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The New Mothers’ Writing Circle is a series of 8 weekly workshops which uses the fundamentals of creative writing craft to spark ideas and get mums writing at key, transitional stages in their lives. 

The impact on the participating women — from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds — has been incredible. Many of them have spoken of the transformational effect of The New Mothers’ Writing Circle:

"I don't feel it is an exaggeration to say the experience has been life changing."

Unlike almost all mother & baby groups, The New Mothers’ Writing Circle offers an inclusive space which is about the mother and her experience, rather than that of the baby (although the babies are present and very welcome). The concept of matrescence underpins the project, acknowledging that every mother goes through a sudden and yet incremental metamorphosis across each aspect of her life: Her identity is blown apart, her relationships with others and herself shifts, how and where she spends her time and with whom changes and, for many, there is a dawning realisation that how she is seen by society is now radically different.

The New Mothers’ Writing Circle is a place to explore this metamorphosis through creative writing and discussions, centring the woman’s experience rather than that of their baby. It is not a therapeutic space but many of the women who have taken part talk about the benefits to their mental health and the sense of community.

The project aims to be intersectional, anti-racist and welcoming of mothers and non-binary people who self-identify as mothers, including those who adopt, foster, use a surrogate, are the non-birthing mother within a Queer relationship, or are step-mothers. It is open to those becoming mothers whether in their teens or later in life, whatever level of schooling and no writing experience is necessary

At the core of the project are over 25 books of poetry, prose and memoir, plus podcasts, talks, imagery and articles. The reading list can be viewed here. These texts inform the workshops and act as jumping off points for creative writing: creative non-fiction and lifewriting prompts will include journaling, letters, poems and lists, as well as fictional prompts to draw out experiences of some of the less-discussed aspects of new motherhood.

Each week the online workshops are led by Founder & Director Catrin Kemp, who is joined by a rotating mix of award-winning co-leads, including poet Liz Berry, author & journalist Saima Mir, and author & midwife Leah Hazard.

 

In-person workshops 2022 - 2023 drew on talent based in Glasgow: author and editor Genevieve Herr, actor and director Adura Onashile, playwright Ishbel McFarlane, policy maker Saima Sheikh, academic Laura Bissell and author Cynthia Rogerson. You can read about these women below and watch a BBC mini-documentary about the project here.

 

If you are interested in taking part online, read more here.

Meet The Team

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Catrin Kemp

Founder & Director

Catrin Kemp is the Founder and Director of The New Mothers' Writing Circle.
"The idea for the project came about following the birth of my son in 2017. I found becoming a mother a seismic shock and used writing as a way to acclimatise myself with my new identity. I also searched for authentic responses to motherhood, looking at how my new role had been represented across writing, film and TV. During my second pregnancy, I secured funding for a pilot project, and The New Mothers' Writing Circle was born". 

Catrin's work was recently featured in a BBC mini-documentary and Creative Scotland's Our Creative Voice. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Scotland, speaking about myriad experiences within motherhood and matrescence. Her lifewriting and poetry has been published by Speculative Books and in Motherlore Magazine 

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Genevieve Herr

Co Lead

Genevieve is an editor working across adult and children’s books, fiction as well as non fiction.  She has worked for Walker Books, Scholastic, Bloomsbury and Hachette amongst others, and her authors have been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, the Waterstones Prize, the  Branford Boase Award and the YA Book Prize. Her first novel, A Gift in December, written under the name Jenny Gladwell, was published in 2019.

Genevieve has been involved in The New Mothers' Writing Circle since its inception and has been key to the project's ongoing success.

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Helen Finlayson Adams

Freelance Social Media Support and Administrator

Helen was a participant of The New Mothers' Writing Circle in early 2023 before joining Catrin to coordinate the social media accounts and assist with project administration.

During the workshops, Helen loved the community of new mums she was welcomed into and the refreshingly open and honest discussions that flowed each week. 

To date, Helen has worked in a range of creative and people-focused roles, including positions that took her to Germany, Macedonia and Colombia. Now based back home in Scotland, Helen is working on her new floral design business alongside her work with The New Mothers' Writing Circle.

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Nicole Jodoin

Freelance Event Coordinator

Nicole Jodoin is a Canadian educator with international experience, having taught in Germany, Mexico, and now living in Glasgow. 
She is a natural born storyteller known for her outgoing personality and love of travel. 
Nicole was a part of The New Mothers' Writing Circle group 5. She is currently helping out with the Glasgow Women's Library event and the Cove Park micro-residency. 

In 2022 and 2023, the workshop co-leads included author Leah Hazard, actor and director Adura Onashile, playwright Ishbel McFarlane and Saima Sheikh who took part in 2020's pilot project. 

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Saima Sheikh

Co-Lead

"Being on The New Mothers' Writing Circle was my anchor in COVID. It was more than a writing course. It was a place where we came together and had each other’s backs, it was a place for a collective outpouring of grief, joy, anger and also the peace that comes from being held by those who know what motherhood is. There was a finally a place for me as a mother where equality existed and hierarchies didn’t. In short, this experience gave me the confidence to be heard, to feel pride in my writing and to enjoy the liberating one feels when they write their heart out- which I continue to do."

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Leah Hazard

Co-Lead

Leah Hazard graduated from Harvard University, working in print journalism and television before the births of her two daughters prompted her to change direction. She is now a practicing NHS midwife in Glasgow and has worked in a wide variety of clinical areas, from labour wards to community clinics. Leah is the author of The Father's Home Birth Handbook, the bestselling memoir Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story, and most recently, Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began. Her writing has also been featured in The Guardian, New Statesman, The Times, Grazia and Refinery 29, and she is a frequent commentator on women's health and maternity services across the UK media.

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Co-Lead

"I found the New Mothers' Writing Circle at exactly the right time when my daughter was a baby. It was a life-line and a rare opportunity to be creative and have a community when life was unbelievably hard. I use writing in my work in theatre and performance, but I wasn't sure if it was something I could continue as I grappled with my new role. I relished the chance to explore writing ABOUT this thing which was obsessing me - finding words like "matrescence" (like adolescence but covering the transition to motherhood) which helped me explain my new life to myself." 
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Adura Onashile

Co-Lead

Adura is an award winning Glasgow based actor, writer and director whose work is known to Scottish audiences, and has toured to India, Brazil, Trinidad, Jamaica, South Africa, Zimbabwe and New Zealand. She has worked with the National Theatre of Scotland, The Lyceum, The National, The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Young Vic.

She has premiered two sell out shows at the Edinburgh Festival, winning the Scottish Arts Club and Edinburgh Guide Best Scottish Contribution to Drama in 2013 and 2016, a Fringe First Award, and has been highly commended for the Amnesty International Freedom of Speech award. She has also been nominated for the Alfred Fagon and TOTAL Theatre Awards. She is recipient of the Channel 4 Playwrights Bursary in 2018 in association with the Traverse Theatre.

She wrote and directed Ghosts for the National Theatre of Scotland in 2021.

Her BAFTA nominated short film, Expensive Shit premiered at the BFI London Film festival 2020, and has been shown in festivals internationally. The film won both the audience and critics award at the Glasgow International Film Festival. She is a screen star of tomorrow and is currently in post for her debut feature film, Girl with Barry Crerar, Screen Scotland, BBC Films and the BFI.

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Laura Bissell

Co-Lead

Laura Bissell (she/her) is a writer, performance-researcher, educator and poet. Her creative writing has been published in New Writing Scotland, Tip Tap Flat and From Glasgow to Saturn. Her first non-fiction book, Bubbles: Reflections on Becoming Mother (Luath), was published in December 2021. She is co-author/editor of Performance in a Pandemic (Routledge, 2021) and Making Routes: Journeys in Performance (Triarchy, 2021). Laura has been working on a range of creative projects exploring the sea in relation to writing and performance. She is a compulsive reader and is on a journey to read 100 books a year. Laura lives in Glasgow with her partner, daughter and two cats.

Scottish Mountaineering Press recently published some of Laura poetry.

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Cynthia Rogerson

Co-Lead

Cynthia Rogerson is a Californian Scottish writer living in the Highlands. Winner of the V.S.Pritchett Prize, she’s published a memoir, five novels, and a collection of short stories. I Love You Goodbye was translated into six languages, short-listed for Scottish Novel of the Year, and dramatized for BBC radio. Wait for Me Jack waspublished in 2017 under Addison Jones. A Sunday Times top summer read, it’s also an audiobook. Her newly published memoir titled Wah! is currently shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize. She’s supervised on the Edinburgh University Creative Writingprogram and holds a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship. www.cynthiarogerson.org

Our thanks to our funder 2020 - 2023, Creative Scotland

 

Additional thanks to our project partners and friends:
CrossReach Bluebell Perinatal Service ​
Quarriers Maternal Mental Wellbeing Services 
West Maternity Services 

Glasgow Women's Library 
Emylia Hall - Pilot project mentor (2020)

NHS Glasgow Family Nurse Partnership 

HomeStart Glasgow

One Parent Families Scotland

Rosemount Lifelong Learning

Home Start Young Mothers (aged 25 and under)

Stepping Stones for Families (Glasgow & Paisley) 

Who Cares Scotland

Rosemount LifeLong Learning

One Parent Families Scotland

GGC NHS 3rd Sector Perinatal Mental Health Service

Amma Birth Companions (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) 

Birth Baby & Beyond

CrossReach Bluebell Perinatal Services

Maternal Mental Health for Scotland

Inspiring Scotland

Merry Go Round

Glasgow Women’s Library

Glasgow Zine Library

Scottish BPOC Writers

Scottish Book Trust

Creative Scotland’s Opportunities page

Maryhill Integration Network

Action For Children (Clydebank) 

Family Matters (Cranhill - East End) 

Quarriers Maternal Wellbeing (North East Glasgow) 

Mental Health Network (Greater Glasgow) 

Glasgow South PANDAs Support (Greater Glasgow) 

COPE Scotland (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) 

ConFAB (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) 

Barnardo’s Scotland (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) 

Mind Mosaic (Greater Glasgow & Clyde) 

National Childbirth Trust

La Leche League 

Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre (Greater Glasgow & Clyde)

Refuweegee

Heart of Scotstoun

3D Drumchapel

Rainbow Families

Whats On Glasgow

Positive Birth Glasgow Facebook group

Scottish Book Trust - Steering Group Glasgow / Writing Community Team / Reading Team

East Dunbartonshire Health & Social Care Partnership

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