Introduction to the First Thursday Torrington Writers' Group
When did “First Thursday”, the Torrington Writers’ Group, start? I don’t really know! I joined during 1996 when I was getting used to life on my own after my husband’s death a few year earlier and just wanted to do something different. Fran Shortridge persuaded me to give the idea a try. She was a very special chairperson whose written work I envied and her talent was evident in the brief but brilliant minutes she forwarded to each member every month. There were twenty names on the members’ list and the average attendance was around ten. After Fran resigned because of work commitments, we took turns to chair for a while. Chairman Bill Best wrote and distributed anagramatic minutes and comments. Sue Davan has chaired during recent years, but at the present time (May 2010) Iain Morrison, a comparatively new member, is ably filling the chair.
The Plough Arts Centre staff, from Anne Tattersall who was manager until 1996 and aired some of her own pieces with us, through to the present time, with the directorship of Richard Wolfenden-Brown, have always been welcoming and supportive. We meet in the Plough Arts Centre Gallery, as our current name implies, on the first Thursday of every month without fail, whether it be Torrington May Fair, Polling day or both!
Anyone is welcome to come and share their work or simply to listen and comment. Criticism can be useful. I recall one member who suggested that I should “stick to what you’re good at”, a sort of back handed compliment I hoped: I still cannot “do” blank verse!
Jean Tyler