The Writers’ Conference 2025 – Keynote Speakers & Partial Programme Announced

Writing East Midlands’ biggest networking event is back for 2025!

Join the literary development agency of the region in Lincoln this April for a day jampacked with passion for creative writing and exclusive industry insights. This year, #WEMCONF25 teams up with Troubador Publishing, The Book Guild and University of Lincoln and they can’t wait to make this Conference even bigger and better than ever!

The Writers’ Conference is an essential day for writers across the East Midlands and beyond, offering the chance to make professional connections; to hear directly from literary agents, published authors and experts from the publishing industry; and to develop their craft – all in one day, at one location.

While the full programme is yet to be announced, Writing East Midlands has been sharing some of their most exciting speakers, workshops, panels and talks. This includes their Keynote Speaker reveal: Rebecca Mascull, also known as Harper Ford or Mollie Walton, Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Lincoln and author of The Element Quartet. Rebecca Mascull has been published with HarperCollins, Hodder and Stoughton, Bonnier Zaffre and Spellbound.

Other speakers include Anthony Anaxagorou, author of Heritage Aesthetics (2022), After the Formalities (2019) and How to Write It (2020). He will be discussing his latest collection. Helen Mort, award-winning poet, Senior Lecturer at MMU, FRSL and shortlistee of the T.S. Eliot Prize, will be running two workshops: Hone Your Poetics and Writing Creative Nonfiction. Editor Hannah Boursnell has worked with Penguin, HarperCollins, Hachette and Curtis Brown Creative. She will be running an invaluable and thorough synopsis surgery.

Writing East Midlands will also be holding a Self-motivation through Self-doubt talk featuring Rebecca Mascull and a Publishing Outside the Mainstream panel featuring Anthony Anaxagorou. For the first time ever, The Writers’ Conference will be finishing off the day by partnering with the University of Lincoln’s Sloth team for an electric open mic that anyone can join – registration details available on The Writers’ Conference page on the Writing East Midlands website.

The Writers’ Conference is an invaluable opportunity to get your foot in the door of the writing and publishing industry, with experts from the field leading discussions and offering their advice for writers at all stages of their career.

The Conference will take place at the University of Lincoln’s Brayford Campus on 12^th April 2025 from 9 am to 5 pm with the open mic event starting at 7.30 pm. Full details are available through their ticketing platform.

Tickets are £65 with £60 concessions, bursaries and split pay schemes available. To ensure that all writers are able to attend the Conference, Writing East Midlands has kept ticket prices the same as in 2023.

To offer a glimpse of what’s in store at The Writers’ Conference this year, please find testimonials below from writers who attended the last Conference in 2023:

‘It was great to have so many different creators sharing experiences and meeting each other. I thought writing was something like a dream goal and the day truly inspired me and made me feel “I CAN do this!”. What an important role that plays in promoting the arts for so many people that may feel it’s out of reach, or a pipe dream.

‘Writing is a lonely hobby / job, so events like this serve a vital role. It was a chance to learn, to meet like-minded people and to come away inspired.’

‘WEM’s Writers’ Conference is always a highlight, and it’s great to be back in person – I’ve already had a number of meaningful conversations during the Conference and following the weekend.

‘It was a useful and inspiring event. I made valuable connections and walked away with a renewed passion for my craft, and a greater appreciation for the community itself.’

‘I’ve never been to an event like this before. I learnt more about the professional industry and met so many writers. It’s an incredible way for networking.’

To book your tickets, please visit The Writers’ Conference webpage on the Writing East Midlands website, here:

https://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/for-writers/writers-conference/

or

bit.ly/WEMCONF25