Being a member of the committee, I’ll admit to this being a shameless self-plug, but a new creative writing society has started at York St John, and I couldn’t be more excited!
Inkwell is a society run by four second year creative writing students – Lottie, Rhydian, Kelise and myself (Rose). We wanted to create an environment where people could share and receive constructive feedback on their writing. Our sessions generally include a fun writing task or game; some quiet writing or reading time; and a chance to share work with the group and get feedback from peers. Down the line, we will be having sessions with the help of various tutors who will come in and talk to the group about their experiences in the creative writing industry, give writing tips and advice, or hold workshops of their own.
At the time of writing this, we have just held our first taster session! The turnout was incredible, and I was very impressed by everyone’s willingness, not only to present their work to the group on the very first day, but also by their enthusiasm to feedback. It isn’t always easy to volunteer constructive criticism, especially not among a group of new people, but everyone was so open and supportive of each other. It was exactly the kind of environment we were hoping to achieve!
As a committee, we all had reasons why we were inspired to start this society.
I personally wanted to grow more of a community of writers within the university and, hopefully, beyond that too. I think creating a space where likeminded people can help each other develop their skills and promote each other’s work is the perfect way to make writing a little less solitary. I’m excited about encouraging more people to explore and participate in literary events around York, developing a stronger sense of community among writers.
Lottie said she wanted to give writers a space to comfortably share their work. Before workshopping on the course, it wasn’t something we’d really had an opportunity to do, and writers not on the course probably don’t get this opportunity at all. There had been an attempt to set up a feedback group in the past, but timings over summer had made it difficult to organise anything with a rigid structure, so having an official society will really help with consistency.
Kelise was particularly excited about the idea of giving everyone a dedicated space to write. Life, especially that of university students, can often get in the way of writing, and it can be impossible to habitually work on a hobby. With Inkwell, we’re giving writers that chance to build a routine, even just in the way of half an hour a week.
Rhydian felt that when he first got into writing he would have really benefitted from having that allotted place for writing. When he took Writing to Order, a creative writing module at YSJ, in his first year, the feedback groups made him feel like he was really improving his craft just by having other people read it. Even by just reading and feedbacking on other people’s work helps to improve your writing experience.
If Inkwell Society sounds like something you’d be interested in joining, we’re a very friendly bunch and we’d love to see you there! We meet every Wednesday at 6:30 in DeGrey 125, and we welcome any form and any genre! If you have any questions at all about the society, you can drop us a message @inksoc_ysj on Instagram, or email inkwell@yorksj.ac.uk.
– Rose Williams
This blog post is in collaboration with the 2025 Beyond the Walls Anthology. Submissions for the Anthology are now open and we encourage 3rd year and postgraduate students who are thinking of submitting to the anthology to attend an Inkwell session for inspiration and feedback on your piece as this is a great way to make sure your work is at its best standard when submitting. The anthology guidelines can also be found here on the Where Ideas Grow Blog.