First Chapters: Creative Writing by New Parents

A six-week creative writing and reading group for parents in Sunderland and Washington

This summer I was delighted to be asked to run a parent and baby writing group at the Rainbow Family Hub in Washington, commissioned by Culture Start. It was particularly special as this is a place I’ve spent a lot of time over the past year entertaining my own energetic little one! I know what a difference Family Hubs make to the local community so it was lovely to play a small part in that and help them celebrate the National Year of Reading.

About the sessions

The group, which we named ‘First Chapters’, was designed to be a space for new parents to try out (or revisit) creative writing in a friendly, low-pressure way. Babies were welcome, and we incorporated lots of activities to encourage a shared love of reading, with gorgeous picture books available throughout the sessions and exercises like writing a letter to your postpartum self or your wishes for your baby’s future (a guaranteed tear-jerker 😭).

One of our six sessions took place in Washington Library, so that parents could familiarise themselves with the space and sign themselves or their babies up for a library card if they didn’t already have one. Our final session was a celebration of the group’s hard work, where they each received a booklet of their poetry and a selection of the storybooks we had shared together in the sessions (and we ate lots of cake, of course).

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The group’s first poetry booklet (left) and a shot from their final celebration session (right)

Why I loved running First Chapters

Our group of five mums were such a diversely talented bunch. Some of them had written a little before or attended other mother and baby writing classes in the region, while others hadn’t even considered that creative writing would be for them. Each of them had gone on a unique journey to becoming parents and that shone through in their writing. It was lovely to see them get to know their ow style, each other’s styles and each other’s babies and milestones, too.

Some of my favourite feedback:

"Very grateful for the opportunity to connect with my creative self"

"I've rediscovered the joy in doing something for me. I've even done a creative activity without my baby - just for me! - outside of this class"

"Very accessible"

"A friend suggested I do the group and I'm so pleased I did"

An enormous thank you to Estelle Brown and Helen Errington from Together for Children and to Lucy Rees-Harris from Culture Start who made this programme possible. Look out for updates as we are hoping to run a second iteration of First Chapters at another Family Hub in Sunderland in the new year!