(Bluesky/Instagram: @madeleinefwhite)
Welcome to December. As we step into this final month of the year, I’m reminded of how naturally it invites both celebration and reflection. We look forward even as we look back, acknowledging what has been while anticipating what is coming. It feels apt, then, that within much of our Western culture this is the season of Advent, a time shaped by waiting.
Waiting, of course, is something we writers know all about! More often than not it leads to rejection, but sometimes, gloriously, we find success. With this in mind, I’m delighted to share that Lucy Kaufman, an accomplished author and playwright and a Write On! team member, launches her short story collection, Don’t Forget the Crazy – today – the first of December.
Being part of a team and a community is such a privilege, not least because we get to witness one another’s journeys. Farzana Hakim, our long-standing Thursday Connectors Editor is moving on to focus on her passion for working with diverse voices and I’m sure you will all join me in wishing her well! And, of course, Lucy’s success has given us all of us at Write On! a real sense of achievement. We’re also celebrating successes from Danny Baxter, who has been the impetus behind the 2025 Barking Revival, publishing a new poetry pamphlet as part of the celebrations and poet, Mary Walsh, who has been featured in Sainsbury’s Veteran Magazine. I’ll leave Lucy with the last word, quoted in the latest Mslexia: ‘I didn’t call myself a writer until reviewers of my work were calling me the writer, so I realised I must be.’
Turning to our Write On! programme, the latest issue of the magazine will be making its way to libraries and other distribution points on 12 December. You’ll also be able to view it on our magazines page here. I hope you enjoy the cover, which features our lead interview with eco-poet and former national newspaper journalist Sarah Westcott. We’re also looking at research on Spotlight and exploring how important it is for us writers to keep evolving our practice in step with the shifting world of publishing.
As ever, there are lovely things to look forward to this month, not least our team Christmas poem, arriving first on Write On! Audio and later on our digital pages. Have a look at what’s coming up below and, as always, stay connected and inspired. Now we’re in December, please do send us pieces around our spring theme of Choices.
In terms of our digital and audio offerings, as ever, we try to be topical as well as reflect our overall theme. You can find our submissions guidelines here.
Write On! Audio, the podcast ‘For Writers Everywhere’ connects emerging and established writers to each other, the publishing industry and a wider audience in an audio celebration of diversity, originality and excellence. 
And, of course, our autumn print issue (26) is out now, with issue 27 coming out on 12 December.
