We are excited to introduce our Featured Writer for the one Heard Word online writing workshop in the month of January. Max is an academic and an author of award-winning short stories, novels, and travelogues brimming with mystery and intrigue. Join Max and find out how to locate big ideas inside compact narratives full of power and resonance.

That’s Monday the 12th of January 2026 from 5-7pm GMT on Zoom.

To get feedback on your work sign up to be one of our presenting writers. There are both 20-minute (1500 words) and 5-minute (700 word “lighting round”) slots available. You can sign up here: https://docs.google.com/…/1TfI5…/edit…

Even if you aren’t presenting, please join us to offer feedback. Here is the link. https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/85437743352…

A bit more about our Featured Guest:

Max Mauro is an author and senior lecturer in the Media School at Bournemouth University, where he leads the MA Media and Communication. A former journalist, he completed a PhD at TU, Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of two academic books and several articles in academic journals and book chapters. Born in Switzerland to Italian immigrant parents, he grew up in Italy. He has published six books in Italian across various genres – fiction, non-fiction, and travelogues – two of which have won literary awards. Several of his short stories have appeared in the oldest Italian literary online magazine, Nazione Indiana. He now writes short stories in English, because – he says –“it allows him to see things more clearly.”