Write first,
ask questions later

Amsterdam Writers creates safe spaces for writers to develop new work, revise existing work and improve craft through the act of writing itself.

Write first,
ask questions later

Amsterdam Writers creates safe spaces for writers to develop new work, revise existing work and improve craft through the act of writing itself.

Add fresh colours to your writer’s palette

Here you’ll find workshops for experienced writers seeking energy and inspiration, newer writers still finding their way, and everyone in between.

Hi there – I’m Matthew Curlewis, and I founded Amsterdam Writers around the Amherst Writers & Artists philosophy of ‘A writer is someone who writes’. So that’s what we do here. We get on with the work of writing, while also enjoying the support of like-minded community.

Tell Me More

Read, Write, (Re)Connect

A new series of live, talk show-style events at The Book Nook in Amsterdam.

Workshops for all kinds of writers, including you

Writers’ Stretch & Tone

Try new techniques, fall over, get back up and try again… just like ‘daily class’ for dancers, this workshop is a safe space for all kinds of writers to improve and develop their craft.

Stand-alone 2.5 hour live, online workshops

Storytelling for Academics

Do justice to your extensive research and outstanding source materials. Explore them, playfully. Of all the story possibilities you discover, which is the one you most want to tell?

10 x 2.5 hour live, online workshops

Elements of Screenwriting

According to Alfred Hitchcock, “Film is life with all the boring bits cut out.” So if you’d like to know how to ‘cut out all the boring bits’ from any style of writing, sign up for this workshop!

1 x 4.5 hour live, online workshop

What participants are saying

The course was one of the most positive, well administered doses of creative stimulus I’ve experienced in a long time. Thanks for that.

Sophie Jones –
Writers’ Stretch & Tone Participant

It’s a real pleasure to work in the environment you create…. you have a beautiful way of picking the best out of everyone’s work…. a gift all too rare these days in the critic’s world.

Erik-Jan van den Broek –
Writers’ Stretch & Tone Participant

Flex – writings from Amsterdam Writers

Flex is where Amsterdam Writers – having ‘stretched their writer muscles’, can share some of their work with friends, family and the larger reading public.

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Alter the Frequency

A poem by Matthew Curlewis.

You can read Alter the Frequency here, in the literary journal Blue Pepper.

Or if you’d like to hear Alter the Frequency being read out loud, please play the video.

In 2023, on Substack, I began Bright Side Writings – optimism-led, fortnightly-ish stories to brighten these dark times of chaos & collapse. Topics and titles to date have included the following.

I invite you to join me, over on the bright side. Subscription is free, you can cancel at any time, and you’ll find an entire world of fascinating, additional content to explore on Substack.