Celebrities are roughing it in jungles, Cliff Richard’s on the airwaves and Kevin the Carrot is back. Yes, Christmas 2024 has landed! And so too has our ever-popular Christmas Gift Guide. Here at Mslexia Towers, I’ve cracked open the Quality Street, decked the halls and drawn up my very own writerly wishlist to suit every wallet this holiday season.
Why have one gift when you can have four? I’m not being greedy Santa, I promise. An annual subscription to our magazine is not only incredible value for money, it’s a sure-fire way to receive the very best in expert advice and inspiration every single season. Each magazine you receive is a reminder – you are a writer. So, what are you waiting for? Come join us to build your craft and indulge your imagination the whole year through. Mslexia really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Curtis Brown Creative
Having seen how much my husband loved the Writing a Psychological Thriller course with best-selling author Erin Kelly, a CBC gift voucher is top of my wishlist this Christmas. Not only is CBC one of the UK’s most successful writing academies, it’s the only creative writing school to be owned and run by a major literary and talent agency. With 13 years’ experience delivering standout courses, CBC has something to suit every writer. Whether you’re wanting to get to grips with the basics, nail your genre, or get the inside story from a beloved bestselling author, you’ll be spoilt for choice. And with gift vouchers ranging from £40 to £230, which can be used as part or full payment, it couldn’t be easier to sign up for a writing course with Marian Keyes, or Kate Mosse, or David Nicholls or…
Somebody pass the Quality Street, I may be some time.
Starcroft Farm Cabins
Inspired by women’s stories, each exquisite historical hideaway is a unique creative space filled with art and books. Set amid peaceful Sussex countryside, yet only 90 minutes by train from London, you can book a self-led writing break year-round. Or perhaps indulge in one of their nurturing four-night retreats, which includes a one-to-one workshop with a writing coach, a blissful chair massage, a hand-picked book and a prescription from The Poetry Pharmacy. If making time to write is top of your wishlist for 2025, then head over to Starcroft Farm’s website for more details. Gift vouchers are available which are redeemable on any stay, writing break or retreat.
STAR: poems for the Christmas Season by Angela Graham
Christmas can be hectic, even overwhelming at times and that’s when I crave a little solitude. Finding a cosy nook to settle down and immerse myself in another’s writing is always on my wishlist at this time of year, and what could be more apt than STAR – a brilliant constellation of 32 poems to take you through the Christmas season.
In this powerful collection, meet The Three Queens, women emerging from millennia of silence; become ‘one of the everyday Magi’ travelling through ‘the dark hinterland of Christmas’ with the vulnerable, across our fragile planet; and celebrate wonder and friendship with Graham’s inventive poems. Accompanied by Martin Erspamer’s fifteen tender linocuts, this is a collection, ‘fraught with our contemporary problems and yet full of joy,’ says Gwyneth Lewis, inaugural National Poet of Wales.
Culture And Democracy Press, 2024. £10.
Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre
Tucked away in rural north Wales, Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre is in a location like no other and that’s why it’s up there on my Christmas wishlist! Sitting in between the mountains of Eryri and the breathtakingly beautiful coastline, you can be at the beach in twenty minutes or down by the river in five. With all meals taken care of and the option to have a tutored or untutored retreat, you can really tailor your stay to suit your writerly needs. So, whether you want to hide away in your quirky bedroom or spark a conversation with a like-minded soul in the historic library, Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre offers the perfect combination of provisions to allow you to find your creative muse.
The Literary Map
Christmas isn’t all tinsel and trifle. It’s often a time of deep reflection – a chance to remember those who have passed. The Literary Map Company asks the question, ‘What do we owe to the women writers who came before us?’ And the answer is much. Explore A Map of Women Writers in Britain and Ireland 10th to 20th Century and honour 132 women writers from all walks of life. With cameo biographies of extreme concision, the map invites questions about what the places in their lives meant to these writers. Alongside much-loved authors are many undeservedly neglected women writers. I’ve used the map to extend my own literary repertoire - reading books by writers I would never otherwise have picked up. And even better, I now have a list of must visit places for 2025!
A Christmas wish for indie bookshops
I love the smell of a book. If the warm biscuity scent could be bottled and sold, it would surely fly off the shelves. But even better is to experience it en masse in a beautiful bookshop. We’re lucky to have independent bookshops up and down our country that serve our imaginations and feed our souls – offering everything from advice to vouchers, subscriptions to events, even coffee and company. Nothing beats chatting with someone who’s passionate about what they do. And if there’s cake in the mix, well who am I to say no? Click here to discover the very best indie bookshops, then wrap up warm and head on out where a glowing welcome awaits.
Mslexia Diary & Planner 2025
New year, new you, new writing goals. If you set ambitious targets every Jan 1st only to veer off track before the Irish Cream is finished, might I suggest our latest Diary & Planner. If you want to make space for a more regular writing practice, push hard to finish your next manuscript, or hold yourself accountable throughout the year, our Diary & Planner is designed to help you achieve your 2025 goals. We’ve even explored the academic research into motivation, productivity and health, to select a range of techniques and hacks you can apply to your writing, creativity and wellbeing. Oh, and it works as a normal diary too! Get yours here, then relax knowing you’ve already got the new year off to the best possible start. Now who could wish for more than that?
Whatever you’re wishing for this Christmas, be sure to let us know on our socials!
Lots of love,
Jo X
