Chalk Circle remembers Celia Berggreen

We remember with great affection, our dear friend and fellow writer, Celia Berggreen who sadly passed away in April 2022 and is still greatly missed. Discover more about Celia's writing, her recent book publication and the contribution she made to our group.

Celia was a dedicated and accomplished writer, who worked hard at honing her craft. Before joining Chalk Circle in 2019, she had successfully completed The Creative Writing Programme with the University of Sussex, written her first novel, Counting in Danish and was working on a second.

Always a warm and encouraging colleague, Celia made an invaluable contribution to the group. We very much enjoyed working with her, reading her work and collaborating on joint projects. Though committed to her own writing and busy with family life, she still found time to read others' work and to give thoughtful and generous feedback.

Ever the teacher, Celia appreciated attention to detail, but always delivered her comments with sensitivity and a light touch – not an easy task to pull off but she did it! Celia also had a great sense of humour and never took herself too seriously – read her hilarious article on clichés and you’ll see what we mean.

Celia wrote beautiful and insightful short stories, three of which were published in our STRATA 2 anthology Shadows on the Path. He she is at the launch, a very happy day in November 2021, when it was a joy and a privilege to celebrate and spend time with her.

Celia sadly passed away before she was able to see her first book in print but in 2024, with the help of her family, her moving coming of age novel, Counting in Danish was published by Cranthorpe Millner and is available from Waterstones and Amazon.

Some reviews for Counting in Danish: 'A heart-rending portrayal of family, love, betrayal and grief.' - L J Jenner. ‘A highly recommended coming-of-age story following a grieving, surviving twin on a journey.' - NetGalley Reviewer.