In January 2021, we launched a series of online Zoom meetings for Guild members and guests to give presentations on a range of subjects which we hope will be of interest to you all. These are usually only open to members. However, occasionally, for topics of wider interest (such as Mary-Ann Ochota’s talk on Writing Inclusion into the Outdoors), we may open up participation to people outside the Guild.
When?
OWPG Member Zooms normally take place on the third Wednesday of the month, running from 7pm-8pm.
The presenter will speak for 30-40 minutes and there will be 20-30 minutes for discussion.
We will usually also keep the session open after the presentation for informal chat among members.
Forthcoming sessions
Wednesday 17 December 2025 – Christmas Quiz – Chris Scaife
This year’s OWPG Christmas🎄quiz will be on Wednesday 17 December at 7.30 pm.
This year, Chris Scaife will set a selection of questions on a wide range of topics with an emphasis, of course, on the great outdoors. As in previous years, this is sure to be an enjoyable session, so prepare to test your knowledge of mountains, trails, outdoor writing and photography, and – with Chris in charge – caves! While the fun is in the taking part, there might be some prizes too…
(If you can’t see the link below you need to log in)
Previous Zoom:
Wednesday 29 October 2025 – Tweezers, eraser and paste: a look at sentence-level editing with Ronald Turnbull
“Get it wrote, then get it right
You’ve written some interesting, evocative prose – or, anyway, you’ve written some paragraphs of something. You’ve left it to settle for a couple of days. Now it’s time for that sharpening up process: to make it flow, whether that’s to be in the style of a trout stream or a roaring cataract.*
This workshop is about turning ordinary prose into something a little bit better, or good into great. Small tweaks to word order, sentence structure, even just punctuation; a few discreet figures of speech; some verbal tricks pinched from the poets or the folk who make up advertising slogans.
[* would that be better as ‘whether that’s in the style of a roaring cararact, or a trout stream’ ? ]”
The session will be useful to any members who either edit other people’s work or are interested in improving the editing of their own work – in other words, everyone! The session also includes some very helpful practice exercises.
To catch-up on this zoom the link is in the main list of previous zooms at the bottom of this page (again this is members only – if you can’t see it, you will need to login).
Future speakers:
The remainder of the 2025-26 program will be confirmed shortly.
Past speakers:
- Oct 2025 – Tweezers, eraser and paste: Sentence level editing with Ronald Turnbull
- May 2025 – Mapping the Mountains, with Andrew Davies
- Apr 2025 – Building a destination – the role of the travel writer, with Linda Tuttiett
- Mar 2025 – Introduction to women’s safety in the outdoors, with Dee Anna
- Feb 2025 – Kevin Freeborn – Guidebook proposals: insights from a commissioning editor
- Jan 2025 – Copyright – the basics, with Ronald Turnbull
- Nov 2024 – Boost your income with a portfolio career, with Julia Goodfellow-Smith
- Oct 2024 – OWPG Big Weekend photo critique
- Sep 2024 – Membership survey feedback
- Oct 2024 – OWPG Big Weekend photo critique with Josephine Collingwood
- Sep 2024 – Membership survey feedback
- May 2024 – Writing Inclusion into the Outdoors with MaryAnn Ochota
- Apr 2024 – Cathedrals of the Earth with Stephen Venables
- Mar 2024 – Maximising your online content: insights and strategies from Jacquie Budd
- Feb 2024 – Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Gary Ennis
- Jan 2024 – Award-winning photography with James Rushforth
- Dec 2023 – Christmas Quiz and Social
- Nov 2023 – Pitch Perfect with David Lintern
- Oct 2023 – Self Publishing with Jon Sparks
- Sep 2023 – The Hidden Fires with Merryn Glover
- May 2023 – Fell Asleep with Russ Moorhouse
- Apr 2023 – Big Weekends past and future, with various members
- Mar 2023 – practical training session with Anna Caig 10am to 12 noon
- Feb 2023 – Writing up your walk – Ronald Turnbull
- Jan 2023 – How to Make a photograph work – Josephine Collingwood
- Dec 2022 – Blether with the OWPG Christmas Quiz
- Nov 2022 – Routes, tracks, maps & apps – going digital – Dr Andrew Read
- Oct 2022: Bueno Camino! – Julia Goodfellow-Smith
- Sep 2022: Antarctica – Jacquetta Megarry and Chiz Dakin
- May 2022: The Farthest Shore – Alex Roddie
- Apr 2022: Taking the cringe out of personal branding – Anna Caig
- Mar 2022: Doing gear reviews – Chris Townsend
- Feb 2022: Joe Williams, Cicerone – Pitching to Publishers
- Jan 2022: Lisa Drewe – Islandeering
- Nov 2021: Julia Goodfellow-Smith on “How to Create a Best-seller”
- May 2021: Peter and Leni Gillman on Everest 1921-1953 – Tales from the Photo Archives
- April 2021: Chris Howes on Photographic Flash Underground (Caving Photography)
- Mar 2021: Guest speakers Karen Lloyd & Tim Ecott on narrative non-fiction
- Feb 2021: Sabi Phagura on Making the most of Social Media
- Jan 2021: David Taylor on Landscape Photography
How to access?
The presentations will offer a mix of entertainment and instruction, with the aim that you should both enjoy the talks and learn something from them.
If you miss the Zoom we may have a recording available; see the Zooms Forum (remember to sign in to access this!) for the link. We recommend that you view or download the recording as soon as possible after the session took place as our account only allows us to store a limited number of past recordings.
We will send Zoom invitations to all members nearer the time.
Past recording links – Members only
If you cannot see any links below, please login
(N.B. This year we have a larger cloud allocation for recordings, so can keep them longer.)