Beyond The Spectrum

Writing Workshops for Adults

Beyond The Spectrum

Free Writing Workshops

For Adults

Scroll down to find yours!

New groups now available to join!

Please explore the groups below to find the one that works best for you. Too many to choose from? Drop Sophie an email at admin@beyondthespectrum.uk with the days you’re available and the writing forms/ genres you’re most interested in, and she can help you pick the best group for you.

Aoife Mannix

Aoife Mannix is a poet and writer. Her latest collection of poems, Reconstruction, was published by Flipped Eye in 2024. She has published four previous collections, The Elephant in the Corner, Growing Up an Alien, Turn the Clocks Upside Down and Cocktails from the Ceiling. She has been poet-in-residence for BBC Radio 4 and the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as working as a script editor for the BBC and for the young writers programme at the Royal Court theatre. She has a PhD in creative writing.

Tuesday Afternoons with Aoife Mannix

With Aoife Mannix and Amelia Roberts

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Jay Sandhu

Jay's work delves into identity, race, and social justice through an accessible, humorous lens. He’s also a Festival lead at Nottingham Poetry Festival and hosts diverse creative workshops and poetry and music events under Nott Another. His artistic journey started with poetry, evolving to include music and comedy, leading him to present on local BBC radio and perform nationwide as well as at festivals such as WOMAD and Shambala. He has recently had poetry published internationally by Harper-Collins and Otter-Barry books.

Wednesday Evenings with Jay Sandhu

With Jay Sandhu and Lee McShane

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Gemma Lees

I’m a Romany Gypsy, disabled and autistic performance artist, poet, facilitator and journalist. My practice focuses on protest, advocacy and telling lesser-known stories. I’m a passionate advocate for GTRSB education and inclusion, having written many educational guides and working every year to promote and celebrate GRT History Month. My poetry which embodies quintessential Northerness, confronts anti-Gypsism and celebrates my intersectional identity has been performed in venues from tiny pubs to theatre stages, often infused with live art and comedy. I’m a frequent opinions columnist for ‘Traveller’s Times’ and my poetry collection ‘1000 Years’ is available from Written Off.

Thursday Evenings with Gemma Lees

With Gemma Lees and Claire Thomas Hawnt

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Emma Robdale

Emma is a neurodivergent+ artist and researcher; her creative practices endorse mixed mediums and interdisciplinary approaches. In Canterbury she runs MixMatched collective, and is working on a cacophony of collaborative projects… as well as desperately attempting to finish her own!

Monday Evenings with Emma Robdale

With Emma Robdale and Lisa Morrison

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Antonia King

Antonia Jade King is a dedicated member of Beyoncé’s BeyHive and a doctoral candidate in the humanities department at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is a published poet with Bad Betty Press. Her PhD research focuses on the cultural and historical significance of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Her work has been praised for its depth of analysis and its ability to shed new light on well-known cultural artefacts. Antonia also teaches on Martin Luther King Jr, the Civil Rights Movement, and Malcolm X at Royal Holloway University of London.

Tuesday Evenings with Antonia King for Global Majority writers

With Antonia King and Evelyn Hunston

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Sabrina Mei-Li Smith

Sabrina is a writer, lecturer, and researcher from Leicester. She teaches Creative Writing at De Montfort University and with Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service. She has almost ten years of experience delivering creative writing workshops to all different types of groups, including street homeless people and dementia patients. Her book, 'Creative Writing for All' will be published by Bloomsbury in 2027.

Wednesday Afternoons with Sabrina Mei-Li Smith

With Sabrina Mei-Li Smith and April Wakefield

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Jeanette Burton

Jeanette is a poet and former English teacher from Derbyshire. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry Wales, The Friday Poem, Atrium, IS&T and Dreich. She has been placed in several competitions, winning first prize in McLellan (2021), Ware (2022) and Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists (2023). Her debut pamphlet, Ostriches: Ten Poems about My Dad, is published by Candlestick Press. Currently navigating a late autism diagnosis, she is delighted to be supporting the project.

Tuesday Evenings with Jeanette Burton for Adults with Lincolnshire postcodes

With Jeanette Burton and Kerri Green

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Via Macnab

Via Macnab is a freelance writer, theatre maker and storyteller. They led writing workshops to develop It Took Every Soldier, a poem of remembrance written by East Midlands Railway station adopters, staff and community rail partners, and their book Creativity in Autism, First Edition was published in February 2024 by Straightforward Co. Publishers. For the past several years, they have been an important part of the management team at Newark Book Festival.

Thursday Evenings with Via Macnab for Adults with Lincolnshire postcodes

With Via Macnab and Deborah Potter

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Jess Telling

Jess is an autistic theatre-maker, writer, and facilitator based in Manchester. Jess's debut play, Chameleon, was based on her experiences as an autistic woman. It debuted at Edinburgh Fringe in 2024, received the Keep it Fringe Fund, and was nominated for the Actually Autistic Award by Neurodiverse Review. It received two 4* reviews from EdFringeReview and returns to The Glitch for its London debut in 2025. She's also worked with SWAN Scotland and London Autism Group to encourage autistic people to return to theatre.

Thursday Evenings with Jess Telling - Writing For Stage

With Jess Telling and Careese Hutchison

WORKSHOP DETAILS

K Angel

K Angel is an autistic trans/non-binary writer, performer, and researcher from the American Midwest. Shortlisted for the Virago Furies Competition, their projects across form and genre play with myth, consent, chosen family, and metamorphosis interruptus. Recent projects include The Road Again: a post-apocalyptic queer cowboy musical, CLUSTERFLUFF (a circus and cabaret celebration of queer nightlife history across the UK), and the poetry collection Another double text, forthcoming from kith books.

Wednesday Evenings with K Angel for LGBTQ+ Writers

With K Angel and Jess Telling

WORKSHOP DETAILS

beyond the spectrum writing workshops

Want to know more?

If you want to know more about how the groups work you can read our FAQs page. or contact admin@beyondthespectrum.uk.

Click here to have a look at some of the work written by our previous members.

We also have a social story about how to join an online session – click here to learn more.

Why join BTS?

Our members join our writing workshops for lots of different reasons: to find a creative outlet for their emotions, improve their writing and make lasting friendships – to name a few. Everyone has different reasons for joining and needs to be met. And it’s up to you to decide what you want to get out of Beyond The Spectrum! Regardless, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in each of our creative writing workshops.

The adult writing workshops are for Autistic writers aged 18 and over. You don’t need to be formally diagnosed to join. And although some of our online groups have a specific area focus, if you are not from that exact area but you’re interested in the group, we’re happy for you to sign up.

Make friends Express yourself Write together

Our Beyond The Spectrum writing workshops for Autistic adults meet at least once a month to socialise, write together and express themselves creatively. You can choose whether to join one of our online creative writing classes or one that meets in-person. Beyond the Spectrum groups are 100% free to attend.

Each creative writing group takes place on a different day/time of the month (weekday evenings) and is run by a Lead Writer and a Shadow Writer, each with lived experience of Autism. You can find out more about each workshop and their leaders above.

A typical writing workshop might start off with space to catch up, followed by writing exercises on a chosen topic and the opportunity to share work. Learn more about how the groups work by clicking here.