characterised by lively discussion and debate and we have been encouraged to try out new forms of writing and new ways of presenting our work.
On Wednesday 6th May we put on one of the group’s most successful Wordfringe performances. This entertaining evening of prose, poetry and song, appropriately entitled Cream of Strathbogie, was held at the Rizza Ice-Cream Factory in Huntly before a large and appreciative audience.
Another successful enterprise in 2009 was the renga workshop hosted by Huntly Writers at the Brander Library on Sunday 29th March. Several writers were keen to learn about this Japanese poetic form and attended the workshop, which was run by Colin Will, a renga master. The afternoon was much enjoyed by all and the resulting renga poem was read at our Wordfringe performance. On Sunday 6th September six members also participated in Gadiefest 2009 at Archaeolink. Huntly Writers’ contribution to the event was entitled Hills o Whin.
Huntly Writers continue to have work accepted by a variety of publications and again there have been several members who have given readings or participated in arts events throughout the North-East. Congratulations are due to: Phyllis who won first prize at the Buchan Heritage Festival and Margaret who was highly commended; to new member Haseley Hinton who launched her first novel, Shadow of the Seacrow at the Edinburgh Fringe and gave readings from it at Better Read Books in Ellon; to Phyllis and Maureen who were invited to read at events in Kintore and Aberdeen; to Haworth for organising, promoting and participating in, not only Wordfringe, but so many other successful events; and to Margaret, our treasurer, who had the Last Lauch at Dead Good Poets in Aberdeen.
Earlier in the year Brian Nisbet applied to join a course in creative writing in Oxford and, no doubt despite fierce competition for places on this prestigious course, was accepted. While Huntly Writers will miss him, we are delighted at his success.
Finally we were pleased to be joined this year by new members Anne Rogers in April and Haseley Hinton in June, while Yasmin Becha has been a regular observer of our proceedings. We look forward to an equally successful and challenging 2010.