Welcome back to an exciting year of readings, conversation, masterclasses and publication with the most inspiring short fiction writers at the Word Factory.

Broadcast News: Winning Stories and Writing for Radio – 3-4.30pm

For over a decade Di Speirs has championed the short story form in Britain. At the BBC, she has commissioned and produced short stories for Radio 4 and 3 and she runs the internationally acclaimed BBC National Short Story Award.

In an exclusive Word Factory Masterclass, Di will guide you through everything you need to know to ensure your work gets noticed and commissioned. What are the key do’s and don’t for submitting work for the award or general broadcast? What does every writer need to know about how an editor thinks? And what new trends do writers need to keep in mind? Our session will allow enough time for Di to talk about her work and take questions.

Cost: £35 per person (please purchase Salon tickets separately). Book your place here.

Short Story Club – 4.30-5.30pm
Shirley Jackson: The Lottery

When The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent hate mail; it has since become one of the most iconic American stories of all time.
Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1916, and went on to earn a reputation as “one of the 20th century’s most luminous and strange American writers”. She is a master of Gothic suspense (her novel, The Haunting of Hill House, once called “the greatest haunted house story ever written”, was turned into the classic horror film The Haunting). Joyce Carol Oates described her as “one of those highly idiosyncratic, inimitable writers… whose work exerts an enduring spell”. Jackson published six novels before her death, at the age of 48, in 1965.
The Lottery is Jackson’s best-known short story: Jackson draws us in to the dark, unsettling world of a small farming village, who come together for a terrible game of chance…

Email Sophie Haydock for more details and a copy of the story: sophie@thewordfactory.tv

The Word Factory #28 – the intimate short story salon – 6-8pm

Join us for an unforgettable evening of readings with Polly Samson and Louise Doughty. Share in the joy of new work from our apprentice Uschi Gatward and her mentor Nicholas Royle. The conversation will continue with Director Cathy Galvin, co-founder of the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.

Book your tickets here.