Event listing OLD
Items are added as organisers confirm them. We take great care in compiling this list.Words on Wednesday is not responsible for running all these events. It is a good idea to check the social media or website for the event before you attend.
MAY 2026
Monday 4th May - to 10th MaySwindon Festival of Literature - For more info see https://www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk/
Wednesday 6th May
Words on Wednesday, Creative Writing Group.
📅06/05/2026 🕛 10.30am-11.30am 📍Swindon Hub, Swindon Hub, 36 The Parade, Swindon, SN1 1BA 💷Free Creative writing group, no need to book pop in! info
Open Mic for the Literature Festival
Run by Words on Wednesday, Creative Writing Group.
📅06/05/2026 🕛 2:00pm - 4:00pm 📍Swindon Hub, Swindon Hub, 36 The Parade, Swindon, SN1 1BA 💷FREE No need to book pop in, bring anything you would like to read, max 3 minutes
Poets Three
📅06/05/2026 🕛 7:30pm-9:00pm 📍Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, West Swindon, SN5 5PJ 💷£8 Concessions £7
Prize-winning poet Karen Downs-Barton PhD is an Anglo-Romani writer who, after a childhood on the move, now lives in Wiltshire. Her latest collection, Minx, explores a vibrant but precarious culture little understood by a wider society and whose traditional ways are in danger of being lost. Award-winning Gloucestershire poet Zoe Brooks is director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival. Her third collection of poems is titled Something in Nothing which places fairytale characters in a contemporary setting, revealing that fairy tales are very much not just for children. Bridport prize-winner Christopher Horton has written for Poetry London and Wild Court. His third pamphlet collection, Clutter Jar, comprises taut, emotionally charged poems that explore memory, masculinity, and technology with clarity and lyricism. For tickets info
Friday 8th May
Liden's Writer's Group.
📅08/05/2026 🕛10.30am-11.30am 📍 Swindon 105.5, The Liden Centre, Barrington Cl, Swindon SN3 6HF, UK. 💷Cost £2 per session.
A friendly local writers' group welcomes all to write along with prompts and shares every week, info
Wednesday 13th May
Words on Wednesday, Creative Writing Group.
📅13/05/2026 🕛 10.30am-11.30am 📍Swindon Hub, Swindon Hub, 36 The Parade, Swindon, SN1 1BA 💷Free Creative writing group, no need to book pop in! info
Friday 15th May
Liden's Writer's Group.
📅15/05/2026 🕛10.30am-11.30am 📍 Swindon 105.5, The Liden Centre, Barrington Cl, Swindon SN3 6HF, UK. 💷Cost £2 per session.
A friendly local writers' group welcomes all to write along with prompts and shares every week, info
Swindon Poetry Cafe Open Mic
📅15/05/2026 🕛 7.30pm-9:00pm 📍 Café Vialottie, Unit 1, Greencote House, Isambard Wy, Redhouse Wy., Blunsdon St Andrew, Swindon SN25 2NT, UK💷Cost £6.00 Organised by Tirn Curtain who offer 25% discount code for 11-18 year olds. If you are over the age of 18 and face financial barriers, just email for the code (no questions asked!) and apply it before you check out.
Local open mic to register to be on the open mic email rebecca@torncurtain.co.uk
Tickets
Tuesday 19th May
Artswords Reading Group
📅19/05/2026 🕛 7:30pm-9:00pm 📍Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, West Swindon, SN5 5PJ 💷£2
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson.
One labourer’s life journey, felling trees that feed the railways, through the American West at the turn of the twentieth century. An elegy to the beauty of a lost landscape, and an indictment of the cost of ‘progress’. For more info
Wednesday 20th May
Words on Wednesday, Creative Writing Group.
📅20/05/2026 🕛 10.30am-11.30am 📍Swindon Hub, Swindon Hub, 36 The Parade, Swindon, SN1 1BA 💷Free Creative writing group, no need to book pop in! info
Friday 22nd May
Liden's Writer's Group.
📅22/05/2026 🕛10.30am-11.30am 📍 Swindon 105.5, The Liden Centre, Barrington Cl, Swindon SN3 6HF, UK. 💷Cost £2 per session.
A friendly local writers' group welcomes all to write along with prompts and shares every week, info
Tuesday 26th May
Artswords Writers Cafe
📅26/05/2026 🕛 7:00pm-9:00pm 📍Friends Meeting House, 79 Eastcott Hill, SN1 3JF
Artswords Writers' Café, is a meeting place for new writers, experienced writers and anyone interested in writing. We chat, we read, we explore, and we discover interesting things about writing.
If you have any piece of writing you’d like to share with others, please bring it along, in hardcopy, at least tenfold. Everyone and anyone interested in writing and reading is welcome!
For further information, please contact Matt Holland on 01793 771080 or matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk
📅26/05/2026 🕛 7:00pm-9:00pm 📍Friends Meeting House, 79 Eastcott Hill, SN1 3JF
Artswords Writers' Café, is a meeting place for new writers, experienced writers and anyone interested in writing. We chat, we read, we explore, and we discover interesting things about writing.
If you have any piece of writing you’d like to share with others, please bring it along, in hardcopy, at least tenfold. Everyone and anyone interested in writing and reading is welcome!
For further information, please contact Matt Holland on 01793 771080 or matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk
Wednesday 27th May
Words on Wednesday, Creative Writing Group.
📅27/05/2026 🕛 10.30am-11.30am 📍Swindon Hub, Swindon Hub, 36 The Parade, Swindon, SN1 1BA 💷Free Creative writing group, no need to book pop in! info
Open Mic evening at The Pulpit.
📅27/05/2026 🕛 7.30pm 📍The Pulpit, 7 Devizes Rd, Swindon SN1 4BJ 💷 Free entry
An evening of poems and good company, presented in association with Poetry Swindon and hosted by Maurice Spillane and Tony Hillier. Whether you wish to recite, read, or listen, everyone welcome! Further info, if you need it, from poemogram@hotmail.com
Friday 29th May
Liden's Writer's Group.
📅29/05/2026 🕛10.30am-11.30am 📍 Swindon 105.5, The Liden Centre, Barrington Cl, Swindon SN3 6HF, UK. 💷Cost £2 per session.
A friendly local writers' group welcomes all to write along with prompts and shares every week, info
Saturday 30th May
Swindon Wordsmiths open mike-
📅30/05/2026 🕛7:30pm 📍 The Well, Abbey Meads Village Centre, Elstree Way, Swindon SN25 4YX 💷 £6-£8
Hosted by local comedian Abbie Hope. Run by Torn Curtain; Their resident poet, Rebecca Rocker, will be back to curate and perform the much-loved Audience Poem.
We'll have a stand-up set from Graeme Coulam, a comedian and writer who was praised by The Stage for his "considerable talent, high quality writing and engaging personality" in a review of his Edinburgh Fringe show. more info - and Tickets here
Sunday 31st May
Please submit by email swindonwriting@lowershawfarm.co.uk more details
OTHER GROUPS/OPPORTUNITIES FOR WRITERS
Ipsum Creative Writing GroupCharity local to Swindon delivering therapy, including art therapy, e.g. creative writing, holds a weekly writing group info
Artswords Mentoring Service
Mentoring is with Artswords' Literature Development Worker, Matt Holland.
For further information about booking a mentoring session, live or via Zoom, please call 01793 771080 or write to matt@lowershawfarm.co.uk