School of Health & Wellbeing

Following the success of its all-day programme at last year’s Byres Road Book Festival, the creative writers’ group Writing Wrongs was invited to stage an even more ambitious event for the 2026 festival. Once again, this year’s event took place at the University of Glasgow’s Byres Community Hub in the Clarice Pears Building on Saturday 26th September.

Workshops, special guests and readings

After registration, coffee and an introduction to the day, the packed programme featured workshops on Self-Publishing with Lorraine Queen, author of Just One Little Pill; A Guide to the Landscape of Writing Improvement led by Terry Brennan; Writing a Memoir led by Michael Goodman, and Hints on Finding Inspiration led by Keith Moore.

Special guests included author Karen Campbell, who discussed her bestselling novel Paper Cup and latest release, This Bright Life in an interview with Lorraine Queen, and actor Colin McCredie chaired a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Two Open Mic sessions were among the day’s highlights, giving attendees the opportunity to read stories and poems submitted in advance. The readings were well received, with particular praise for participants from the Memoir and Inspiration workshops who shared pieces they had written spontaneously on the day.

A complimentary buffet lunch gave everyone time to meet fellow writers and exchange experiences and ideas in the spacious, comfortable and conducive surroundings of the Byres Community Hub. Information on Creative Writing Courses at Glasgow University was also available.

The inaugural flash fiction competition

Actor Colin McCredie hosted the announcement of the winners of the inaugural Denis Robertson-Sullivan Flash Fiction Competition. We were delighted by both the number and quality of the submissions, and our judging panel faced the challenge to reach its final decisions.

As the winner and two runners-up were unable to attend, members of Writing Wrongs read their entries aloud. The stories are published on our website www.writingwrongsglasgow.com together with a recording of the award-winning Trick or Treat by Kate Sloan, read by the author.

In the final session of the day, Colin McCredie also hosted the Q&A with our distinguished panel: Dr Katy Hastie, University of Glasgow Subject Coordinator for History, Politics, Philosophy, Literature, Creative Writing and Film; author Linda Duncan McLaughlin; Rani Dhanda, founder, consultant and trainer at Inclusive Junction; and Frank Chambers, author, co-founder of Battlefield Writers and editor of its renowned anthologies.

Thanks and acknowledgements

Our thanks go to everyone who helped make the day such a success. We could not have delivered such an ambitious event without the stellar support of:

  • Deborah Murray, Eleanor Plackett and Mac Spencer at Visit West End
  • The Byres Community Hub’s indefatigable Susan O’Donnell, ably supported by Callum Sinclair and Lorraine Waddell, and assisted by Zone 1 Facilities and Shaofen Xu
  • Orangery Group Caterers, Regis Banqueting and Rani Dhanda for the coffee break refreshments and the buffet lunch
  • The Pears Foundation Byres Hub Community Fund for their financial support
  • All our special guests, and everyone who attended the event, submitted a competition entry or read at the Open Mic.
  • And of course, members of the Writing Wrongs group

It is hard to imagine how we can improve on such a memorable day in 2027, but we fully intend to try.

Competition runners-up and winner: https://www.writingwrongsglasgow.com/about-3

Photo album and feedback: https://www.writingwrongsglasgow.com/s-projects-basic-1

First published: 14 October 2025

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