A cosy poetry workshop for pumpkin season, using ghost stories, folklore, witches and hauntings.

Scary Stories to tell in the Dark: Hauntings, Hexes and the Season of the Witch

It’s witching hour at Nottingham Central Library!

Just in time for pumpkin season, this session invites you into the otherworld: a writing workshop of ghost stories, hauntings, folklore, and the paranormal.

We’ll gather with spirits, omens, family ghosts, local legends, and the things that keep returning, asking what haunts us, what protects us, what lingers, and what does not want to be laid to rest. From folklore to more personal and collective hauntings, we’ll explore the ghostly as a way of writing about memory, atmosphere, inheritance, place, and the unseen.

Through prompts, free writing, and a little literary spellwork, we’ll begin conjuring poems and stories from shadow, trace, ritual, and return. There will be space to follow your own thread, whether it leads to something eerie, intimate, enchanted, monstrous, tender, or unresolved.

Open to all levels. No experience needed. Just bring something to write with, and come ready to raise a few ghosts.

COVEN is a series of poetry writing sessions for women and genderqueer people led by poet and filmmaker Kate MacAlister. The writing sessions developed from the Creators in Residence programme at Nottingham Central Library in collaboration with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature.

Following a fully booked workshop series exploring feminist folklore, poetry, and archival material, COVEN continues as an ongoing space for writing, reflection, and creative exchange.

Each session focuses on writing poetry, using feminist fairy tales and folktales as starting points. We will read and discuss selected texts, then respond through guided writing exercises and prompts. Some sessions may also include collage-based approaches or work with materials from local collections, such as the Feminist Archive East Midlands.

COVEN is open to all levels. No previous writing experience is required, and you are free to engage in ways that feel comfortable to you! The sessions aim to create a supportive, inclusive environment where people can experiment, develop their voice, and connect with others.

At its core, COVEN offers space to write, reflect, and build community through poetry.

You can connect with the COVEN on Instagram: @thecoven.notts

Connect with Kate: @kissed.by_fire or kate.macalister.writes@gmail.com

Description supplied by the event organiser.