Writing in Guernsey
Groups, places to write and support for writers on the island
Whether you’re starting your first story or polishing your fifth novel, this is the place to find the people, rooms, deadlines and publishers that make up Guernsey’s writing life. Run by Guernsey Books, organisers of the Guernsey Book Fest.
Writing groups
Guernsey Writers on Facebook
An open Facebook group for local writers to connect, collaborate and share work. Quiet lately, so go and say hello.
Guernsey Writers Since 1993
Meets on the third Friday of every month, 2.30–4.30pm, at Les Cotils.
u3a Creative Writing
Meets on Friday mornings, for u3a members.
Guernsey Society of Authors
A free local group for published and aspiring writers, linked to the national Society of Authors. Members get 20% off Society of Authors membership.
Places to write and research
Guille-Allès Library
Market Street, St Peter Port. Free, quiet spaces to write, with late opening until 8.30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There’s a large collection of books on writing, and a shelf of books by local writers.
Priaulx Library
Candie Road, St Peter Port. The place for local and family history research.
Guernsey Literary Festival
Workshops, talks and author events. The next Festival runs from 23 April to 2 May 2027.
The Lexicon
23–25 The Pollet, St Peter Port. The island’s independent bookshop, over three floors, with a good shelf of Guernsey titles and local authors.
Competitions
Coming up for Guernsey writers, in deadline order.
Small Treasures short story competition
The Guernsey Literary Festival’s competition for adults with a Bailiwick connection. Up to 2,500 words on the hidden value in the smallest things. £10 entry. Selected stories will be published in the next Guernsey Short Story Anthology, and every entrant gets brief feedback.
Guernsey International Poetry Competition
Poems of up to 14 lines, in Open, Channel Islands and Young People’s (age 11+) categories. £5 a poem or 3 for £12, and free for young people. Winning poems are displayed on buses and around the island.
Eisteddfod – Literary section
Poetry, prose, flash fiction, travel writing, stories for children and drama, plus a Year of the Normans class. £3 per entry, and every piece gets written comments from the judges. Hand in 9.30am–12.30pm at Les Capelles Community Centre, or earlier at the Guille-Allès Library.
Writers and Guernsey
Writers have been drawn to this island for a long time. A few worth knowing before you add your own chapter.
George Métivier 1790–1881
Guernsey’s national poet. He wrote in Guernésiais, the island’s own Norman language, and compiled its first dictionary.
Victor Hugo 1802–1885
Exiled from France, Hugo lived at Hauteville House in St Peter Port from 1855 to 1870. He finished Les Misérables there and wrote Toilers of the Sea, which he dedicated to Guernsey. Hauteville House is open to visitors in season (book a guided tour ahead), and a Victor Hugo Centre is planned for the old States Offices on the St Peter Port seafront.
E. Phillips Oppenheim 1866–1946
“The Prince of Storytellers” and a pioneer of the spy thriller, he lived at Le Vauquiédor Manor from the 1930s and died on the island, having written more than a hundred novels.
G. B. Edwards 1899–1976
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, published in 1981 after the author’s death, is the great Guernsey novel: one islander’s life told in his own voice across most of the twentieth century.
Desmond Bagley 1923–1983
The best-selling thriller writer lived and worked in Guernsey from 1976 until his death.
Elizabeth Beresford 1926–2010
Creator of The Wombles, who made her home on Alderney, in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
For young writers
WriteStuff
The Festival’s 300-word story competition for Year 3 upwards.
Eisteddfod junior classes
Poetry and prose for Years 2 to 11, usually entered through school.
Local publishers
Blue Ormer
Books celebrating the Channel Islands.
Extraordinary Editions
Beautifully produced limited editions.
Know of something we’ve missed?
Tell us
A new group, a competition, a venue, a publisher. Send it over and we’ll add it.
hello@guernseywritershub.comGuernsey Books
The Writers’ Hub is run by Guernsey Books, organisers of the Guernsey Book Fest. Follow us for news and dates.