New
Writing North news
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New Writing North
brings Granny Pirate to communities throughout Durham and beyond
 New Writing
North is delighted to announce that its touring production of Val
McDermid’s My Granny
is a Pirate will be visiting community centres and libraries
across County Durham during October 2013. Commissioned by the Durham Book
Festival, playwright Carina Rodney and director Annie Rigby have turned
Val’s debut outing into children’s literature into a rip-roaring,
piratical musical adventure suitable for under-6s and their families.
Granny’s high-seas shenanigans are brought to life on-stage by a talented
cast of actors and musicians from Sage Gateshead. Workshops in crafts and
music will also be available for small pirates in Durham venues before
the show.
The tour starts with a premiere at Gateshead Old Town Hall on 5
October. In addition to venues throughout County Durham, the production
can also be seen at Newcastle Central Library, Hexham Library, Darlington
Central Library and Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. To find a venue near you go
to the Granny Pirate website
at www.grannypirate.com for the most up-to-late listings and
information about where to book the workshops.
My Granny is a
Pirate is the first of two shows that New Writing North will
be touring in the region during 2013-14 thanks to support from Arts
Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund. |
Pop in to the pop-up
Cuckoo Shop
 New Writing
North is delighted to invite you to the Cuckoo
Cabaret Night at Empty Shop HQ at the Durham Book Festival.
Opening as it means to go on, the cabaret promises an exciting evening of
poetry, music, drama and fun. Hosted by Trashed Organ’s John Challis, the
event brings together literature-loving Sunderland indie folk band The
Lake Poets, hilarious all-female comedy sketch group Your Aunt Fanny
(‘hilarious,’ according to our Cuckoo Reviewer) and poetry and drama performances
from the under-25 Cuckoos. All ages welcome. Tickets are £5 full price,
£3 concessions.
Cuckoo
masterclasses: three for the price of two
14-25-year-olds are invited to take part in a series of three workshops
by established, acclaimed authors. Gavin
Extence (Alex
Woods versus The World), Ben
Markovits (one of Granta’s
20 best novelists under 40) and Matt
Haig (The Humans)
will all be holding workshops for aspiring writers at Empty Shop HQ in
Durham. Book a place on all three masterclasses by phone or in person at
the Gala and get one free. |
Get into In magazine
 IN magazine is a new
weekly poetry magazine that exists purely in your email inbox and is one
of the Durham Book Festival’s 2013 commissions. During the course of the
Durham Book Festival, a special edition of IN will deliver new poetry by the best
contemporary poets including Jacob Polley, Hannah Lowe, and Andrew
Fentham. Sign up to receive the magazine for free via http://inmagazine.org
from 1 October 2013. |
The facts about
fiction at Durham Book Festival
This year the Durham Book Festival includes an exciting mix of
authors, from crime to SF and everything in between. There’s family fun
with Curtis Jobling, author of the children’s book series Wereworld, on Saturday
19 October. Or if you like a bit of science in your speculative
fiction, then why not go to see Stephen Baxter on Saturday
12 October. The prolific SF author will be talking about his long
writing career and his latest novel, the second in a collaborative series
with Terry Pratchett, The
Long War. There’s also Matt Haig (author of The Humans), who
will be at the festival for a Q&A with first-timer Lottie Moggach (Kiss Me First) on Sunday
13 October.
For something a bit more down to earth, why not join Janette Jenkins
at the Bowes Museum on Thursday
17 October for tea, scones and a chat about her latest novel, Perfect. Or head to
the Gala Cinema on Monday
14 October to see legendary US crime writer Walter Mosley. |
RISE: Erwin James in
conversation with Jane Davis
Join Erwin James, Guardian
journalist and former prisoner, at a Durham Book Festival Fringe event.
He will be in conversation with Jane Davis, founder and director of The
Reader Organisation, about his life as a reader and a writer. They will
also be joined by two of The Reader Organisation’s readers in residence
at criminal justice settings in Durham: Charlie Darby-Villis (HMP Low
Newton) and Lynn Elsdon (HMP Frankland). For more information, see www.thereader.org.uk/events/erwin-james-in-conversation-with-jane-davis.aspx. |
People
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Angela Readman wins
Mslexia poetry competition
Congratulations to Angela Readman who won the 2013 Mslexia poetry
competition, judged by Kathleen Jamie, with her poem The Book of Tides.
Angela was also shortlisted for The Asham Award, leading to her short
story Birds Without
Wings being published recently in The Asham Award winners
anthology, Once Upon a
Time There Was a Traveller. |
100 women writers:
two Northern Writers’ Award winners
In the last newsletter we congratulated Avril Joy on the inclusion of
her award-winning short story Millie
and Bird in The
Story of Love, Loss and the Lives of Women, an anthology of
100 women writers. And now we hear that Carys Davies, who won a Northern
Writers’ Award earlier this year, is also included in the anthology with
her short story, The
Redemption of Galen Pike. |
Zaffar Kunial: Off
the Shelf
Showroom
Cinema, Sheffield: 19 October, 3pm
Meet Northern Writers’ Award winner Zaffar Kunial at Sheffield’s Off
The Shelf festival in an event curated by Jackie Kay. Zaffar will be
reading with Bernardine Evaristo, author of Lara, The Emperor’s Babe, and most
recently, Mr
Loverman. Tickets: £5. For more information and to book go to
www.offtheshelf.org.uk. |
In the
north
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Celebrate the short
story with Comma Press
It is Comma Press’s tenth birthday in 2013 and what better day to
celebrate it on than National Short Story Day on 21 December, the
shortest day of the year. In addition to their own birthday party, they
are also eager for other short story lovers to mark the day with events,
book swaps, live readings or anything that celebrates the short narrative
form. So let them know if you have an event planned, or if you’d like to
plan one get in touch with your idea for some support. The deadline for
event details is the end of October/early November. Send your event
information to info@commapress.co.uk. |
Opportunities
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Trinity College
London International Playwriting Competition
The 2013-14 International Playwriting competition is now open for
entries. The competition, now in its fourth year, is open to writers of
any age, any level of experience and from any country. The winning
playwright in each category will be awarded a cash prize of £1,000 and
will see their play headline at the International Festival of Playwriting
and Performance. For more information, see www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=1996. |
Bdaily journalism
talent competition
Budding writers and journalists can win a place on a prestigious
journalism course. Bdaily
and Brighton Journalist Works are offering aspiring writers the chance to
win a fully funded place on the Brighton Journalist Works Fast Track (14
weeks) NCTJ diploma in journalism. Once they have completed the course,
the competition winner will also be provided with a special promoted
columnist area on the Bdaily
site for three months to help kick-start their career. The competition
deadline is on 25 October. For more information and to enter the
competition go to https://bdaily.co.uk/competition/. |
The Observer/Anthony
Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism 2013
The Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism is for the best
writing on brand new work in the arts which has not been previously
published in print or on the internet. The winning 1,500-word essay might
take the form of an interview or a profile of a writer, artist or musician;
a piece on a new artistic movement or venture; or a review of a book,
concert, ballet or stage play. The competition will be judged by Jonathan
Meades, Sarah Dunant and Jane Stevenson and first prize is £2,000.
Deadline for submissions: 15 October. For more information see www.anthonyburgess.org. |
Jobs
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Norwich Writers’
Centre: Programme manager
Norwich Writers’ Centre is looking for an experienced events organiser
with knowledge of and passion for literature. The successful candidate
will be adept at partnership working and liaising with venues and
promoters. Deadline for applications: Monday 7 October. For more information
and to apply go to www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/AboutUs/jobvacancies.aspx. |
The Royal Society of
Literature: Events and office manager
The Royal Society of Literature is looking for an events and office
manager to ensure the smooth running of the society’s events programme.
This will include the masterclass series, awards events, and managing the
small but busy office in Somerset House. Deadline for applications:
Friday 4 October. To apply send a CV and covering letter to Rachel Page
at rachel@rslit.org. |
Northumberland County
Council: Workshop facilitators
The Spellbound project is seeking freelance workshop facilitators to
run single sessions with a strong literary link throughout south east
Northumberland. Sessions are predominantly aimed at children of primary
school age, but there will also be a small number of adult sessions too.
Deadline for applications: Friday 11 October. Send a CV, your daily rate,
and a short workshop proposal to jburke@bval.co.uk
with the subject ‘Spellbound: FAO Jill Chambers’. |
Courses
and workshops
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Write by the Sea
short story weekend
Write by the Sea are running a weekend-long creative writing workshop
in Whitley Bay. Led by writers Kitty Fitzgerald and Carol Clewlow, the
workshop will include invigorating walks on the beach, an (optional)
home-cooked Sunday roast and one-on-one sessions with the tutors,
offering in-depth appraisals of the writers’ work. Participants are asked
to send a 2,000 word short story in advance of the course. The Write by
the Sea short story weekend runs Friday 25-Sunday 27 October and costs
£180. For room rates and more information, go to www.writebythesea.co.uk. |
Miscellany
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Sell your short story
at Cut a Long Story
A new website, created in association with NAWE, dedicated to selling
short stories to e-readers will be launching in 2013. Short story writers
who would like to sell their stories on the site are invited to register
now on at www.cutalongstory.com. |
Looking for acts of
goodness
Do you have an interesting story about an unexpected act of goodness?
If so, writer, Carina Rodney would like to interview you for a
Europe-wide theatre project, Acts
of Goodness, to be produced by Backa Theatre, Sweden, in
2014. The act of goodness needs to have been experienced or performed
when the interviewee was under the age of 25 and must have occurred during
difficult circumstances where an act of benevolence was the last thing
expected in the situation/surroundings you found yourself in. The stories
will be anonymous and remain true in content to the interview given. If
you would like to be interviewed for the project please contact Carina by
email at carinam@hotmail.co.uk. |
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Deadline
for the next newsletter
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If you have news that you would like to submit
for inclusion in the newsletter please contact tammy@newwritingnorth.com.
The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 7
October. The next edition of The
Listening Post, covering November’s literature events, will
go out in late October. If you have events that you would like to submit
for inclusion for this you will need to send information by 20 October to
tammy@newwritingnorth.com.
While
every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in
this newsletter is correct at the time of going to press, things do
change, frequently at the last minute and very often without our
knowledge.
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