Nine writers picked from 79 entries read new work on VOICE at WRITE UP, West Kensington, on Sat 7 Nov at 7.30pm. Rosie Wilby is on the bill; tickets from £25.
Nine writers will read new work to an audience in West Kensington on Saturday 7 November, chosen from 79 people who entered WRITE UP 2026, a literary night founded in Hammersmith and Fulham that pays the writers it puts on stage.
This year’s theme is VOICE. The evening starts at 7.30pm at a venue with the postcode W14 9SA, and the bill mixes established names with people reading in public for some of the first times. Among them are comedian and BBC Radio 4 regular Rosie Wilby, the Irish playwright Naomi Elster and Angela Channell, who was the 2026 staff writer for BBC Studios Audio.
Amy Beeson, who founded WRITE UP and runs it through the community interest company Story Pod CIC, told Fulham Wire the event “creates paid opportunities for writers and brings original literature to local audiences.”
How the nine were chosen
Entry is free. The organisers’ meet-the-writers page, published on 20 October, explains why: “It gives writers the freedom to take risks, share new work and reach an audience, whether they’re established or just beginning to find their feet. But paying writers for their work takes support.”
A panel of Amy Beeson, Tom Wentworth and Emma Simpson read the 79 entries. “Choosing just nine writers was no easy task,” the page says. The panel “were staggered by the breadth of the entries this year”, and the final nine cover poetry, memoir, short fiction and dramatic monologue.
The night has a host, Lauren Powell. “If you’ve never been to WRITE UP before, don’t worry. It’s a warm, welcoming room. Lots of people come on their own,” the organisers write.
Who is reading
Rosie Wilby, Unsilenced. An award-winning comedian and Radio 4 regular, Wilby is the author of The Breakup Monologues, which has a podcast of the same name, and Is Monogamy Dead?. Her piece is an extract from her debut novel, Conversations We Should’ve Had, which the organisers say “pivots around a fictionalised version of a real-life homophobic assault she experienced after a gig.” She says: “I’m really excited to be part of WRITE UP as a way of sharing something a bit different and more vulnerable than my more comedic writing. This seems like the perfect safe, supportive, collaborative and open-minded space to do that.”
Naomi Elster, Subject. An Irish author and playwright living in London, Elster has had plays staged in London, Dublin and New York. Subject is about “a woman whose body changed medicine. But she wasn’t just a body,” the panel writes. Elster says: “As soon as I heard of WRITE UP I just knew, this was something different from a typical literary event. The concept feels very dynamic, an intoxicating yet welcoming blend of performance, writing, and community. I love the spirit of fairness that runs through it. We need more of that in the world.”
Angela Channell, The Art of Family Lore. A comedy writer-performer from Manchester who has written for TV, radio, theatre and digital, Channell reads a piece of Irish family history as told by her great great granny. “I’m very guilty of letting my personal writing stay half-formed in my notes app,” she says. “WRITE UP is a wonderful push to hone my work and share it in a warm and creative space.”
Sarah Forbes, Big Room. A singer, theatre maker and co-artistic director of HurlyBurly Theatre, Forbes trained as a classical singer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She started writing after her mother died suddenly in 2021. “As an emerging writer it is brilliant to have been given a paid opportunity to share my work and particularly thrilling to do that live with an audience,” she says. “I spent so many years training to be a classical singer and trying to pursue it as a career. Now I find myself doing something similar as a writer but with a completely new clarity that ultimately the most important thing is simply using my voice and allowing it to be heard.”
Charlotte Newman, The River Goat. An emerging writer with the London Library, Newman has been published by époque press, The London Magazine and Penguin. Her story, from a collection inspired by the myths behind the zodiac, puts Pan in front of a world “under threat of extinction”. She says: “A live reading is such an exciting way to share work, and the WRITE UP team has been so welcoming. I’m looking forward to experiencing how music, voice, and an audience help bring my story to life!”
Vee Matsumari, Binding Spell. A queer writer living in London, Matsumari won a 2025 London Writer’s Award and self-published a debut poetry collection, Only Years in the Making, in 2024. Their poem is about “being more honest and open towards fear and still doing the scary thing anyway.” They say: “Writing isn’t just the sitting-at-a-desk-alone bit, the words also come from meeting other writers, speaking to an audience, having people that support and nurture your growth and you theirs.”
Felicia Ng, Burn Rate. A writer, filmmaker and theatre-maker who grew up in Southeast Asia, Ng is in the National Theatre’s 2026 Writers’ Room cohort. Her piece looks at what happens when family tradition meets ambitions such as studying abroad. “I want to keep pushing myself to write stories that explore the complexities of family and identity,” she says.
Melanie Wold, The Wake of the Ferry. The most local name on the bill: a former journalist and editor who started as an oil price reporter in 1980s London, Wold works on her historical novel at writers’ circles in Hammersmith and Fulham. Her piece is about Dolly Sloan, an orphaned daughter of Irish immigrants who became a suffragette and the wife of the American painter John Sloan. “No writer alive is 100% confident that what they write is good,” she says. “They need someone to step up and say: ‘I like this.’ WRITE UP is that someone.”
Lucyann Muli, Self Contract. Muli’s poem recasts a legal agreement as “an act of personal reclamation”, in the panel’s words. “Taking words that began as a private declaration and sharing them in a public space feels deeply meaningful, and I can’t wait to bring this piece to an audience,” she says.
Tickets: a pledge, not a box office
There is no conventional ticket sale. Seats come through a crowdfunding page on Spacehive, run by The Story Pod, a non-profit, and the organisers’ own words are: “Your pledge is your ticket.”
- £25 to £49: a ticket, sent by email in November.
- £50 to £99: a ticket, and your name listed as a sponsor.
- £100 and over: a ticket, a listing as a patron, and a writer from the WRITE UP community seated at your table.
- £2 to £24: a thank you. The organisers say they also hold “pay it forward” tickets for anyone who asks.
When we checked the page on 26 October it showed £2,859 raised from 64 backers towards a target of £7,327 (39%), with 38 days left. The page says the project keeps whatever it raises, with pledges collected up to 2 December 2026.
According to the Spacehive page, the money pays the writers and funds a development programme around the night: mentoring, performance coaching and workshops, continuing at a WRITE UP Studio session on 6 January 2027. The page lists “15 new writing pieces, 2 live events, 2 workshops, 12 mentoring sessions” and “9 performance coaching sessions”.
What it means for you
- When: Saturday 7 November, 7.30pm.
- Where: West Kensington, London W14 9SA. Tickets arrive by email in November.
- How to go: pledge £25 or more on the Spacehive page. Lower pledges do not include a seat, but you can ask the organisers about a pay-it-forward ticket.
- Coming alone: the organisers say many people do, and the host will find you a table.
More nights out across the borough are in our What’s On section.
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