January Writing Hours 2026

Imagine January...

It's a New Year but the mornings are dark, the evenings are cold and the best Christmas chocolate has been eaten. It's all feeling a bit grim.

For the last four years, Kim Moore and Clare Shaw have met with hundreds of writers every Jmorning throughout January to write the gloom away.

This is our fifth year in action, and we hope this year is going to be bigger and better than ever...

Join us this year once again for more poetry shaninigans. From 10am - 11am (UK time) on Zoom, come prepared to read poems. Come prepared to think about poems. Come prepared to write poems.

Come in your pyjamas. Come with your breakfast. Come every day - or come when you can - and commit an hour to yourself and your writing.

We will provide the inspiration, the poetry fuel. All you need to do is turn up.

Our Writing Hours use simple prompts, readings and reflections to inspire and encourage you to write throughout January. In an interactive Zoom workshop, you'll work interactively with Kim Moore, Clare Shaw and writers from across the UK - and beyond! The emphasis is on generating new work, and writing in company: expect connection, creativity and motivation rather than detailed feedback or instruction.

Cost:

Cost: £70 for the whole month

or pay £25 for each week.

Accessibility

Bursary Tickets available - a limited number (50) free tickets are available. You don't need to ask - just head over to the ticket page and book one if you couldn't otherwise afford to come.

Pay-as-you-feel tickets also available - if you can pay a little bit but not the full price, please book a Pay-as-you-feel ticket!

I f you are feeling flush, and would like to donate a Bursary Ticket, please pay for either a week ticket or a full month, and drop us a line to let us know that you've paid for another space. We will announce extra free tickets as they are paid for on social media and add them to the total of Bursary tickets available.

We will be using Zoom captions for all sessions and any poems used during the workshops will be screenshared.

Sessions are not recorded - this is to preserve the once in a lifetime feel of the January Writing Hours, to keep the blink-and-you'll-miss-it-feel and also so Clare and Kim can continue to mock each other mercilessly without it being captured for posterity. If you can't come for one session, don't worry we'll be there the next day...and the next....and the next!