G K Chesterton
The London branch of the Catholic Writers’ Guild – known as The Keys - was formed in the early 1930s by the Catholic writer G.K.Chesterton and members of his staff at his magazine G.K.‘s Weekly.
The Guild was set up to provide mutual help, encouragement and support for Catholic writers and journalists and to host talks and lectures on subjects of interest.
By the time of the Second World War, there were Guild branches in several major cities. There was also a separate group for female writers and journalists, known as ‘The Quills’. This later merged with the guild
The Keys has met in various places in London, mostly around Fleet Street, the historic home of the British newspaper industry.
For some years, the Guild met in a pub. In the late 1970’s it moved briefly to the then Westminster Cathedral Conference Centre (now the St. Paul’s Multimedia Bookshop).
In the 1980’s the Guild moved to St. Etheldreda’s Church, Ely Place, just off Holborn Circus, where it had traditionally met for Mass.
Since the 1970’s the position of Master of the Guild has been held by, among others, journalist and publisher Kevin Grant, Catholic Herald editor Frances Gumley, Uvedale Tristram, who worked as a journalist in Africa, novelist Piers Paul Read and publisher Antony Tyler OBE.The present Master is Melanie McDonagh.
The Guild’s chaplain is Father. Peter Newby, parish priest of St Mary Moorfields in The City.
In recent years, speakers at Guild meetings have ben Eamon Duffy, A.N.Wilson, Richard Ingrams, Rosemary Hill, Ruth Kelly and James McMillan.
By tradition, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster is always President of The Keys. Cardinal Basil Hume addressed the Keys in one of his last major public engagements before his final illness.
Among distinguished members of The Keys can be noted a former ambassador, Sir Geoffrey Jackson, whose book recounting his experience held hostage by terrorists had made him a national figure.
Current members include former editor of the Catholic Herald Dr. William Oddie, Lord Alton of Liverpool, and Daily Telegraph journalist David Twiston Davis.
In 1999, the Keys launched the Catholic Young Writer of the Year Award. The first winner was Daniel Coughlan of the Cardinal Hinsley High School.
The Keys also sponsor the Annual Towards Advent Festival of Catholic Culture, held each November at Westminster Cathedral Hall.