History

Colleen Richardson and Rosemary Woodland

Reproduced with their kind permission

The roots of the Verulam Writers’ Circle go back to Writing for Pleasure. This was an evening course started in 1953 by Frank Ferneyhough at St Albans College of Further Education. Several students were so enthusiastic that they began to meet in each other’s houses.

Eileen Elias, who is now ninety and living and writing still in Cambridge, was one of the founder members. An Oxford graduate and world travelled, she has published numerous articles and features and many books.

Other founder members were: Lisbeth Phillips, later a cookery writer for The Guardian and now commemorated in one of the Circle’s many annual competitions; Joan Rice – who is the mother of the well known musical lyricist Tim Rice; Arthur Swinson, a BBC dramatist; May Ivermee; Keith Ellis; Margery Shaw; and Elizabeth Stanley. Joan Rice became the first Chairman and Frank Ferneyhough was the first President.

St Albans author, Betty Puttick, who joined the circle in 1966 and later became a secretary of the Circle, says she owes a lot of her success to the encouragement she received from members to send her work off to publishers. A pillar of the Ghost Club Society, Betty Puttick has written eight books on the supernatural, including one on ghosts of Hertfordshire, and another on murders and mysteries in the country. She also has stories regularly published in My Weekly. Asked for her advice for would-be writers, Betty said: “The more you write the easier it becomes and the more professional you get.”

Jean Gardner is a long-standing member and has many articles and books covering a wide range of non-fiction subjects including aviation, bridges, ceramics geology and stained glass. She has been interviewed by John Pilgrim on Three Counties Radio talking about the Verulam Writers’ Circle.

The second President of the Verulam Writers’ Circle is Gillian Thornton. She was a young student of Frank’s and joined the Circle when she was seventeen. When Frank died, Gillian was voted in as the next President. Gillian is a very professional writer and had earned her living for years as an interviewer and article writer. She is in much demand by all kinds of magazines. Gillian sets and judges the President’s Competition every year.

There have been many energetic and innovative chairmen over the years but our records only go back to 1975. This was the year that Len Winter was in the Chair. When David Gibson was in the Chair (1979 –1981) he presented the VWC with a cup, This competition is also held each year – although the winners have been worried about how tarnished the cup has become!)In 1992, when Colleen Richardson left the Chair, she presented the Circle with a Crystal Decanter. This is for a fiction competition that is held each summer.

The present chairman is Nick Cook. He works for a large firm in their Health and Safety Department and has honed his skills into writing for ROSPA –Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Nick now has commissions to write up all kinds of different jobs that can result in dangers in the workplace.

The Circle has three major areas where it tries to help writers, and aspiring writers, to become better and more successful. Firstly there are the manuscript evenings, where really constructive criticism is given and markets are suggested. Secondly the Circle runs workshops of various kinds, where people are encouraged to stretch their powers of writing and imagination. Finally there are invited speakers. There have been many well-known people such as, Duncan Minchell (producer of BBC short stories), Claire Rayner, noted for her lonely hearts skills and Brian Clemens of TV scripts fame. One evening Val Corbett and Joyce Lear entertained the Circle enormously by recounting their experiences of writing their first book. They are both well-known journalists and they wrote it with a third journalist – Eve Pollard. She was the first woman editor of the Sunday Mirror. Joyce started Cosmopolitan Magazine and Val has produced several acclaimed television programmes.

Recent speakers have included: Michael Aitkin on how to write comedy and Ian Sommerville, who was the Fiction Editor of My Weekly. Sadly, Ian died recently. Oscar Sharp, Head of Development at Raindance Raw Talent gave a stimulating insiders guide through ‘Development Hell - 7 circles and a roundabout’ on the pitfalls and challenges of getting a screenplay from conception through to finished film.

The Circle runs several competitions each year to encourage members to stretch their energies and imagination into writing pieces on various subjects. These competitions carry reasonably good cash prizes and also each prize-winner is presented with a certificate.

At the moment the Circle has 32 members and its ‘success book’ is a thermometer which provides graphic proof of the Circle’s creative Health. “It serves to inspire and indicate potential markets for the whole Circle, ” says Nick Cook. In 2001 members recorded 60 successful sales, earning a total of £13,300.

In addition to the regular twice monthly meetings at St Michael’s Church Hall, the Circle meets once a month at the CafŽ Monsoon in Verulam Road for a relaxed discussion of members’ manuscripts and a wider discussion of the literary scene. Alcohol and Indian snacks are an added attraction.

The range of publications featuring members’ work is very wide. It includes the Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, The Author, The Bookseller, Hertfordshire Countryside, Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, Living Spain, Ireland’s Own and Thatched Living.