Literature, Theatre & Film Groups
Jan Tuffs
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Monthly, second Tuesday at 10.30am to midday.
We meet at the Old School Cafe, St John’s Centre, St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds IP33 1SJ
What do we do?
Our aim is to promote friendship through reading. Our book choices are suggested by members for an annual reading list. We try to cover a wide range from the classics, thrillers, historical novels, biographies, detective fiction, as well as current best sellers. Members volunteer to lead the monthly review. We also recommend and chat about other books we’ve been reading.
Click here for a picture of our group
Read our latest book reviews here
Other books we’ve been reading and would recommend are:
The Drop/The List – both novellas by Mick Herron
Therapy by David Lodge
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everitt
Death At The Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
Midnight At Malabar House by Vasim Khan
Scrublands by Chris Hammond
The Mars Room by Rachel Krushner
It’s that time of year again when we suggest titles for the next (academic) year’s reading list. Categories we consider when casting our votes are autobiography, best seller, biography, crime, classic/or twist on classic, comedy, espionage, fantasy/science fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, overseas author and psychological drama.
The Group is currently full and there is a short waiting list.
Alternatively, why not start a new Book Group. See here for more information: https://www.u3aburystedmunds.co.uk/running-a-group/
Maureen Lion
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
2nd Monday of the month, at Abbeygate Cinema, 4 Hatter Street (near the centre of town), from 10 am to midday
What do we do?
Our Group members decide on a range of books that they would like to read and discuss over the coming months. This results in a wide and enjoyable selection.
Unfortunately, this group is currently full. However please contact the group leader if you’d like to be added to the ‘interest/waiting’ list and also email interestgroups@u3aburystedmunds.co.uk so that when there are enough numbers you can be contacted to learn how to start another book group – all support and help provided.
Sue Lewry
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
1st Wednesday of the month at 2pm, at a member’s home.
What do we do?
Our aim is to promote friendship amongst u3a members through reading.
The group does not have a formal leader, but functions as an informal co-operative. Each monthly meeting is led by the member who suggested the book for that month.
A quarterly reading list is assembled from suggestions submitted by members of the group. Over time a wide range of different genres is covered. This includes old and new classics, historical novels, biographies and autobiographies, thriller and crime novels, factual and fiction. Current best sellers are included once they are available in paperback or on Kindle.
The Group is now full. Please contact the Group Leader to be added to a waiting list.
Desme Smith
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
First Wednesday of the month
1.30pm-3.30pm at Oakes Barn
What do we do?
With a shared obsession and love of reading, we are a small group who thoroughly enjoy discussing a diverse range of books. We have no set genre.
One of the joys we find of being in a book group is reading books we wouldn’t necessarily choose.
Read our latest book reviews here
The Angel Book Group is now full. Should anyone like to be added to the waiting list then they should email Desme directly to be added to the waiting list.
Alternatively, why not start a new Book Group. See here for more information: https://www.u3aburystedmunds.co.uk/running-a-group/.
Norman Dann
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet in the Abbeygate Cinema Cafe, at 2pm on the 4th Tuesday of each month.
What do we do?
We aim to read books of all types, which will be suggested by members, but the emphasis will be on modern(ish) fiction.
The many pleasures of belonging to a book group include reading books you wouldn’t have otherwise read and listening to a surprisingly wide range of opinion on each book!
The group is currently full, if interested please contact the group organiser to be added to the waiting list. You can also add your name for a potential new book group – click here Joining an Interest Group | u3a Bury St Edmunds
Maggie Wotherspoon
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the 1st Monday of the month upstairs at Abbeygate cinema, Hatter Street.
What do we do?
We choose one or two films to see independently and then we discuss them at the following meeting. Normally one person gives a short presentation on each film.
This group is currently full with a waiting list in operation. Please contact Maggie if you would like to be added to the waiting list.
Alternatively, you could start a new Cinema Group. See here for more information: https://www.u3aburystedmunds.co.uk/running-a-group/
Peter Rogerson
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the first Thursday of the month (apart from August) at 11am to 1pm, at Abbeygate Cinema, Hatter Street.
What do we do?
We are a group of like-minded people who enjoy movies. Meeting once a month, over a cup of coffee, we have the opportunity to share what movies we have seen and what is coming up.
Due to the difficulties over the past 18 months, we have expanded our viewing to include streaming platforms such as Netflix.
Time is also given for individuals to make a presentation to the group on aspects of the world of movies that are of particular interest such as favourite directors, actors, music etc.
The Group is currently full and there is a short waiting list.
Kate King
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the second Thursday of the month at 10.00 at Edmundo Lounge
What do we do?
Writing and story-telling have played different roles in our lives, but we share a common love of words and stories, and a wish to improve our writing abilities.
We are currently full and are unable to take on new members.
Information for prospective members:
Writing is a solitary activity but telling your stories requires an audience. Each month we agree on a writing prompt, and over the following weeks we write a story of some 1500 words (just a guideline, not a requirement) to read to other members. Do we laugh or gasp at the right moments? Can we suggest a word or phrase that better conveys your intention?
Together we get better at expressing our thoughts and finding our own voices.
If you are already working on a writing project and would like to bring chapters along to try out, that is also encouraged.
Each year Let’s Talk Suffolk magazine runs a short story competition to select the stories that will appear in the magazine over the next 12 months. This year, three members of the Creative Writing Group have had stories chosen for publication. Congratulations to Eunice Roberts, Susan Daniels, and Kate King.
Maggie Pearson
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
1st Tuesday of the month , in the afternoon 2-4pm at Oaks Barn, St Andrews Street South.
Please contact the group leader for more information.
What do we do?
The English Medieval Literature group (previously Chaucer Group).
We’ve so far read texts ranging from Beowulf to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Gawain and the Green Knight. We’re currently reading a selection of English Mystery Plays.
In September we’ll be returning to the fourteenth century, embarking on Simon Armitage’s translation of Gawain and the Green Knight.
We are currently full, but please email the group leader to be added to the waiting list.
Maggie Pearson
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the third Thursday of the month, 10:00 – 12:00 (Except December).
Venue – Margaret Kemp Room, Quaker Meeting House, St Johns Street
What do we do?
Western theatre has its roots in the theatre of Ancient Greece. Written over 2,000 years ago, the Tragedies deal with the big themes of love, loss, pride, power, and the relationship between man and the gods.
We read and discuss the plays and share any information we discover from other sources.
We are currently reading Ted Hughes’ translation of the Oresteia by Aeschylus.
The Greek Classical Literature group is now full. Should anyone like to be added to a waiting list then they should email Maggie directly.
John Byrne
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet in the upstairs room of the Oakes Barn pub on St Andrews Street on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.
If you can’t make this day or time please contact John, the Group Leader.
What do we do?
We are about to begin our second year as a group.
Last year we looked at: W.B.Yeats, James Joyce and Seamus Heaney, spending a term on each. In January we will complete our work on Heaney before moving on to the plays of Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot and Endgame) and Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations and Making History).
We are currently full but if you wish to join you will be placed on a waiting list, please contact Group Leader, John Byrne.
Jan Tuffs
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 2.15-4.00pm, at the home of Jan Tuffs, the Group Organiser.
What do we do?
We are a lively, informal group who meet fortnightly to read poems aloud over a cup of tea and a biscuit.
Each person chooses a few poems on a pre-agreed topic and a brief discussion follows a reading.
Topics include individual poets (Jackie Kay for example) or particular themes (Sun, Moon and Stars for example).
And sometimes we try to read a longer poem ‘in the round’ (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for example.)
This group is now full, please contact Jan if you wish to be added to the waiting list.
John Byrne
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Second and fourth Thursdays of the month (September – June) at the Quaker Meeting House, Bury St Edmunds from 10am to 12pm.
What do we do?
We read, study and discuss a selection of Shakespeare’s plays. The idea is to have some intellectual stimulation and plenty of fun.
Recently we have read and discussed Cymbeline, Henry V and Romeo and Juliet and are about to embark on Timon of Athens.
This group is currently full, if you’re interested in joining, please contact Group Leader, John Byrne, to be added to the waiting list.
The British Isles: Poetry and History
Martin Hayden
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
We meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, at 10 until 12, in the Quaker Meeting House.
What do we do?
This group offers the chance to take a guided tour through The Penguin Book of English Verse, exploring contributions from 1500 to the present day. The intention is to read and discuss two or three poems from each decade. There may be occasional sorties away from the main book when the group leader or a member is disappointed at the absence of some favourite. The literary and historical context of each poem can be explored, dependent on the limits of our knowledge!
Potential group members will need a copy of this the magnificent anthology (it’s a very large paperback!) – in the version edited by Paul Keegan.
This group is currently full but please contact the Group Leader, Martin Hayden, to be added to the waiting list.
Ann Seymour
The group organiser details are only available to logged in members
When do we meet?
Meetings for members take place around 5 times a year at Horringer Community Centre at 14.00.
The final meeting for 2025 is on 27 Nov
Dates for 2026 are:
Thu 26 Feb
Thu 23 Apr
Thu 11 Jun
Thu 3 Sep
Thu 26 Nov
What do we do?
The Theatre Group is thriving, managed by a very active Committee who assume different responsibilities for running the group.
There are nearly 200 members currently, with an active core of 60/80. The Committee arranges about one theatre visit per month: these include plays, ballet and musicals, chosen by members from a list suggested by the Committee and ideas put forward by the group. The visits range across East Anglia but we also include London and Stratford upon Avon.
If you are interested in joining or would like more information, please contact Ann Seymour.
