For almost a year now (at the time of writing), I’ve been part of the Queer Neurodivergent Writers Network, an online writing group focused on inclusivion and community. To celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month UK 2025 and Neurodiversity Celebration Week, I invited the facilitators of the group to tell us more about it.
If you’re a queer and neurodivergent writer, this group is a fantastic place to meet others, be inspired, and to write.
Introducing the Queer Neurodivergent Writers Network
We are Seonaid Weightman (she/her) and Jorik Mol (he/him/they) and we run the QND Writers’ Network. We meet two times a month (on average), once on Tuesday evening, 19:00 – 21:00 and once on Sunday afternoon, 14:00 – 16:00 (both UK time).
Both Seonaid and Jorik are neurodivergent and queer, we’ve always found that supposedly inclusive creative writing groups cater to either queer writers who were assumed neuro-typical, or disabled writers, but also from a neuro-typical perspective. When you’re multiply marginalised, it’s difficult to find communities that understand you and the way you think. As autistic writers, we found that our way of thinking was never taken seriously, as gay writers, our relationships were deemed unusual. But the specific ways our brains work and the queer identities we hold are equally vital to our writing style and approaches.
As queer writers, our relationships and gender identities are usually flattened and misunderstood. As neurodivergent writers, our ways of thinking and perceiving the world are what we were criticised for, even in queer-adjacent spaces. Instead, we built something for ourselves. The neurodivergent community is overwhelmingly LGBTQIA+. The Queer community, as a consequence, is quite neurodivergent, so while our voices are marginalised, we are not few in number. That’s why Jorik initially reached out to the Queer writing community Out on the Page (now sadly no longer with us), to run a trial session. That turned out to be a huge success, which allowed him to run three more sessions in 2023-24.
Since June 2024, we have been fully independent. It’s something we really care about and are currently running as volunteers, but we will never charge entry or membership for writers who wish to join us. Hopefully, in the coming years, we will see actual neuroqueer writers doing authentic work reflected in the publishing industry, but whether or not that happens, we’ll still be here. Quixotic? Maybe. But, so far, QND has been an amazing addition to our lives as writers. It’s good to not be alone.
What happens at your writing group?
During our meetings, we chat about writing, share our work, collaborate and share opportunities, events and art which we’ve enjoyed. We usually start by checking in with each other, we use a combination of verbal and chat to speak with each other, the meeting facilitator reads from the chat for those who struggle with reading. We also have auto captioning, so group members with hearing issues are still able to read voice-only conversations or discussions. Then we have time to share writing. Writers can share writing ahead of time if they like or bring pieces to the group on the day. They can then read their pieces aloud or have someone else read it to the group for them. Some writers ask for feedback in the group, others prefer to receive feedback later in the meeting or afterwards.
After sharing writing we usually have a short break. Then we have free writing time. We share creative writing prompts, associated with a theme of the month, or writers can work on their own writing. Outside of running the writing group online, we have a newsletter where we share examples of writing as well as opportunities for LGBTQ+ ND writers (submissions, competitions etc) and members can keep in touch through our social media, private Discord server and private whatsapp group. We sometimes host guest facilitators, who can run a writing session based on their specialism – such as The Mollusc Dimension who ran a session on autobiographical comics.
Who is welcome to join your writers’ group?
We welcome all neurodivergent queer writers, we don’t require any “proof” and you can be new to writing or have an established creative writing practice. Our writers group is for anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent and is interested in joining our online writing group.
How can writers get in touch with you?
Those interested in finding out more about the online creative writing group can contact Jorik at jorik.mol@gmail.com