The OWG came into being in approximately 1983, and my mother and I were founder members. I took over as secretary a couple of years later. In those days we used to meet in the prestigious Oxford Union and the Group included poets. Now we meet in each others’ houses, and we confine ourselves to prose writing, but the format is the same. We take it in turns to read out about ten minutes’ worth of some of our work in progress for constructive criticism by the rest of the group. Unfortunately this does mean that we have to limit numbers, and at the present time the OWG is not open to new members.
For such a small group, we have had a remarkable amount of success. As well as myself, published members include the novelists Mary Cavanagh, Alison Hoblyn (also a garden writer,) Margaret Pelling and Helen Rappaport (also an historian,) children's authors Jane Stemp and Sheila Costello (writing as 'Ann Lake') and poets Gina Claye and Gillian Rathbone. Our Chairman is Linora Lawrence, who writes features for the Oxford Times. Past members include novelists Veronica Stallwood, Catherine Fox and Linda Taylor.