AMSTERDAM WRITERS is a safe, supportive, non-competitive environment that welcomes writers from diverse ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. Workshops are conducted in English, and typically include a mixture of native and non-native English speakers.

While Amsterdam Writers stages varied sessions throughout a year, its core programme is the cyclically repeating Writers' Stretch and Tone. Matthew Curlewis has developed this workshop over a number of years, drawing on his diverse professional experience in creative industries including theatrical performance, digital design, screenwriting, journalism and literature.

After attending Manhattan Writers in New York as a participant for two years, Matthew became a certified Workshop Leader in the Amherst Writers and Artists Method, where he trained with AWA founder Pat Schneider.

Between 2005 and 2008 as a teacher with wordsinhere, Matthew led a number of consistently sold-out creative writing, and screenwriting workshops at Amsterdam's English Bookshop, before founding Amsterdam Writers in 2009.


AMSTERDAM WRITERS draws from principles of the writing process movement first articulated by Peter Elbow and then codified into a certificate training programme by Pat Schneider at Amherst Writers and Artists in Amherst, Massachussets, USA. Pat has been leading writing workshops for 25 years, and her AWA method is now used by workshop leaders all over the United States, as well as in other parts of the world. Her book, Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press), has been referred to by Oprah Winfrey as THE book for both aspiring and established writers to use for inspiration and support.