 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.
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In very early 2021, as the UK was in its third national lockdown, Channel 4 and Russell T Davies’ drama series It’s a Sin hit the airwaves, about a group of young men living through that other viral pandemic, HIV/AIDS. We met Ritchie Tozer who was shaking off a conservative upbringing, the party boy Roscoe Babatunde, who was queer, black and beautiful, the shy, Welsh Colin Morris-Jones who brought such sweetness, and Ash Mukherjee, a confident character with a glorious smile.
It was an incredible piece of television – bitter and sweet, funny and heart-breaking. But the only woman who featured in any detail was Jill Baxter, based on Jill Nadler, Russell T Davies’ childhood friend and author of Love from the Pink Palace. While she was amazing, I wanted to know more about the women who were there. I wanted to hear their stories. An old friend of mine got in touch and told me a story I hadn’t heard before. She was a young nurse in the early 80s, and her first role at just 18 was in an infectious diseases ward in a London hospital. Did I want to hear her story? Of course I did. A fictionalised version became the monologue Dancing in Heaven. The reaction to this first piece when I performed it for the first time made me realise that I wanted to hear more, know more, write more, share more about the women’s stories that I knew must be out there. The stories that became the collection Dancing in Heaven came from oral histories, articles, news stories, interviews and between the wonderful pages of the call logs from Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ support line. Creating these monologues, which sit in the blurry spaces between fact and fiction, was a heartbreaking, wonderful and incredible privilege, and was only possible with the lovely people who helped me out by reading, editing, critiquing and providing encouragement and performance space, the amazing women who trusted me with their stories, the publisher Reconnecting Rainbows Press, and my wonderful wife Dee for her love, support and amazing cover art.  I will be at the Jupiter Cloud Book Festival in beautiful York on Saturday 28 February 2026 at St Saviourgate Venues with copies of Dancing in Heaven. There will be talks, workshops, bookstalls run by authors and bookish gifts to buy. Whether you're a reader, writer, or just curious, there’s something here for everyone. There's a Facebook Group with more details of the authors and other attendees. Tickets available at Eventbrite.   A great review of Dancing in Heaven from Bob the Bookerer on his YouTube Channel.
Reconnecting Rainbows is publishing Dancing in Heaven, a moving and lyrical collection of monologues, on 1 December 2025 – World AIDS Day. The collection, inspired by the female characters in Russell T Davies’ series It’s A Sin, tells the stories of women from all walks of life who played often unrecognised roles in the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s. In 1981, the medical journal The Lancet reported the first case of AIDS in the UK. By the end of the decade, hundreds were dead: mostly young, mostly gay, mostly men. Across the country, women were there. Mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, professionals. They cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. They lost people they loved. And they went to endless funerals. Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of these women – the loud ones and the unheard ones. Together, they represent strength, grief, anger, and an awful lot of love. While the monologues are fiction, the stories are real, drawn from conversations, press coverage, articles and the archives of Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ support line. A donation will be made to Switchboard for each copy sold. “Dancing in Heaven reclaims a vital part of queer history, centring women’s roles in a narrative too often dominated by men. Each monologue stands alone in intimacy and strength, yet together they form a chorus that is tender, fierce, and unflinchingly honest,” said Ash Brockwell, Founder, Reconnecting Rainbows Press. “Suzanne’s background in both science and storytelling lends the collection a rare clarity of voice, balancing emotional resonance with historical depth. These stories speak not only to readers interested in LGBTQ+ history, but to anyone who understands the ache of absence, the power of remembrance, and the need to make space for voices that were never meant to be forgotten.” “World AIDS Day, marked on 1 December every year since 1988, unites people worldwide in the fight against HIV and AIDS, stands against stigma and remembers lives lost. It seems like a fitting day to release this book that highlights and celebrates the women who were there during the crisis and will help to ensure that their voices are not forgotten,” said Suzanne Elvidge, who researched and wrote the pieces. Launches for Dancing in Heaven will take place in London and Scarborough:
Contact Author: Suzanne Elvidge (she/her) Email: [email protected] Website: www.thehouseofcorrection.com BlueSky: @suzannewriter.bsky.social Publisher, Reconnecting Rainbows Press: Ash Brockwell (he/they) Email: [email protected] Website: reconnectingrainbows.co.uk Bluesky: @reconnectingrainbo.ws About Suzanne Elvidge (http://www.thehouseofcorrection.com) Suzanne Elvidge is a writer and performer whose work crosses science and the arts, covering fact, fiction and the blurry spaces in between. She writes monologues about lost and forgotten women’s voices based on interviews, news stories, historical events and the overheard. She performs her monologues, most recently at York Theatre Royal, The Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and at the Whitby Literature Festival. She lives on the North Yorkshire coast with her illustrator wife and sundry dogs and cats, and seems to think swimming in the North Sea in winter is A Good Thing. About Reconnecting Rainbows Press (https://reconnectingrainbows.co.uk) Reconnecting Rainbows Press is a queer publisher that believes in the power of storytelling to bring LGBTQIA+ people together, smash stereotypes, and save lives. It is a UK-wide independent publisher of adult and young adult fiction, poetry, children’s books and non-fiction titles. Its author agreements put wellbeing and fairness above all else, and the company continues to fight proudly against the established corporate norms of an outdated publishing industry. Reconnecting Rainbows, founded in 2017, is a community interest company (14570208) registered in the United Kingdom. All of its profits go back into helping marginalised communities publish their works and tell their stories.   Monday 1 December (World AIDS Day) at the Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN, 7-9 pm (doors open at 6.30).
Free tickets here. In 1981, the medical journal The Lancet reported the first case of AIDS in the UK. By the end of the decade, hundreds were dead: mostly young, mostly gay, mostly men. Across the country, women were there. Mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, professionals. They cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. They lost people they loved. And they went to endless funerals. Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of these women – the loud ones and the unheard ones. Together, they represent strength, grief, anger, and an awful lot of love. Join us on World AIDS Day to celebrate the launch of this groundbreaking book.  Saturday 6 December at the Shakespeare Gallery and Studios, St Helen's Square, Scarborough YO11 1EU at 4-6 pm (part of the Scarborough Fringe Winter Edition) Free tickets here or here. Meet the author Suzanne and publishers Reconnecting Rainbows Press to celebrate the launch of Suzanne’s latest book, Dancing in Heaven. Stories celebrating the women of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis.
There will be an opportunity to browse through a range of publications by the Reconnecting Rainbows Press and hear from Suzanne about the reasons behind the development of the book and her writing process. In 1981, the medical journal The Lancet reported the first case of AIDS in the UK. By the end of the decade, hundreds were dead: mostly young, mostly gay, mostly men. Across the country, women were there. Mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, professionals. They cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. They lost people they loved. And they went to endless funerals. Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of these women – the loud ones and the unheard ones. Together, they represent strength, grief, anger, and an awful lot of love. While the monologues are fiction, the stories are real, drawn from conversations, press coverage, articles and the archives of Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ support line. A donation will be made to Switchboard for each copy sold. A Big Queer Fringe Scarborough Production Supported by Scarborough Community Box Office Limited Part of The Scarborough Fair Winter Fringe.  A quick update:
I'll be hosting a writing workshop, First Person Singular – Writing Monologues That Speak to an Audience, at the first Whitby Literature Festival on 6 Nov 2025 about the craft of writing monologues, from first idea to final draft.
https://whitbylitfest.org #WhitbyLitFest #LiteraryFestival #Whitby Just signed my first ever book contract - Dancing in Heaven has a target publication date of 1 December 2025 with the wonderful LGBTQ+ publisher Reconnecting Rainbows.
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