Miranda published her first novel, Far From Home, earlier this year. It has been widely welcomed as a gripping page turner—a light-hearted read but with some deeper threads running through it. Miranda spent twenty years working in communications. Since then, she has graduated from the Faber Academy, studied psychotherapy and edited two books on Buddhist teachings. She has a daily meditation practice and is a reiki and crystal healing practitioner. She has travelled widely and has become knowledgeable about comparative religion. She lives in Chale Green, Isle of Wight, with her family and spaniels. She spends as much time as she can on the sea.

Far From Home is a story about identity, motherlessness and loss. Three young friends, Joe, Alex and Emma, facing the challenge of their early twenties with changing relationships and unsolved mysteries from the past: a struggle to find the truth whatever it takes. When a boy crashes a bike on a mountain road in Nepal, and a girl in London starts investigating what really happened to her mother all those years ago the truth starts to reveal itself in a dangerous adventure that takes us from Devon to London, across Central Asia, India and Nepal. Can their friendship survive? Can THEY survive? Where does the truth actually lie?

mirandaaclandwriter.com

Miranda has lived and worked on the island for over forty years , primarily as an artist , teacher and Reminiscence Facilitator, delivering workshops in Residential homes. She has surprised herself by writing her first book at the age of 77 and has found  travelling on her own reminiscent journey a profound , interesting and an all-consuming experience, but one which she has very much enjoyed.

My Name is Not Matilda: An autobiography. A farmer's daughter originally from Norfolk who went to boarding school at the age of seven . She trained as a dressmaker and dabbled with a career as a photographic and cat walk model in the 1960s. She, and her then husband, decided to go on an adventure. They built a 39ft trimaran and, never having sailed before, she was not quite sure what she had signed up for. But, having travelled extensively, they eventually  crossed the Atlantic together. The voyage took twenty-seven days. Their cruising life came to an end after six years, but Miranda has continued to live an interesting, varied and meaningful life, never missing an opportunity for the next big adventure . Her illustrated book vividly captivates moving stories from her childhood, memories of the golden olden days, her sailing experiences and much more from the post war years to the present day.

My working life started in Civil Engineering, but I left after four years and became a postie. In 1973, I was fortunate to transfer to Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Over the years, I progressed through the ranks of The Royal Mail until early retirement. On retiring, I went on to be a professional story-teller for both Island and mainland schools. During these years I was also a Watch Leader on Tall Ships and one of HMS Victory’s cutter crew. My life and career have been full of unplanned and unexpected adventures. Fortunately, they still continue to this day.

I am in a French hospital and my life seems to be slipping away. Before I lose consciousness, a thought comes into my mind. Our travel insurance expired the day we left on our holiday. I survived. However, the life threatening illness left me unable to continue as one of the crew of HMS Victory’s cutter, or ever climb aloft on a Tall Ship again. It was a struggle to cope during the 18-month recovery period. Our daughter said, “How about writing about your times as a postie and a Watch leader on the Tall Ships when the grandchildren thought you were a Pirate.” Who would have thought writing could be so therapeutic. The words started to appear on the blank pages as a light-hearted stroll through an unexpected journey of amazing experiences to become a published book.

I came to the Isle of Wight to prepare an archaeological survey, published in 1980 as 'The Vectis Report'. Later, I researched historic parks and gardens for the Isle of Wight County Council and wrote a book on that subject. I am a founder member of the Isle of Wight Gardens Trust and have completed a PhD on 'The Isle of Wight in the English Landscape'.

This book described for the first time the valuable heritage of historic parks and gardens possessed by the Isle of Wight. Although published in 1989, it has not been superseded by any more recent book on the subject. The Isle of Wight Gardens Trust still has a limited stock of the publication and it will be sold on behalf of the Trust.

Jill is an experienced counsellor (B.A Hons) who has worked with people from all walks of life. For the last twenty years she has specialised in weight loss and weight management, helping people to explore their relationship with food and transform their lives for the better. Her unique insight stems especially from two decades as airline cabin crew, and coping with her own fatigue triggered overeating. More recently she became a carer for her mum, reigniting some of the old comfort eating challenges along the way.

Overeating Unplugged  takes people beyond the usual concerns of calorie control, exploring the social, emotional and physical aspects of our lives and making sense of what drives our eating habits: This highlights our relationship with food, and how to stop falling into the same habits, again and again. 

Following its practical guidance helps to create a powerful eating behaviour blueprint that is unique to each of us, putting us back in charge of our eating, our weight management and our health.

Ellie Philpott grew up near the East Kent coast. Some of her earliest memories are of digging for shellfish along the shoreline and sailing with her father in his hand built dinghy. Her working life began at the BBC’s Foreign Affairs Unit, followed by a spell at book publishers, Hodder & Stoughton. She then went on to edit and write for an interior design magazine, before spending five years as Communications Manager for an international human rights agency. Her work took her all over the world, interviewing and writing articles on people suffering religious persecution. She has now swapped the Kentish coast for the Isle of Wight and spends her time writing and as a communications specialist. Her ‘spare’ time is spent on the beach with her husband and Ziggy, their crazy Hungarian Pumi dog.

Shipwrecks Happen is a beautifully crafted story of love, loss and renewal. It is peopled with characters that will remain with you long after you have turned the final page. When Catherine inherits the huge Art Deco house at Gull Cove, she is amazed. The house is a legacy from her Aunt Ozzie, but Catherine believed Ozzie had died many years previously, and she had no idea a family home existed. The only people who can help Catherine solve the mystery of her family are Ozzie’s grace-and-favour tenants: Isaac, a retired local fisherman; Milly, an elderly actress who had been a close friend of her mother’s; Toby, an artist who suffered a breakdown when his wife left him some years previously and his young son Noah, who refuses to attend school and spends most of his time running wild on the beach with his dog Oscar.

  www.elliephilpott.com  Instagram - @elliephilpottauthor  X - @ellie_philpott_

Born in Lancashire, Heather has lived on the Isle of Wight since 1981. She has worked in publishing, for the National Trust, and in the NHS.

Her first novel, Stealing Roses, is set in Cowes in the mid-nineteenth century. Her latest novel is Arresting Beauty.

Based on real events, Arresting Beauty follows the extraordinary story of Mary Ryan, who was found begging on Putney Heath at the age of ten by the celebrated Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia takes Mary into her magnificently bohemian household. When Julia decides to move to Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, Mary - clever and rebellious - finds herself poised uncomfortably between two worlds. 

@heathercooperauthor   Heathercooperauthor.co.uk

I was born in Binstead and lived here until 18 then ended up in Middlesex. I had a successful career centered around Swimming Teaching, Tutoring, Training. I also wrote many articles for various magazines. On returning to live on the Island with my husband, I got back into writing and in 2016 wrote 'Isle of Memories' which was my biography. Then during lockdown, after doing the research and remembering what my parents had told me, I wrote A Red Sky. Such was the interest from readers I wrote two more books, Sparkles in a Navy-Blue Sky and There will be Blue Skies.

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A Red Sky is set in WW2 and is the story of two 10 year old evacuees from Portsmouth. The story begins in May 1940 when Lindy arrives and lives in Little Bridge. She befreinds her neighbour, Reggie, who came over in late 1939. Despite the hardships, dangers and with air raids and war planes flying overhead the children have many adventures.

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www.jocooperbooks.com

I'm a retired academic (mostly with the Open University) with several non fiction publications. At age eighty-one, I have published my first novel and am now working on a second. I grew up in Hampshire and live on the Island, where my family originates from.

Dangers, Toils and Snares charts the life and times of Jaroslav (Jiri/Jerry) Zellek, (1895-1963). Born in provincial Austria, Jeri is a synesthete, gifted musician and linguist and his experiences take him to Germany, London, the Isle of Wight and finally rural Hampshire. These locations offer him alternative paths in life, often with alternative partners. Jiri’s sexuality is ambivalent; not a problem in 1920s Berlin, but more so in post-war England. Although never an intelligence agent, Jiri is involved as both fall-guy and hitman with a group who are based on the infamous Cambridge Spies. As the story progresses, family secrets will cast doubt on his closest relationships. Jiri is an unpredictable, solipsistic character, but his unusual internal monologues about the situations he finds himself in and his enduring ability to come out on top keep the reader on his side. The novel is an entertaining read with witty dialogue and surreal situations. The tone is decidedly quirky and will keep you guessing until the very end.

Rosie worked for twenty years in full-time chaplaincy roles, in prisons, a university and a hospice. She is now self-employed as a reflective supervisor and supports other people who are involved in vocational work. Her first book, which was published in 2019, draws from her chaplaincy experiences. She is currently writing a narrative non-fiction about a holocaust survivor and a novel which is set on the Isle of Wight.

Rosie worked as a chaplain in HMP Isle of Wight and Mountbatten Hospice. She draws on her extensive experience of pastoral care to reflect on the taboo subjects of dying and death. This is an insightful book for anyone who is reflecting on their mortality, as well as those who support people who are dying and those who have been bereaved. 

Felicity Fair Thompson has an MA in Screenwriting from UAL. She has taught Creative Writing for Screen South, Connexions, Isle of Wight Council, Isle of Wight College, and alongside Sir Andrew Motion for the bi-centenary celebrations for Alfred, Lord Tennyson. She writes for the screen and has been awarded numerous international accolades for her work. Her documentary “Carisbrooke Castle” was broadcast on SKY TV in 2009. Three of her other fourteen travel films made for the retail market were shown on Australian television.

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 Her published writing includes Grandpa’s Dear Old Girl, with illustrations by the artist Carolyn Pavey (published September 2021 by Beachy Books), Hold Tight, Cutting In and The Kid on Slapton Beach. Her memoir The Lights of Leicester Square – The Golden Years of Cinema (published 2022) is about her years working in the Odeon and Leicester Square Theatres. Felicity will present The Kid on Slapton Beach at the IWLF. 

The Kid on Slapton Beach is about young US servicemen flooding into Britain in WWII, completely new to war. Twelve-year-old Harry is one of them, but his most precious possession—the only photo of his father—is left behind, and he goes back for it. In April 1944, in the disastrous D-Day rehearsal Exercise Tiger at Slapton Sands, nearly a thousand men died. It was just five weeks before D-Day. And Harry is on that beach… Felicity wrote and directed a 30-min film, titled, 80 Years On, based on the characters in this novel. This was shown at various venues throughout the UK in 2024. Her film script, On That Beach,  also adapted from the novel, was semi-finalist in the Miami Screenplay Awards May 2023. It was also Finalist, and Award winner in four more International Film Festivals.

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Socials - @ffair77   @felicityfair.thompson1

Mary Grand lives on the Isle of Wight and is published by Boldwood Books. She writes cosy crime / whodunnits set on the Island (available in digital, paperback and audio format). To date, around 139,000 copies have been sold. The House Party (set in Carisbrooke and Freshwater) was a bestselling standalone. Her new series introduces amateur detective Susan Flynn in Death at Castle Cove. Published this year, A Christmas Murder is inspired by stunning Mottistone Manor. All books can be borrowed from local libraires, or purchased from Medina Books in Cowes, Waterstones, or on Amazon. 

In A Christmas Murder, Susan agrees to spend Christmas helping hotel owner Meera run the refurbished and luxurious Bishopstone Manor. The group of guests is small. Infamous press mogul Duncan Fern has come to celebrate Christmas with his grown-up children and their partners, along with his glamorous new wife Kirsten, and editor of his paper, Antoine. When a snowstorm descends over the island and a body is found the following morning, Christmas at the Manor takes a darker turn. Knowing a murder has been committed, Susan is determined to find the killer. Each guest harbours secrets they are desperate to hide, including Duncan’s family who stayed for a number of years on nearby Mottistone Downs, close to the ancient Longstone. Can Susan get to the bottom of the mystery before the murderer strikes again? 

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My blog. marygrand.net     X - @authormaryg   Facebook - @authormarygrand/MaryGrand  Instagram- @marygrandwriter

Standish Cope has written for over fifteen years. His works include a radio play, an audio-story for the Green Curtain Theatre Company, poetry, and a number of peer-reviewed journal articles on complementary medicine. Standish Cope’s preferred genre is the historical novel. The Rift is his first endeavour in this regard.

The Rift portrays the gripping clash between black and white, the oppressor and the oppressed, in which the contrasting experiences of Judge Edward Stephens & Munthu Mkesi, a Kikuyu farmer and freedom-fighter, are intertwined amidst the struggle for land and freedom during the so-called Mau Mau uprising against British imperialism in late-1950s Kenya.

Instagram - @hscharrison

Ian Caro was born in Castleford and lives on the Isle of Wight. He has worked as a stage manager, a lighting designer, a ghost writer and a lawyer. He currently provides pre-publication legal advice to a number of national and regional news publishers. The Overlooked is his first novel.

George Orwell imagined a world where Big Brother is always watching. But what if Big Brother doesn’t care and no one is watching? Alex Winstone lives his life as if he’s constantly being watched. The Overlooked is the story of what happens when he discovers he’s not. Set in a world much like our own—where morals are malleable and facts are whatever anyone can be persuaded to believe—this pithy novel is a study in anxiety and an examination of truth in the age of tabloid churnalism. The obsessive, insistent, fractured narrative is edgy and tense—Nineteen Eighty-Four reimagined by the lovechild of Chuck Palahniuk and Ernesto Sabato.

A daydreamer turned storyteller, Julia loves to pen playful tales for little ones and witty, thought-provoking musings for the “slightly” grown-up. Her whimsical writing style prompts laughter and curiosity in children and inspires insightful, reassuring reflection in adults. Her first book, The Barefoot Indian (published by OBooks)—described as 'Bridget Jones meets Illusions and The Alchemist—received international acclaim, with foreign rights sold in numerous countries.

The Dolphin who wants to be a Mermaid is the story of a young dolphin who goes overboard trying to model herself on a beautiful mermaid. Will her makeover go swimmingly, or will it sink without trace? Travel with Daisy the Dolphin and her friends on this hilarious and heartwarming journey of self-discovery. Smiles and giggles are guaranteed in this illustrated, rhyming children’s book about feeling happy and confident in your own skin.

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Facebook - @JHeywoodAuthor  Instagram - @julia.heywood

Simon Howes lives in Fishbourne, Isle of Wight. He is a retired stockbroker and married with three children. During his 68th year, and against all the odds, he rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, solo and completely unassisted from Europe to St. Lucia, a distance of over 5,300 Kms. In the process he raised over £100,000 for the Isle of Wight Red Squirrel Trust, without any corporate sponsorship. He broke the record for a transatlantic solo row to St. Lucia by 43 days. He also became the second oldest independent solo rower in history to row across any ocean on the planet. 

An impulsive purchase of a 25-foot ocean rowing boat inspires the journey of a 67-year-old Englishman to row the Atlantic Ocean on his own. A most unlikely sportsman, with no rowing experience whatsoever, his journey is charted in Atlantic Rower from preparation to completion. He suffers many disasters and setbacks, but his resolve and humour eventually enable him to fulfil his dream. His account, in his own words, is a highly amusing chronicle of his adventure. Against the odds, he defies the doubters and proves that with true grit and determination even an old bloke can conquer an ocean. In doing so, he raises over £100,000.00 for a local charity, The Isle of Wight Red Squirrel Trust. The book contains 28 high quality colour photographs. A truly inspirational read.

A married couple of creatives who write together and separately on a wide range of topics, from child development and emotionally aware parenting skills to mindfulness and memoir, and to fiction and poetry. 

A derelict house; a newly-married, second marriage couple in their forties; a couple of ghosts—what could possibly go wrong? Renovating an historic Georgian house on the Isle of Wight becomes a source of much hard work, much laughter and much turmoil as this couple take on the dream property. Do dreams come true? Do they turn into nightmares? No one knows what twists and turns life may make along the way, but for seventeen years they ride the storm, share their joy, teach mindfulness, and then it comes to an end.

I taught History at Medina High school from 1979 to 2011. I sing and write songs for the Brighstone Barnacles and have released an album of songs about IOW history. I have written twelve novels, mostly available on Amazon: Donalbain [the sequel to Macbeth], a series of five dystopian thrillers and, most recently, a series of five thrillers featuring Lydia Twomey of MI5. I've written short stories (25 on YouTube), three histories, a book on Listed Buildings, and several plays and musicals.

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Shadow of a Shadow is a closed room murder mystery, and political thriller. Lydia Twomey is the ‘modern suffragette’ sent down to H11 to investigate the death of one of the staff who has supposedly died in an auto-erotic accident. H11 is an archive of material so sensitive that it is housed in the deepest basement of MI5’s London HQ, electronically unconnected to the outside world. It is staffed by MI5 rejects and oddballs—“we’ve all been sent to the naughty step for something”. Lydia discovers a plot that will threaten Britain’s democracy and threaten her own life.

Born and bred on a dairy farm on Isle of Wight, Harriet J Kent is a lover of dogs and horses. She spends a lot of time daydreaming. 

It’s seventeenth-century Isle of Wight, where smuggling of contraband goods is rife.  Smuggler’s daughter Kitty is tasked by her father to find work to pay towards the next haul. Kitty is only interested in finding her dream man. Fraught with danger, trouble and misfortune, can she fulfil her dream? 

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X - @harrietjkent

Diana Kimpton has written 40 books for children, including picture books, chapter books and non-fiction, as well as some non-fiction books for adults. Many of her books have been translated into other languages and her Amy Wild—Animal Talker series is very popular in Japan. 

There Must Be Horses: Sasha’s love of horses has been the only constant during her turbulent life in care. When yet another move takes her to a farm that retrains troubled horses, she's sure she’s found her perfect home. But she can’t stay. The couple who run the farm have only agreed to take her for a little while, and they only did that reluctantly. Can Sasha persuade them to change their minds and let her stay forever? And can she do it before her social worker moves her yet again—this time to a place without horses?

www.dianakimpton.co.uk

Dr Andrew Lee has a doctorate in Social Geography from the University of Oxford. He has spent his career teaching young people to think. He taught at Westminster, St Paul’s and Wetherby Prep schools in London, the Dragon School in Oxford; Sydney Grammar and Trinity Grammar schools in Australia; and Dulwich College in Shanghai. This book contains stories he wrote to bring out the best thinking in his pupils. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and lives on the Isle of Wight.

Continuous Blinking: Critical Thinking stories for Clever and Determined Young Thinkers is a book for young people who are wanting to develop their critical thinking skills. It comprises fifteen stories with questions on each story at the end of the book. It is designed for children, for teachers of critical thinking, for parents, grandparents and family members to provide for younger members of their family or social network. The stories are quirky, idiosyncratic and designed to make young people think differently, and to challenge their thinking. The stories can be approached individually, in a class, or with an adult or peer. The book might be used in schools, in critical thinking classes, clubs or groups, with parents, family or friends, or read by anyone for pleasure.

X - @akl360

I have written 7 books in the Young Lions series: Young Lions; Young Lions Roar; Young Lions Hunt; Young Lions Attack;  Young Lions Prey; Young Lions Feast; and Young Lions Pride. I have written two other books in the YL series and I am currently writing the tenth. 

Young Lions is the story of two teenage British boys in a Britain occupied by the Germans, which might have happened if the Nazis had successfully carried out their plans to invade Britain under Operation Sealion in the 1940s. Alan Mitchell and Sam Roberts study at St. John’s Academy in the fictional Cambridgeshire town of Hereward. Their Home Guard unit is defeated and the S.S. Massacre the prisoners, but the boys escape and return to German occupied Hereward. They deal with such challenges as an older sister with an S.S. boyfriend, the British resistance, fascist collaborators and the German occupiers. They decide to fight against the New Order, which results in murder and mayhem, chaos and carnage, and culminating in the boys’ assassination attempt against the puppet King Edward VIII.

Edmund Matyjaszek has published four titles: two poetry and two prose, and a play The Consultation. He has twice been a prize winner, is an accomplished performer and reader. He was Director of National Poetry Society 2004-2007.

For as many years as anyone can remember, red squirrels have lived in peace and tranquillity on the Isle of Wight. Then a report comes: their deadliest enemy, the grey squirrel, has managed to gain a foothold on the island. A way of life going back centuries is under threat! The animals of the island can’t stop the greys on their own. They needed help. The emblematic guardian of the Island, the High Heron of Wootton, has a plan. One night, he sends Red, the Island squirrel, to the window of a lonely schoolboy who lives near the sea…

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This tale of a kingdom of animals and humans, combining to defend all that they love, ranges across the farms, forests and downland of the Isle of Wight to remind Islanders of their home, and those who have yet to visit what is in store for them…

Cheryl May is a playwright, poet, performer and writer living on the Isle of Wight. She also writes under the name Cheryl Barrett and has published over a hundred scripts, with Lazy Bee Scripts, Stage Scripts LTD and NODA. Cheryl has facilitated script writing courses and runs ‘The Write Place’, a twice-monthly writing group at Freshwater Library, which she established two years ago.

Cheryl is a regular performer at Wight Lines and is part of the Triple Crones, a troupe of poets and storytellers who perform on Isle of Wight. 

Cheryl’s first book of poetry Not Just Desserts was published by Naked Figleaf Press earlier this year. As well as comedy scripts, Cheryl is writing Talking Reds, a book of short stories. In conjunction with Jean G-Owen and Sandy Kealty, she features in a book based on Triple Crones performances, which is due out in November. 

Not Just Desserts is set out as a four-course menu. This debut poetry collection is jam-packed with tempting gems to whet any appetite. Drawing on fond memories from her food-loving family, efforts at dieting, and travel titbits among other topics, Cheryl’s poems are full of zest and flavour. The proof is in the pudding when it comes to this funny lady’s relish for poetic decadence. 

www.cheryllbarrettwriter.co.uk

Daney Parker has loved working with words for as long as she can remember. She is delighted to make a living from her passion: copywriting, publishing in magazines, and now writing domestic thrillers. Her debut novel The Push Over is available on Amazon. Her follow-up is another domestic thriller Deady. Daney procrastinates, and occasionally writes sitting at a desk overlooking the sea at Ryde.

The Push Over: when reporter Grace investigates the killing of a cyclist, memories of another murder begin to possess her—a murder she committed. While we know the murderer, who is the victim? A Samaritan volunteer receives a call at 2am from a woman called Grace, saying she has killed someone, the Samaritan suspects the call is a hoax. But this is no hoax. Grace is a murderer, just not someone you would ever suspect. In this twisty domestic thriller, Grace confesses the reasons for her crime of passion on her wedding day and why each one of four possible victims pushed her to her limits, before she pushes one of them to his (or is it “her”?) death from the luxury cruiser where her reception is being held. Meanwhile, in the peaceful Surrey town where Grace works as a reporter, there are strange goings on. Cats go missing, a cyclist dies, and it looks like these events could be connected to an old lady called Iris.

www.daneyparker.co.uk   Instagram - @parkerdaney   X @daneyparker

Alan Robert Phillips was born in Cardiff. He moved frequently in his early years, and attended over ten different schools, because his father was in the Royal Engineers. He was Librarian at Bembridge for five years in the 1970s, having completed his traineeship in the old IoW County Seely Library based in Newport. He was an early environmental campaigner on the Island in the 1980s, and has lifelong interests in folklore, myth, archaeology and religion, and especially the interrelationships between them. Alan lived with his wife at St Helens (IoW) for 26 years before eventually moving to Shorwell. He has now lived on the Island for over fifty years. He originally took a BA Honours in Philosophy at Cardiff University, and more recently an MA in Celtic Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter, where his thesis was on Welsh Harvest Traditions. He is the author of Cock & Bull Stories: Animals in Isle of Wight Folklore, Dialect and Cultural History.

I’m Blessed Well Jokin’! presents a collection of interviews with fifteen villagers who, when recorded in the 1970s and 80s, were in their eighties and nineties, and their collective memories of Old Bembridge stretch back to the latter years of the nineteenth century and turn of the twentieth. Their quality, age and humour make them totally unique. Topics covered include schooldays, ‘characters’, old village shops, fishing, farming, coastguards, smuggling, lifeboats, entertainments, pubs, piloting, and many more. As well as detailing the interplay between local residents and the upper class, these reminiscences provide insights into the resilience of ordinary individuals in a rural village on the Isle of Wight in the Victorian and Edwardian period, while the stories and larger-than-life characters are always recalled with affection and genial good humour, and an obvious love of the old village.

Facebook - @alanphillips

I started life as the only child of divorced parents and then contracted TB. After being cured, I attended a primary school in Essex and won a scholarship to a public school. I went on to the Universities of Leeds and Cambridge to study and research in engineering. After three years as a university lecturer, I returned to Cambridge to read medicine, then to Oxford—all on scholarships! I became a surgeon and was appointed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1985 as a consultant plastic, hand and burn surgeon. I was involved in working in wars, disasters and working around the world. I have worked or taught in 46 countries and operated in 25. I retired from the NHS in 2001 and then worked for the MoD. I stopped teaching three years ago—and started writing my memoirs. 

Plastic Surgery in Wars, Disasters and Civilian Life gives a history of my experiences in four wars and six international disasters. There are also chapters on my other work around the world, on my research and on my medico-legal work.

Julia Ross has worked as a nurse, social worker and mediator and held the position of Director of Social Services in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham for ten years. She worked in the digital world learning about AI & predictive analytics before becoming Chair of the British Association of social workers (BASW UK) from 2022-2026. Julia is passionate about writing and has previously published two books: When People Die, a book on death for children and Call the Social, a novel published in 2022. Julia lives on the Isle of Wight where The Laughing Robot is set. She currently chairs the island Organ Donation Committee.

The Laughing Robot: In a near future world where robots are becoming increasingly prevalent, recently widowed Anna grapples with grief, betrayal and an uncertain future. Her relationship with her two children, Evelyn and Stanley, becomes complex as she negotiates the best way forward. Living on the Isle of Wight, Anna grows increasingly feisty as she finds herself drawn into an experimental robot companionship programme. She negotiates a treacherous web of political and corporate interests, while fighting to maintain her dignity and independence, and all as the truth about the programme unrolls. Poignant and funny in equal measure, the story is about aging and the very nature of what it means to be human.

I was born in southeast London and have lived on the Isle of Wight for many years. I'm married with three adult daughters,  and three grandchildren. I've always enjoyed writing, especially sci-fi and fantasy stories. My dream has been to write a fantasy series combining many things I enjoy, in particular, my deep love for the Island and its history. So I decided to write and set my fantasy series here on the Isle of Wight, in the early 19th century. It includes  many places and landmarks we all know and love. I have released the first two books of the series so far and am currently writing the third.

The Wyght Island Chronicles, Book 1: The Piper is an exciting new fantasy series set on the Isle of Wight in the early 19th century. When Thomas Smith and his family move to the town of Brading, they are hoping to have found a place they can finally call home. Unfortunately, trouble has a habit of following them; and follow them it does. The Smith family encounter murder, treachery, and betrayal within the small town, but this is overshadowed by an infestation of rats. The town, however, has a saviour. The one known as the Piper……or so they think.

Instagram account - @matthew_ryan_iow

I was born and raised on the Isle of Wight and have lived here all my life. My debut novel Ted’s Cafe was published in 2021 and received reviews from the likes of award winning authors Jonathan Coe and Patrick Kincaid. My interests include nature, local history, reading, music and Southampton FC.  

Ted’s Cafe is the only place left open that the men visited in their youth; a cafe founded by a Greek Cypriot and his son, who fled post-referendum. It is now run by Jasiek and Danka, a Polish couple who are unsure of their future in a polarised Britain. David’s journal follows post-work life with more upheavals and surprises than he expected. He records the special relationship he has with his friends. They talk about the past, are bewildered by the present and unsure of the future in unprecedented times of change and upheaval. Can David find love again in his strained marriage, learn to be happy in retirement and make sense of an uncertain post-Brexit future with coronavirus on the horizon? A contemporary novel about politics, the state of the world, friendship, retirement and romance.

rogerjsanders.wordpress.com

Lisa was born and raised on the Island. Only leaving to study at Reading University, she returned to take up a job in the public sector. Twenty-three years and three professions later, she still works for the same organisation. In 2023, Lisa published her debut poetry collection of poetry The Shaping of Me, which explored themes of sexuality, identity, and growth, It follows a journey from ashes and flames to flight that is at once recognisable and thought- provoking.

This year Lisa will release her second collection, The Breaking of Me, which delves more into her experiences of anxiety, depression, relationships and sexuality. Lisa describes her work as raw and honest. She aims to connect with the emotions and senses of the reader, allowing them to see themselves in her words so that they realise that we are all connected by our emotions and experiences; that to face our fears and to live our truths will set us free. 

When not writing poetry, learning to paint watercolour,  steeping gin or making jam, Lisa can be found enjoying the delights of the countryside with her wife Zara and two rescued Norse Gods, Thor and Loki.

Facebook - @LisasPoetry;  X and Instagram - @lisa_ss_poetry

Sue Shepherd was born in Harrow, she then spent several years living in Hertfordshire before, thirteen years ago, taking a leap of faith across the Solent to picturesque Isle of Wight. Sue lives with her two sons, and their two dogs, a Standard Poodle named Forrest, and a Cavachon called Sky.

Now writing under the name S E Shepherd, Sue’s first crime novel, Swindled, Book 1 in The Sandlin PI Series was published in September 2021 by Hobeck Books. Swindled is winner of a 2022 Chill with a Book Premier Readers' Award. 

Sue will be presenting Swindled at the festival this year. The novel is a tale of how the strong bond of friendship can overcome the darkness of deception. It is a gripping thriller that you won’t want to put down. The second in the series, Cousin Ash, was published by Hobeck Books in August 2022. The third, New Memories was published by Hobeck Books in August 2024.

Sue has also written three RomComs, which are available as eBooks, Doesn't Everyone Have a Secret? which reached the top ten UK Kindle chart in 2015, Love Them and Leave Them, and Can’t Get You Out of My Head. 

X - @thatsueshepherd. Facebook - @SueShepherdWrites

Steve is a retired teacher who started writing comic verse to entertain his students while working as an outdoor education tutor. He has expanded his repertoire to cover a wide range of topics from the IOW and beyond. He is a regular contributor at open mic sessions, where his poems often lighten the mood and lower the tone, as well as performing at a variety of venues including the Apollo Theatre, the Ventnor Fringe and Monkton Arts.

Scar on the Rock (Naked Figleaf Press, 2024) is a collection of over seventy comic poems on a wide variety of topics, including vulgar verse.

Julie Watson is an Isle of Wight-based writer of creative non-fiction whose work spans travel and nature-writing genres. She spent more than forty years teaching in different countries and in UK higher education, publishing research in her academic field and travelling extensively during her career. She has published two books, most recently, Travel Takeaways: Around the World in Forty Tales (Beachy Books, 2023). 

Travel Takeaways is a collection of forty personal stories collected from a lifetime of travel that has spanned many countries, cultures, and decades. Each short tale offers an immersive reading experience reconstructing a time, place and personal encounter using the fragments of memory that we all take away from our most treasured travel experiences. 

X: @JulieonIW   Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/juliewatson1