Jupiter Cloud Book Festival - Workshops, talks and performances

Jupiter Cloud Book Festival

28 February 2026, 11am to 5pm
St Saviourgate Venue, Central Methodist Church,
​St Saviourgate, York, YO1 8NQ

Find out more on the Jupiter Cloud website 
​and book your tickets at Eventbrite
​

Workshop schedule
11.30-12.00 The Power of Acrostic Poems - Molly Osborne
Discover how the hidden structure of acrostics can kill writer's block and ignite your creativity. This fast-0paced, 30 minute workshop moves beyond basic adjectives to help you craft powerful, image-driven poetry. Whether you're a seasoned writer of a total beginner, come find your spark and leave with a masterpiece.

12.10-1.10 First Person Singular: Writing monologues that speak to an audience - Suzanne Elvidge
Suzanne (yes, that's me) will guide you through creating a monologue - a story with a single voice - from idea to final draft. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced writer, bring along ideas or be inspired by prompts.

1.20-1.50 Creating Characters 101 - Rebecca Kelly
Have you ever wanted to know how to make a good book character? Now you can with Characters 101! We will look at how to come up with names, back stories and the world that your character inhabits, and how to make your character truly feel alive on the page.

2.00-300 Build Your Own Adventurer: A DND-Inspired Poetry Workshop - goodnightthesky
This fantasy-flavoured poetry workshop invites you to step into your power and conjure the heroic alter-ego of your wildest imaginings. Using Dungeons and Dragons mechanics, you'll be led through exercises that invite you to indulge in play, dig deep and create without fear. Whether you're an experienced poet or have never picked up a pen before, this aims to make poetry feel like an adventure you'll be excited to embark on!

Talks schedule
STORYTELLING WITH ELAINA MOON
Join Elaina Moon for a special storytime and embark on an exciting journey through time with the ingenious inventor Amelia. With her amazing time-traveling trainers, Amelia ventures back to the era of George and Robert Stephenson, to a learn all about their history making locomotive 'Rocket'.

HEALING WITH ART - Sarah Chayer
This talk will take a dive into Sarah's struggles with anxiety and depression and her journey towards healing through poetry and art. She strives to reach others suffering from their own mental health hardships, to let them know they are not alone, and hopefully empower them to begin healing, themselves.

CARPE DIEM - Jenny Oyston
Jenny’s collection of poems, ‘Carpe Diem’ includes reflections on the passing of time, the natural world and an eclectic mix of other themes. She aims to entertain and to make you think by reading a
variety of poems, both humorous and thought-provoking.

MY ROLLERCOASTER JOURNEY INTO WRITING - Helen C Kelly
Writing has always been Helen's dream let her tell you how she rode the rollercoaster so that she could achieve that dream & say she is an author.

A TREE IN TIME - Pam Golden
Pam writes from the heart, full of warmth and love. Discover the inspiration for her fascinating time-slip stories, set in our ancient past and imbued with nature’s magic.’

WE WON'T BE WRITTEN OFF - Written Off Publishing
Written Off Publishing will talk about the threats facing indie and small presses, and how the processes in the arts community harm marginalised people and creators. BUT they'd also like to talk about how we can help each other and make our artistic communities healthier. 

HOW GRIEF BECAME AN INSPIRATION - D E Fox
D E Fox - Becoming an author at 50 through grief. A story within a story.

MAGIC, SOULMATES, AND FOUND FAMILY - Romy Morgan
Romy will share the unusual story of how she wrote her magical queer romance series Fallen Feathers. Hear about writing drafts on a phone, going with the flow, and being so obsessed with your story that you end up writing three (very long) books in eight months!

I WAS ALWAYS LUCKY - Mel Oyston
Mel will be launching his latest collection of poetry, ‘Hidden Threads’ and his new series of Short Story Booklets. He’ll read a few poems, explain why writing is so compulsive and reveal the exact number of books he has read in his entire life.

THE PLEASURES AND THE TERRORS OF WRITING CRIME - Linda Jones
The truth behind the fiction. The pleasure and the terror of writing crime.

DANCING IN HEAVEN - Suzanne Elvidge
Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of the women who were there in the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980 and 1990s – the mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers and professionals who cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. Suzanne Elvidge will talk about how the book began and how she created fictional monologues from real stories.

WRITING YORK'S GHOSTS - Ben Sawyer
A ghost story on every street corner and a monster at every gate. Urban fantasy author Ben Sawyer discusses finding the magical in York's snickelways.

UNSPOKEN WORDS - Molly Osborne
Molly is opening up her private notebooks to share the poems she once thought would never leave the page. Join her for an intimate session as she finally give a voice to the verses she's kept to herself.

LOVE THROUGH TIME AND CULTURE - Poppy Kuroki
Poppy discusses how relationships can thrive even between people who are completely different, whether by culture, beliefs, customs or language. She will share her writing process of developing the romance between characters from different eras and cultures and how this reflects real life.

WHO AM I? - Jenny Oyston
Jenny will explain how this book grew from her experiences as a counsellor. She’ll invite you to think about what makes you who you are today and describe a few of the exercises from the book. She’ll talk about how this can help you decide whether there is anything you’d like to change in order to get the most out of life.