LOVERS of literature, bookworms and wordsmiths, sit up and take note - the Essex Writers House is set to return for the third year.
Set inside the Georgian manor house that is Chalkwell Hall, in the grounds of Chalkwell Park, Westcliff, the Essex Writers House 2020 takes place from March 1 until March 31, with a wealth of events and opportunities for “anyone interested in writing - from those who are just starting out, to established authors”.
It comes as part of the Essex Book Festival and is hosted by Metal arts organisation, which is based in Chalkwell Hall. 
As well as a packed programme of events, talks and workshops, the house will open its doors and facilities for other opportunities throughout the month, such as hosting the Weekend Writers Cafe. It will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30am until 3:30pm, where “people can eat, read, swap books, have a coffee and write in the inspiring grounds of Chalkwell Park”.
There will also be a Writers’ Quiet Room available for anyone to use during café opening hours to work on their novel, or for young people wanting a place to concentrate on homework.
Weekend Reads will be a regular slot, where, at 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays, people can take centre stage in the Writers Cafe and perform their pieces of short works. Apply to metalculture.com/projects/essexwritershouse if you would like to book a place.
Writers ‘hot desks’ with Thames Estuary views, will be available, where two free hot desks will be available each day. Each desk has been ‘named’ after two great writers who spent time writing in Essex and being inspired by the Essex landscapes – John Edgell Rickword and Margery Allingham.
The Writers Desks are available from 11am – 9pm and can be booked via metalculture.com/projects/essexwritershouse
One of the event highlights is a discussion with author John King, (pictured) titled Rave New Worlds: Past, Present and Future.
This free event takes place on Thursday March 12, from 7-8:30pm.
John King is the author of nine novels, among them The Football Factory and Human Punk. He is also the co-owner of London Books, where he edits the London Classics imprint. In this discussion, local journalist and writer Brian Denny will talk to John about his future-set novel The Liberal Politics of Adolf Hitler, and the influence of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
He will also explore John’s most recent novel Slaughterhouse Prayer and May Day by John Sommerfield, the latter republished by London Books in 2010. 
Further talks, panel discussions, workshops, events and readings include a creative journaling workshop, a Future Park Writers’ House Special, a NetPark tour around the digital art park within the grounds of Chalkwell Hall, a teachers’ poetry workshop, a book club, a spoken word event by former Sundown producers This Must Be The Place, a talk about the life and times of radical Essex author John Edgell Rickword, a True Stories Live workshop and a children’s book club run by the Jacqson Diego Story Emporium.
While all this is going on, there will also be a group of ‘writers in residence’, staying at the house and working in partnership with English Pen.