In Conversation with Kate Oldfield

At London Letters our goal is to create beautiful stationery pieces that encourages you to write more letters. We believe that letters play an important role in modern society, and we're not alone in this view.

In 'In Conversation With' we chat with epistolarians of note to find out why they think letters are special, why they think they still matter today, and what drives their passion to promote them. 

This month we were thrilled to interview Kate Oldfield of The Writing Well. After a successful career in publishing, Kate became a writing mentor and worked with small groups running creative writing workshops. When Covid hit, this transitioned online where her focus became running workshops for neighbours, family and friends so that they could come together to foster a sense of community through conversation and creativity. Therapeutic forays into journalling and selfcare often included writing letters to their younger or future selves.

Out of these workshops a small online community became a much bigger online and in-person community now called 'The Writing Well' where Kate runs workshops, cowriting groups, events, competitions and retreats for writers who want to improve their craft, finish their projects, discover new writing friends or use writing to improve their wellbeing. They are currently planning a letter-writing workshop to encourage people back to the page!

"Letters have a special aura. Firstly they are specifically to you and no-one else! Someone has taken the time to write to you and for that I am always both delighted and grateful. Seeing people's handwriting is so rare these days - and you can tell a lot about a person from their script."

Tell us a little bit about your own letter writing history. Do you recall the first letter you received, or wrote?

How often do you write letters now?

Of course analogue writing is the best but email and WhatsApp, and social media tend to get in the way of my old letter-writing output – when I liked to write at least one letter a day. These days I will write a couple of postcards a week and probably a letter only once a month. Typing that makes me feel sad as I am always talking to another writer friend about writing more letters, or maybe incorporating them somehow in my Substack, but so far all attempts have felt showy and a bit cringeworthy! However, I am still determined to find a way of writing more of them. I am writing a novel set between Germany and Scotland in WW2 and there are lots of letters in that!

Describe your letter writing set up for us. Do you have any favourite stationery or pens you use? Where do you like to write from?

What type of content would you use for a letter, as opposed to digital communication?

My letters follow the pen. Some storytelling from my week, always a funny little thing I might have done or heard. Two old friends still call me ‘another true story’ because of the anecdotes. (I was brought up on a farm on the edge of the North York moors and gathering around the table with our father and all the various farm workers to listed to them all sharing stories and anecdotes was a wonderful thing which has had huge influence on my life- embellishments and all.

Do you feel any positive benefits to your mental health when you're writing or receiving a letter?

Yes. A sense of connection, of being heard, of being understood. But obviously, as I use letter writing as part of my writing for wellbeing workshops and retreats, I am a fully paid up, flag-waving member of the Letters are Good for You club.

Are there any famous letters you're especially fond of?

What do you think makes letters special?

Letters have a special aura. Firstly they are specifically to you and no-one else! Someone has taken the time to write to you and for that I am always both delighted and grateful. Seeing people's handwriting is so rare these days - and you can tell a lot about a person from their script.

Are there any letters that you've held onto for a long time? Do you have a favourite?

Too many to mention I think - but specifically those from my father who died when I was only 25; and every single one from my friend Nick Bonner who is a wonderful illustrator. He has lived abroad for too many years now and I miss him very much, but his illustrated letters help bridge the gap!

How do you envisage the future of letter writing? 

Unfortunately analogue letter writing is under threat from all directions. People have less time to write because ’screen time’ robs our time through our addiction to the dopamine hit of responding to those little red dots that appear on the corners of our apps. And the world is poorer for it.

What would you say to someone that's never written or received a letter before, to encourage them to try it?

A huge thank you to Kate for her time and passion. To find out more about Kate's writing workshops or to get in touch with her, head here.