May Substack Meet Up in West London
Want to meet other Substack writers? This event is for you.
The next Substack Meet Up in West London is going to be 7pm on Monday 12 May 2025. Book your spot now.
“I can’t think of anyone more welcoming to writers and creatives than Amy Beeson…pop along if you can.”
Farrah Storr from Things Worth Knowing.
Hello, I’m Amy. I’m an author and branding and communications expert and I host really friendly events for creatives. You’ve landed on the events page of I Need To Finish This Before I Die. Since getting started on Substack last year, one of favourite activities is hosting the Substack Writers Meet Ups in West London. They are a joy, and I’ve met so many wonderful people, it’s literally changed my life.
What happens at the Meet Ups?
I’ll be there to welcome you when you arrive and introduce you to everyone (I’m usually good with names). I’ll get you your first drink as it’s included in the price of the ticket (any soft drink, Peroni, Corona, Meantime Pale Ale or Prosecco).
We usually sit at a long table in the window overlooking the twinkly lights of Hammersmith Bridge and enjoy an hour of chat, drinks and foods. Some people order a light supper, some don’t this is optional. It’s informal and lots of fun.
I’ll send all the information you need on directions and travel, timings and menus the day before we meet. Book your ticket now on for £9.92 (the price covers a drink and processing fees).
Open Mic
At 8.30pm we go to a reserved area with sofas that’s tucked away and listen to a few readings. I think a lot of writers who join us do this as a first step towards reading their work and seeing how it lands with people.
This is my favourite part of the meet up. We’ve heard memoir, fiction, poetry and film reviews so far. It’s always a really supportive and generous group even though it’s usually 75% newcomers, so don’t feel like everyone knows each other already, they don’t. Magically though, by the end of the evening it feels like a meeting of old friends.
If you’re interested in having one of the open mic spots and having the opportunity to read and discuss your work, please drop me a DM to see if there’s space.
Offer
If you’re a new annual subscriber to I Need To Finish This Before I Die, drop me a message, and I’ll give you a free ticket and buy your first drink as a thank you. (Offer ends 30 April 2025).
Once again Amy created a welcoming space for emerging and seasoned writers to come together and discuss the practice of writing, writing for Substack, and a whole host of other topics introduced by the wide range of people gathered around a table. With time for a few brave writers to read their work too, the connection and opportunity to learn from each other only deepens. Having been to several of Amy's meet-ups, I would definitely recommend!
Substack Writers on Substack Readings
At our March Meet Up we enjoyed readings from Ingrid Fernandez, Hannah Matthews, Alexandra Sara and Melina Cavella. It was a rich mix of themes on love, becoming a mother or not, parents and grief. They shared the threads of connection in how far we’ve come from the people we thought we’d be in adolescence, and the ever-changing capacity of the people we love to surprise us.
Ingrid Fernandez joined us on a visit to London from the Netherlands, but she’s actually an Aussie. Her Substack Permission focuses on what we need to give ourselves permission to do. For her it’s writing and being a mum of two boys alongside exploring ideas of mid-life and grief through essays and flash fiction. Her piece Madeira Cake painted a picture of her mum before and during terminal illness. So many of us connected with the layers of relationship and human existence in her story.
Amy creates warm and welcoming spaces for both new and experienced writers to connect. As someone without a writing group, it was so inspiring to meet and chat with other writers further along the path to me. Amy is also incredibly generous with her feedback and shares gentle and constructive advice. I'm looking forward to the next one!
Ingrid Fernandez
Hannah Matthews’s Substack I’ll decide later captures her self-critical reflections as a professional procrastinator writing on life, love and friendship. Her reading Bitter sweet baby, captured the feelings we can experience when people around us are moving through life’s milestones, and we feel that our own lives aren’t matching up expectations and social pressure. The group appreciate the risk’s Hannah took in her writing, bringing us into the less than picture perfect side of friendship.
Alexandra Sara writes Culture Drop on the best of art, film and literature. She shared her insightful and moving review of After Sun, a film written and directed by Charlotte Wells and starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Coro, which generated a discussion on the role of memoir and perspective.
Melina Cavella’s blog Girl Crush features memoir pieces on places, people and love. She read a personal account of a man and her apartment, and the search for home, and the people who feel like home. It led into a deep conversation with the group on descriptive writing and what spaces tell us about the people who occupy them.
Other Events
I’m also hosting Writing in Progress which is a Writers Circle morning in London 10am-12pm on Wednesday 7 May 2025, and a Writing & Breathwork Workshop for the Summer Solstice in London 12.30-2.30pm on Saturday 21 June 2025.
Are you coming?
Book your place now. Ticket holders will get more information on the lead up to the event. Say hello in the comments.
What a wonderful idea Amy! I won’t be in London for the May one— if you’re having one in June let me know. I used to live near the Hammersmith bridge, so it brought back memories. Have fun!
Just bought my ticket - very much looking forward to meeting you in person Amy!