News Items
Summer 2025 in Libraries
GAW members attended two promotional events at libraries in June 2025.
On 7 June four of us attended Lambeth’s annual Zine Fair at Brixton Library. Many visitors stopped by our stall to ask about Gay Authors Workshop.
One left his contact details while several others noted our email and website addresses. We also met other stallholders and sold seven Paradise Press publications.
We rounded off LGBT History Month on 30 June at Shepherd’s Bush Library. Five members, plus two visitors, talked about writing, and read from works in progress.
The library manager provided welcome refreshments and invited us back. Hammersmith Library Service bought several recent Paradise Press books, which are now on the shelves.
Gold Verse – Send it in
Gay Authors Workshop has provided fellowship, mutual support and development for LGBTQ+ writers since 1978.
Looking ahead to 2028, we aim to celebrate our 50th (golden) anniversary with special events and activities, including publishing themed anthologies.
Jeff Doorn will co-edit a poetry anthology bringing together some members’ poems not previously published in book form plus contributions by current and new members.
The former will give an idea of the range of work written over previous decades, while the latter should be inspired by the theme of ‘gold’.
Interpret the theme as loosely as you like. Think metal, medal, star, bar, paint, saint, way, lamé, crown, gown, dawn, morn, sands, bands years, tears. You get the picture. No host of golden daffodils, please since that’s been done.
Send your work to GAW by the end of October 2025, please. Further calls will be sent as we go along.
Not a GAW member? How about joining?
Not a poet? There may be a short story anthology with the suggested theme of ‘The next 50 years: Dreamy paradise or nightmare dystopia’. Editor awaited.
Caithness Pride 2025
GAW author Kevin Crowe led a march of over 1,000 people for Caithness Pride in Thurso, Britain's northernmost town, on 21 June 2025.
At the After-Pride Party he read some of his work, which was very moving.
LGBT+ Creative Writing
These workshops have been very popular with writers in person and online. The next workshop will again be at the Kings Arms in Poland Street, which proved very popular, and will commence on 4 August 2025.
See details on Events page.
As you can see, people enjoyed themselves!
We are everywhere!
Kevin Crowe and a GAW member, who contributed two stories to Flash Dances, read from the anthology at Lochaber Pride in Fort William on 1 June 2025.
This Highlands Fling is the northernmost Pride in the country and Kevin lives even further towards the Arctic Circle, in Caithness.
If you are a GAW member and would like to give us details of your news and literary activities, please contact us.
Launch of Flash Dances
Women and men of Paradise Press and the Gay Authors Workshop, plus their dogs, turned out in force on 17 November 2024 to celebrate the triumphant launch of the Flash Fiction anthology, Flash Dances.
Out of 32 authors featured in the anthology, 14 appeared and read some of their work from the book to an enthusiastic audience.
Not a bad percentage considering two of the authors are dead and some of the others are scattered as far as Chicago and the far North of Scotland, in Wick.
The launch had been bedevilled with crisis. First a mix-up over ISBN numbers, which are unique identifiers of books, delayed printing and caused postponement.
Then the original venue, the Glitch, claimed first that they had no record of any booking and then that they were double booked with another book launch.
However, with less than 48 hours’ notice we moved to The Walrus, a hostel down the road, which was full of character and had a wonderful manager, Holly.
So ‘All's Well That Ends Well’ - where do I know that phrase from?!
Photos by James Linton
Rid England of This Plague
Rex Batten's testimony to the power of gay love in England in the darkest days of 1950s witch hunts leaves an indelible memory on all who read it.
It is essential reading for all who are interested in gay history, but has been out of print for several years. Paradise Press is applying for funding to reprint 'Rid England of This Plague' both in book and e-book form.
Watch this space.
Patrick Notchtree
GAW member Patrick Notchtree, a regular contributor at the monthly Zoom gatherings, has been shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize 2024 for his novel Maxym.
This is a major American award for 'independent salient writing as well as the independent spirit of small publishers'. It carries a prize of $5,000.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) was a moral philosopher and novelist with working class roots who had a passionate interest in good new writing. We wish Patrick good luck.
Maxym got an honourable mention? We wish Patrick good luck.
Kathryn Bell
On Monday 20 May 2024 the secretary of the Gay Authors Workshop, Kathryn Bell, celebrated her 90th birthday with a visit from two members, Hastie Salih and Peter Scott-Presland.
Peter presented her with the Sappho in Paradise 2024 Award (from the Stockholm-based International Lesbian and Gay Culture Network [ILGCN]), in recognition of nearly fifty years with the Workshop since its founding, most of them as secretary.
It also acknowledged her support for her life partner, poet and writer Elsa Beckett, who died in 2015.
The two of them were also tireless campaigners for the rights of older and disabled lesbians, through the organisation GEMMA.
After the presentation, all three demolished a magnificent strawberry and cream cake before Kathryn went back to work on the GAW June Newsletter. Some people never stop!
Memories of Ivor C Treby
Ivor C Treby (always with a C) was writing queer poetry from the late 1960s onwards.
He became a founder member of Gay Authors Workshop along with Mike Harth in 1978.
It became a natural home for him, along with The Performing Oscars, a poets' roadshow of the early 1980s which also appeared on the Cabaret Stage at Pride.
This memoir, which is not complete, shows his racy opinionated style, and references many of his poems. He wrote four volumes which are now only available in archives.
Ivor himself was very conscious of creating a legacy, was meticulous in his record-keeping, and has a small but very well organised archive collection at the Bodleian Library.
Whilst ferreting around I discovered that he also turns up on IMDB as a scriptwriter for a 1972 series, But Seriously, it's Sheila Hancock. He was in good company since other writing credits went to Harold Pinter, John Betjeman, Michael Frayn, Germaine Greer, Ogden Nash and Roger McGough.
Like so many older lesbians and gays, he had a fascinating history and hinterland, if only anyone could have bothered to ask. I'm hoping this will encourage other GAW veterans to put their memories to paper for this archive section while there is yet time.
If you have memories you'd like recorded, please:
Ivor’s notes and memoriesPeter Scott-Presland
