Founder of original Brighton Writers’ Retreat. Constantly trying to escape her family to write while simultaneously reaching new heights of procrastination. Sarah writes endlessly and is never satisfied. She graduated in the top 20% of her MA creative writing class at UEA, won the David Higham Award, won an Arts Council grant to complete her first novel under the mentorship of critically acclaimed author Peter Hobbs, was one of the NWS10 talented early career writers, and gained a rarely given special mention in the BBC Short Story Award and then got completely sidetracked by Writers’ HQ and helping other writers sort their shit out. Procrastination level: 100!

Anika Carpenter lives and works in Brighton, UK. Her flash fiction can be found online in various publications, including – Ellipsis Zine, Janus Literary, The Molotov Cocktail and Reflex Fiction. Her work has been shortlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Bridport Prize. You can find her via her website @StillSquirrel or at The Flash Cabin, a cosy spot on the virtual vista where she hosts online workshops and courses.

Kathy runs our Coventry retreats and also hosts online Weekend Retreats, Mini Retreats and Flash Face Off. She holds a BA (hons) and an MA in Creative Writing and has a passion for Flash Fiction, Short Stories and jammy dodgers all of which fuel her soul equally. She says she will write a novel one day but nobody believes her. You can find her procrastinating over on twitter

Aakriti runs the Birmingham Retreat. She is a PR professional and ex-journalist, writing about STEM, engineering and electronics, and gender and women issues. She is currently working on her first fiction novel. Aakriti is also an accredited mindfulness meditation teacher, and a strong advocate of yoga.

Veronique runs the Edinburgh retreats and also hosts online Weekend Retreats, Journaling and 60-min Novelling. She writes short stories, flash fiction and has recently finished her first novel. When she’s not writing you can usually find her in the cinema or on Twitter

Lexi runs the Cambridge retreat and can be seen on screen for journaling, 60-min novelling and online retreats. In a long term relationship with WHQ, she writes and procrastinates over short stories and promises this year, she WILL finish the novel she started at those first retreats in Brighton.

Melissa runs our Glasgow retreats, along with many of our online workshops from Journaling, to Flash Face Off, to the Mini and Weekend Retreats. She has a PhD in Creative Writing from Strathclyde University, a fondness for stories featuring sandwiches, and she writes fiction and creative nonfiction.