The Estuary Writing Cohort's 'First Draft' Event

Welcome to an evening for writers across all disciplines to network together, working towards the creation of a local peer group community for support and encouragement! We hope to establish a permanent tenure for the ‘Writing Support Unit’ that has been successfully piloted in association with Metal during the last three months of 2024.

The founders of the group, Nicky Sharpe and S. Reeson, share literary experience but with extreme contrasts: Nicky is an early career writer with a goal to share her memoir to support others coping with major life events, whilst S has an extensive Arts background and literary knowledge gained from years as a poetry performer and public speaker.

Their common ground however remains a passion for words in every form, after meeting at a Metal-organised writer’s group during the Summer of 2024. Together, a space was created in the city where writers of all levels of experience could gather to progress their work by sharing and receiving feedback. This evening’s performances will come from the Pilot Group, covering poetry, memoir and fiction. A short presentation will then be given detailing the cohort’s desire to pursue formal funding to broaden the support and experiences which can be offered.

Please show your support for local writers representing the rich and diverse literary culture of Southend-on-Sea by attending the event: our vision is to create a lasting and useful series of connections to support all writers at any stage in their writing journeys.

Nicky and S look forward to meeting you on March 5th <3