Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales
Talking Tales
A warm, friendly story-telling / poetry / spoken word night, showcasing the talent of Bristol and beyond. Join us for stories, badges and the legendary 'Finish the Lines'.
The next Talking Tales will take place on at some point in 2025 - the date will appear here when it has been confirmed.
The image below is from Talking Tales #35, which took place in September 2024.
Where We Hold Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales
Christie, one of the writing group's founders, has opened a book shop in Bristol and we're pleased to announce that it's the new home for Talking Tales. It's called The Small City Bookshop and is located at 201 Church Road, Redfield, Bristol, BS5 9HL.
We often collaborate with Urban Word Collective – a collective of artivists and writers – for the Talking Tales events. Shaun Clarke and the rest of the UWC members regularly perform at our events.
Sadly, our original home - the LeftBank - closed its doors during the pandemic. We're very sad to see LeftBank go. It was a great venue and the staff have always been very supportive of Talking Tales since it launched. We'd like to say a big thank you to them.
The Next Talking Tales
When? To be confirmed, 2025
Where? The Small City Bookshop, 201 Church Road, Redfield, Bristol, BS5 9HL
Start time? 7pm BST, doors open 6.45pm
Deadline for submissions? To be confirmed, 2025
How do I submit to Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales? Please read the submission guidelines below.
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales Calendar
Below are other dates we have booked for future Talking Tales:
- More Talking Tales events coming soon... watch this space
Want to Perform at Talking Tales?
We want YOU to perform your work. Our submission guidelines are super-simple, much like us. Newcomers welcome!
There isn't usually a theme, but if there is, it will say so below. We're open to stories, poems, songs, spoken word - any form of creative writing.
We only have a couple of guidelines:
- Come and tell your story in whatever way you want. 7 minute slots (if you write things down, that's around 1,000 words). To secure your spot, submit your work by date to be confirmed to stokescroftwriters@gmail.com.
- Drop in spots are available on the night. If you have any questions, email us at stokescroftwriters@gmail.com.
That’s it!
We’d love you to get involved.
All readers are awarded a coveted Talking Tales Badge.
New badge design
Over enthusiasm regarding potential badge ownership when submitting will not be tolerated. Please attempt to contain your excitement. We know it's difficult, but try.
And, for posterity, here is an image of the original TT badge. These are now rare collectors items 🙂
Original badge design
More Information About Talking Tales
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales has been running for many years and we've enjoyed many a multitude of performances from writers in the local area and further afield. We record some of the events and release them as podcasts or videos on YouTube afterwards.
Join Our Mailing List
If you'd like to join our email list, please contact Chris. We send emails out before events, asking for submissions. We do not share your information with anyone, ever. You can learn more by reading Chris's privacy policy.
Stokes Croft Writers
Stokes Croft Writers (SCW) is a fiction writing group based in Bristol. We meet up every two weeks or so to share and critique our short stories, novel chapters, non-fiction pieces and anything else written by members of the group.
We are an eclectic bunch, writing everything from humour to fantasy and flash fiction to novellas & novels.
Many of the group members help judge the To Hull & Back humorous short story competition. You can read their stories in the anthologies.
SCW has also been involved with the Bristol Festival of Literature and other literary events.
SCW members behaving very sensibly at the Bath Fringe Festival
We used to have a website (www.stokescroftwriters.com) but decided to close it down in 2018. This is because all the events we run are free, so the group does not have any income. The website was costing us a lot of money every year and we weren't using it very much, so we decided to use a page on Chris's website instead.
Join Stokes Croft Writers
If you're interested in becoming a member of Stokes Croft Writers, please email Christie at:
stokescroftwriters@gmail.com
We limit the group to 8 members. The group meets sporadically in Bristol. We prefer to meet people prior to accepting them as group members, so the best bet is to come along to a Talking Tales event and have a chat with us.
If you'd like to join our email list, please contact Chris.
Current Members
This picture was taken at the inaugural Talking Tales event on 13th April 2015.
From left to right, Chris Fielden, Christie Cluett, Tom Parker, Mel Ciavucco, Nick Edwards, Steph Minns, Andy Melhuish and Leah Eades
A few changes have occurred since then. The current members of SCW are (links take you to their personal websites or social media accounts):
- Christie Cluett (founder)
- Christopher Fielden
- Mark Rutterford
- Mel Ciavucco (founder)
- Steph Minns
- Tom Pepperdine
Those That Have Left The SCW Fold
A few members have left, because we don't like them. JOKING. For various reasons, like moving away because of work, emigrating to Germany, not being able to stand Chris's unnatural hatred of incorrect use of punctuation 'for artistic reasons' etc.
They are:
- Andy Melhuish
- Anita MacCallum
- Dani Redd
- Edward Field
- Elisabeth Mizon
- Josh Keeling
- Leah Eades
- Lisette Hoffmans
- Nick Edwards
- Sophie Bishop
All of them are sadly missed, although we do still get to drink beer with some of them on occasion, which makes us very happy.
Past Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales Events
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #35 on Thursday 26th September 2024 at The Small City Bookshop in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #34 on Thursday 25th January 2024 at The Small City Bookshop in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #33 on Thursday 7th September 2023 at The Small City Bookshop in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #32 on Wednesday 10th May 2023 at The Small City Bookshop in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #31 on Thursday 23rd February 2023 at The Small City Bookshop in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #30 on Friday 23rd September 2022 at the Wild Goose Café in Bristol
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #29 on Zoom on 15th January 2022
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #28 on Zoom on 11th December 2021
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #27 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 11th February 2020
Stokes Croft Writers present the To Hull And Back short story competition anthology book launch as part of Talking Tales #26 on 10th December 2019
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #25 @ Left Bank, as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature on Tuesday 8th October 2019
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales 'Flash Fiction Extravaganza' #24 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Tuesday 20th August 2019
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #23 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Tuesday 11th June 2019
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #22 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 9th April 2019
Stokes Croft Writers present the To Hull And Back short story competition anthology book launch as part of Talking Tales #21 on 8th December 2018
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #20 @ Cafe Kino, as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature on 27th October 2018
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #19 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 16th June 2018
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #18 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 21st April 2018
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #17 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 17th February 2018
Stokes Croft Writers present the To Hull And Back short story competition anthology book launch as part of Talking Tales #16 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Saturday 9th December 2017
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #15 @ Left Bank, as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature on 28th October 2017
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #14 @ The Bath Fringe Festival, Burdall’s Yard, Bath on 2nd June 2017
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #13 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 22nd April 2017
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #12 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 18th February 2017
Stokes Croft Writers present the To Hull & Back short story competition anthology book launch as part of Talking Tales #11 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Saturday 10th December 2016
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #10 @ Left Bank, Bristol as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature on Saturday 22nd October 2016
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #9 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 13th August 2016
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #9 August 2016
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #8 @ The Bath Fringe Festival, Burdall’s Yard, Bath on 5th June 2016
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #8 June 2016 @ Bath Fringe Festival
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #7 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 16th April 2016
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #7 - 1st Birthday Party April 2016
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #6 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 20th February 2016
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #6 February 2016
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #5 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 14th December 2015
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #5 December 2015
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales (The Speakeasy) #4 @ Left Bank, Bristol as part of the Bristol Festival of Literature on Saturday 24th October 2015
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #4 - The Speakeasy @ Bristol Festival of Literature October 2015
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #3 @ Left Bank, Bristol on 17th August 2015
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #3 August 2015
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #2 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Monday 15th June 2015
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #2 June 2015
Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales #1 @ Left Bank, Bristol on Monday 13th April 2015
Podcast & Video of Talking Tales #1 April 2015
This website was established in 2011. In 2024, it was redesigned. Between 2011 and 2024, thousands of people commented on the site. I’d like to thank every person for their engagement – it’s greatly appreciated.
When the site was rebuilt, transferring comments comprising hundreds of thousands of words was not feasible on most pages. The Stokes Croft Writers Talking Tales page comments are an exception and they appear below. New comments are welcome. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions.
Lindy G
Hi Chris et al. I tried to join up having got to that bit in your book (wot I am reading like a good 'un) and despite putting my details in twice and pressing the 'submit' button, nothing happened. So am not sure if I'm now subscribed, but I would like to get the newsletter and hope to come to the talking tales event in April.
Chris Fielden
Hi Lindy. Great stuff, glad to hear you're reading the book like a good 'un.
Sorry if you're having trouble with the form. Is that the one on the SCW website? Or my site?
I've checked my email list, and you're subscribed to that. You aren't on the SCW email list, so I have added you to that one. I hope that's OK. Look forward to seeing you in April.
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