Chalk Circle Writers
A group of Sussex-based writers producing fiction for publication. We meet regularly to discuss progress on individual work and to collaborate on joint projects. Our first anthology of flash fiction, STRATA - Slices through the human landscape, was published in November 2018.
STRATA 2 - Shadows on the Path, an anthology of longer stories illustrated by John Vernon Lord, was published in October 2021.
Celia Berggreen
Celia Berggreen lives in Mid Sussex, and loves spending time with her eight grandchildren. A retired teacher she enjoys seeing friends, walking, reading, and travelling. Two of her short stories have been published.
She is seeking an agent for her first novel set in Sussex and Denmark, and is working on her second, a mystery set in the local area.
Judith Bruce
Judith Buce (1936-2020)
worked as a BBC television producer before turning to writing.
Her memoir Funny How Things
Turn Out is published by
Simon & Schuster.
She lived in Eastbourne and
was an enthusiastic blogger.
Read more about Judith's life
and writing here.
Stuart Condie
After completing a Sussex University creative writing course, Stuart has written some twenty-five
short stories; three won prizes, two were placed and four published.
The Uganda Sails Wednesday was short listed for the Retreat West
first novel prize in 2018
and published by Red Door in
September 2020.
Margiad Eckstein
Margiad Eckstein was brought
up on the North Wales coast and loves its literature and
rugged landscapes.
She has been a teacher, a stand-up comedian and a baker's assistant.
She joined Chalk Circle in 2019
and is currently working on
stories inspired by Welsh history
and folklore.
Yvonne Hennessy
Yvonne Hennessy has lived in
Ditchling for over 25 years
with her husband,
film-maker Luke Holland
and their two sons.
She enjoys writing, pottery,
gardening and European travels.
She's been writing a historical
novel set in Venice for far far too long, and hopes to finish it one day.
Justine Johnstone
Justine Johnstone was born in
South Africa, lives in the South Downs and fantasies about running away to Greece, the setting of some of her stories. She has worked in publishing and academia, and is writing a psycho-eco-thriller set in a near-future Sussex where overpopulation is a little worse than at present and
psychopharmacology a little better.
Samanthi Munasing
Samanthi Munasing was
born in Sri Lanka and lives
in the village of Alfriston in
East Sussex.
She is an avid reader and
loves walking on the South Downs. Her story,
'Rice on a Banana Leaf' won third prize in the
Bath Short Story Award 2020.
Danielle Sensier
Danielle Sensier has Mauritian roots,
grew up in Yorkshire, and calls Sussex home. Her poems for children and young people are already published.
She is seeking an agent for her first novel, 'Spook House Dreams', long listed in the Mslexia Fiction Competition 2019, and is working on her second, inspired by a giant
wicker horse.
Jill Thomson
Jill Thomson lived in Lancashire, Scotland and Europe
before settling in Hurstpierpoint with her family.
She has worked in the
creative arts and as a teacher and enjoys reading, writing
and observing
the natural world. She joined Chalk Circle in 2021.