We look forward to welcoming the following exciting new writers later in September.

		Helen Foster was born and raised in the East Midlands.  She left to study Drama and English and then film and television in London.  A varied career has included stints as an advertising creative and a secondary school English teacher.  She moved to Edinburgh in 1995 where she currently works as a heritage education officer and lives happily with her partner and their very hairy tom cat.  She began to take her writing seriously about a year ago and is about to embark on postgraduate study in creative writing at Newcastle University.
		Clare Laplain discovered the power of creative story telling working with children with severe communication disorders.  She embraced the oral tradition and so, many prize winning tales are only memories!  Having successfully completed an Open University module in creative writing, spurred on by the Waltham Forest Writers Group, she hopes to start a masters next year.  She is currently writing a performance piece with her actor husband for next year's Edinburgh Festival.
		Amanda McGrath is studying English Literature at Royal Holloway. Although she has always written and told stories, it is only recently that she has regained the confidence to consider a future as an author. She is working on her first novel and is very excited about this fantastic opportunity to improve her writing. She lives in Surrey with her lovely boyfriend, but misses her Westcountry hometown on a daily basis.
		Linda Duncan McLaughlin is currently studying for the MLitt in Creative Writing at Glasgow University.  She started writing seriously in the first place to provide starring parts for herself (she’s also an actor), but over the past couple of years has begun to realise that there might just be a bit more to writing than that…  She lives in Glasgow with a fat tomcat and understanding neighbours.
		Emma Turnbull is a displaced Geordie who has been living in Edinburgh for a little bit. She is interested in writing short stories and poetry and has had one short story published. Her favourite childhood book was ‘The Dribblesome teapots’  and her favourite grown up book is ‘The bus driver who wanted to be God’.