New
Writing North news
|
Get on air with Verb
New Voices
 Do you have
something to say? Can you say it in verse – blank or free? Verb New
Voices is looking for three talented artists (two between 18-30 and one
of any age) from the north of England to create and perform a piece of
new work for The Verb
on Radio 3. The project – created by Arts Council England and supported
by the BBC and organisations across the North, including New Writing
North – aims to generate vibrant new writing that reflects something
unique about Northern culture.
All you have to do to apply is write a statement of why you want to
take part in the project, a professional biography and an outline of the
piece you want to perform. Then record yourself – a mobile phone video
uploaded to Youtube or Vimeo is fine – performing any piece of work (it
doesn’t have to be the piece you want to develop).
Selected artists will receive a bursary of £2,500 and a package of
in-kind support that includes professional development, working with
voice coaches and a fully-funded place on an Arvon residential creative
writing course. Deadline for entries: Friday 13 December. To find out
more or to enter, see www.newwritingnorth.com/text.html?id=verbnewvoices. |
Free Thinking about
Another England
Michael Smith and Neil Bianco will be appearing at Sage Gateshead
tomorrow Saturday 26 October at the Free
Thinking Festival. They will be appearing at a live recording of The Verb, Radio 3’s
‘cabaret of the spoken word and new writing’, to talk to host and poet
Ian McMillan about Another
England, their sequence of films about the North commissioned
by and premiered at the Durham Book Festival. The recording will be broadcast
on Radio 3 on Friday 1 November. |
Benjamin Myers wins
Gordon Burn Prize
 New Writing
North is delighted to announce that Benjamin Myers was named winner of
the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize for his book Pig Iron (Bluemoose Books) at a special
event at Durham Book Festival. Durham-born Ben will receive a £5,000
award and the opportunity to undertake a three-month writing retreat at
Gordon’s cottage in Berwickshire. For the full story, see www.newwritingnorth.com/news_details-benjamin-myers-wins-gordon-burn-prize-details-2606.html.
If you weren't able to be there on the night and would to hear what
you missed, a recording of the prize-giving event, with readings from
four of the five shortlisted writers, is now on our SoundCloud stream at https://soundcloud.com/new-writing-north/gordon-burn-prize-announcement. |
Curtain falls on
Durham Book Festival for another year
 The chairs
have been stacked in the corners, the books have been packed up, and the
guests have gone home. There’s one last event to wrap up the festival –
with festival laureate and award-winning poet Paul
Muldoon premiering his festival commission – but essentially the
Durham Book Festival is over for another year.
It has been a great festival, with a second full weekend of events and
readings with compelling, fascinating speakers such as Lucy Worsley,
Lynda La Plante, Lord Adonis, Chris Mullin and more. There has been
politics, crime, speculative fiction, writing workshops and even a film
screening. But the best programme in the world doesn’t matter without an
audience, so thank you to everyone who attended events or bought books or
even just passed on an email to someone you knew would be interested. And
also to our marvellous team of hard-working and hard-worked volunteers,
who helped us keep everything running smoothly. We look forward to seeing
you all again next year.
In the meantime, if you attended any events, why not let us know what
you thought of the festival by filling in our quick, online feedback form
at https://newwritingnorth.wufoo.eu/forms/durham-book-festival-2013-evaluation/. |
Senior project
manager job reminder
There’s still time to apply to join New Writing North as a senior
project manager, working with schools, teachers and young people
alongside our young people’s programme manager. See www.newwritingnorth.com/text.html?id=spm1314
for full information on the job and for how to apply. Deadline for
applications: Friday 8 November. |
People
|
November set to be
Mari’s month
November is shaping up to be a pretty good month for writer Mari
Hannah. Her novel Monument
to Murder, the fourth instalment in the Kate Daniels series,
will be published by Pan Macmillan on 21 November in the UK. But that’s
not all, with Kate Daniels about to visit America, with The Murder Wall and Settled Blood both cued
up for publication in the States. Can a US TV remake be far behind? If
you want to catch Mari before she heads to Hollywood, she’ll be signing
books in Waterstones, Sunderland, at 12pm-2pm on 23 November. |
George’s poem
selected for new human rights poetry anthology
Congratulations to Tyneside native George Currie whose poem A Potato is included
in the human rights anthology In
Protest. Drawn from over 600 submissions, In Protest consists
of 150 poems exploring themes of human rights and social justice by poets
such as Carol Anne Duffy and Douglas Dunne. To buy a copy of the
anthology, go to http://events.sas.ac.uk/support-research/publications/997/In+Protest%3A+150+Poems+for+Human+Rights. |
New collection from
Sean Burn
Sean Burn’s third volume of poetry, is
that a bruise or a tattoo?, has just been published by
Shearsman Press. Order the book or download a pdf sampler of Sean’s work
from www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2013/burn.html.
You can also experience him reading aloud a number of poems from the book
at http://audioboo.fm/seanburn. |
In the
North
|
Fahrenheit Books
turns up the heat in Teesside
A new used bookshop has opened in Middlesborough. Called Fahrenheit
Books, the shop will be run by the Local Workers Coop and Teeside
University students should take note that the shop will be focusing on
non-fiction, academic and specialist interest books. So the Forbes
Building on 309-321 Linthorpe Road might just be the place to find that
one textbook that has been eluding you! |
Carnival comes to
Durham
The English Touring Opera are bringing Venice to Durham in November
with a season of three operas written for Carnival: The Coronation of Poppea
by Monteverdi; Agrippina
by Handel and finally, Jason
by Cavalli. Tickets: £25/£23.50. To find out more go www.galadurham.co.uk or call the
box office on 03000 266 600. |
Opportunities
|
Red Squirrel Press
Annual James Kirkup Poetry Pamphlet Competition 2013
This annual competition was established in 2009, in honour of the
recently deceased poet and translator James Kirkup. The prize is
publication of a 28 page poetry pamphlet. Email entries to editor@redsquirrelpress.com
as Word attachment or post to Pamphlet Competition, Red Squirrel Press,
Briery Hill Cottage, Stannington, Morpeth, NE61 6ES. Entrance fee: £10.
For full rules go to www.redsquirrelpress.com. |
Redeem the Limerick
with IRON Press
IRON Press wants to rescue the reputation of the limerick. Submissions
are invited from poets living in the UK or The Republic of Ireland for Limerick Nation, a
new anthology co-edited by Peter Mortimer and Eileen Jones to be
published in autumn 2014. Each limerick must feature a place name – which
must be part of the poet’s current home address – as the last word of the
first line. Submit a maximum of six limericks by post and including an
SAE to ‘Limerick Nation’, IRON Press, 5 Marden Terrace, Cullercoats,
North Shields, NE30 4PD. Closing date: 1 March 2014. Poets will receive
two free copies of the anthology. More details at www.ironpress.co.uk. |
BFI Film Academy
screenwriting residential
A wonderful opportunity for young screenwriters (16-19) to take part
in a BFI residential programme in January and February next year at
Tyneside Cinema. The course aims to teach the craft skills necessary to
succeed as a screenwriter, gain an exclusive insider’s view of how to
break into the film business, and network with leading industry
professionals including Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy),
Tony Grisoni (Red
Riding quartet) and script editor Kate Leys. Details of how
to apply can be found at www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/young-tyneside/bfiacademyscreenwriting.
Deadline: 25 November. |
The National Poetry
Competion
Since it was first launched in 1978, the National Poetry Competition
has been an important milestone for many poets, with past winners
including Carol Ann Duffy, Philip Gross and Jo Shapcott. Now the 2013
National Poetry Competition is open for entries. This year’s judges are
Julia Copus, Matthew Sweeney and Jane Yeh, and will be giving out prizes
to top three winners and commendations to seven other writers. Deadline
for submissions: 31 October. To find out more about the competition and
to enter go to www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/npc/. |
Shakespeare Week:
Call for proposals
In partnership with Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford upon
Avon, Warwickshire libraries would like to commission two new
performances inspired by Shakespeare (one for adults and one for
children) to take place in Warwickshire libraries in 2014. Deadline for
submissions: Friday 8 November. For more information, see www.dropbox.com/sh/mx3791u2rygbim3/AFn_OUf0L3. |
The Playwright’s
Progress
The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is inviting emerging and
established UK writers to take part in an inspiring new script
development project. The project will give eight writers the opportunity
to progress their career paths. Four writers will attend a three-day
intensive workshop to develop their work in progress; the other four will
be selected for the ‘potential’ of their draft plays. All eight writers’
work will be show to an audience of literary managers and theatre
professionals. Deadline for submissions: Wednesday 11 December. To find
out more, go to www.writersguild.org.uk/news-a-features/theatre/442-playwrights-progress.html. |
Jobs
|
Harrogate
International Festivals: Literary festivals co-ordinator
Harrogate International Festivals are looking for a flexible,
responsible co-ordinator who will support the literary festivals manager
on the preparation and delivery of a varied portfolio of annual
literature events. This role will also involve work across the wider organisation,
encompassing the full portfolio of year-round events as needed. For more
information and to apply, see http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/job-vacancies/.
Deadline for applications: Friday 8 November. |
Impromptu Publishing:
Subscription manager & administration
This role is responsible for the management and renewals of magazine
subscribers, customer service enquires, liaising with clients, and office
upkeep. For more information or to apply go to the Direct Gov website at https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=3787121. |
Swaledale Festival:
Festival administrator
This role is responsible for securing funding, dealing with local
businesses, musicians and volunteers and keeping the festival running
smoothly. Deadline for applications: 8 November. For more information or
to apply see www.swaledale-festival.org.uk. |
Civic Arts Theatre,
Oswaldtwistle: Events and theatre management
This role is responsible for increasing community events at the Centre
and for bringing in additional professional touring companies. Deadline
for applications: Monday 11 November. For more information or to apply go
to the Civic Arts Centre website at http://i72139.wix.com/civicartscentre. |
Courses
and workshops
|
Cloud Nine theatre
workshops
Linskill
Centre, North Shields: Date TBA
Cloud Nine Theatre artistic director Peter Mortimer is running a
series of six two-hour playwriting workshops at the Linskill Centre in
North Shields for eight selected writers. As well as giving the authors
general playwriting skills, the workshops aim to develop one or more
scripts specifically for performance at The Low Lights Tavern in North
Shields. Interested writers are asked to submit, via email or post, their
basic synopsis/idea for a play plus one sample page of dialogue (if
sending by post, include an SAE). The workshops will begin after
Christmas and each session costs £7, a total or £42 for the six weeks.
Submissions close at the end of November. Contact Cloud Nine for more
information at cloudninetheatre@blueyonder.co.uk
or call 0291 253 1901. |
Curdella Forbes:
Write with Your Ear masterclass
Newcastle
City Library: Saturday 23 November
This Inscribe Masterclass with acclaimed Caribbean writer Curdella
Forbes will explore the art of fiction. It will look in a general way at
how writers ‘write down the bones’—plot, point of view, characterisation,
etc, but will focus specifically on characterisation and dialogue. Cost:
£15/£12. For more information and to book, go to http://inscribewriters.wordpress.com/events-workshops/. |
Script surgeries for
theatre makers
Waterside
Arts Centre: 19 November, 11am-5pm
Creative Industries Trafford and 24:7 Theatre Festival are joining
forces at the Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, to offer 45-minute script or
production surgeries with a script editor, a dramaturg and a technical
producer. There are a total of 18 slots available throughout the day, six
with each of the three experts, and sessions will be allocated on a
first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to book a place
on the workshop go to http://creativeindustriestrafford.org/events/script-surgeries-for-theatre-makers/.
Electricity
Lit & Phil,
Newcastle: Friday 1 November, 7.30pm
A poetic social history of electricity which highlights how our
incremental understanding of its potency has allowed us to harness it for our
own ends. In giving electricity a voice, which is both visceral and
disturbing, Professor Graham Mort demonstrates, in no uncertain terms, who is
really in charge of our universe. Tickets: £7/£5. To book and for more
information, see www.litandphil.org.uk/music_news.shtml.
|
Kevin Cadwallender:
Making Buildings out of Gods and Glue
Lit & Phil,
Newcastle: Monday 4 November, 7pm
Red Squirrel Press invites you to the launch of Kevin Cadwallender’s new
poetry collection, Making
Buildings out of Gods and Glue. Free admission, everyone welcome.
For more information email Sheila Wakefield at editor@redsquirrelpress.com or
see www.redsquirrelpress.com.
|
 Gothic
fiction with Holly Black and Sarah Rees Brennan
Seven Stories,
Newcastle: Wednesday 6 November, 6pm
Holly Black is the US author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books,
including The Spiderwick
Chronicles, and her new book, The Coldest Girl in Cold Town. Sarah Rees
Brennan is the Irish author of Unspoken,
Untold, and the bestselling Demon’s
Lexicon trilogy. Come along to hear all about their books,
writing and inspirations – and find out their top tips on how to write a book
of your own. Entry: £3 (no additional admission fee). Suitable for ages 11+.
For more information and to book visit www.sevenstories.org.uk.
|
Vivienne Toon: Geordie
Land to No Man’s Land
Waterstones,
Newcastle: Sunday 10 November, 12pm
Author Vivienne Toon signs copies of From
Geordie Land to No Man’s Land, a chronicle of a Geordie at war in
the trenches, in Waterstones ahead of Remembrance Sunday. Free event. For
further details call 0843 290 8503.
|
Tomboys and Good Sports:
Diversity and Stereotypes in Children’s Literature
Seven Stories,
Newcastle: Sunday 10 November, 1.30pm
Award-winning author Helen Limon and children’s book consultant Jake Hope
explore diversity and stereotypes in children’s literature, beginning with
Enid Blyton’s The Famous
Five. Head down to the Seven Stories Café after the event and
enjoy tea and cake with Helen and take the chance to chat about your
favourite characters. Tickets: £5/£3. For more information and to book, see www.sevenstories.org.uk.
|
 Steve
Chambers: Gladio: We Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny
Lit & Phil,
Newcastle: Monday 11 November, 7pm
Steve Chambers reads from his new novel, Gladio: We Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny, an
explosive political thriller set in Yorkshire in 1984 and 20 years later in
mainland Europe. Based on real events, it tells the story of an ambitious
young journalist who uncovers a murderous right wing conspiracy during the
miners’ strike and takes it on. There will also be an opportunity to get your
books signed after the reading. Free event. To book or for more information
visit www.litandphil.org.uk.
|
Lecture: Art About Aids
Newcastle City
Library: Wednesday 13 November, 5pm
Author Dr Paul Attinello talks about how, during the past three decades,
many artworks in all media have been created in response to AIDS and its
impact on people’s lives. In this talk he takes a look at some of the trends
those works have represented, including examples of stories, poetry, music,
theatre, film, and the visual arts. Admission free. For more information go
to www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/7882578003.
|
Gervase Phinn: The School
Inspector Calls
Waterstones,
Darlington: Thursday 14 November, 12.30pm
Local author Gervase Phinn signs copies of his new novel, The School Inspector Calls,
the third in the Barton-in-the-Dale series, at Waterstones. For further
details call 01325 465 666.
|
Lit & Phil Book Sale
Lit & Phil,
Newcastle: Friday 15 (10am-4pm), Saturday 16 (10am-4pm) & Sunday 17
November (12 noon-4pm)
Always some great bargains to be had – fill your bags at this legendary
annual event. Admission: £1. For more information, see www.litandphil.org.uk.
|
 Mari
Hannah and David Jackson: Duelling crime writers
Bedlington
Community Centre: Saturday 16 November, 7pm
Join two Pan Macmillan authors to discover what crime writers really want
to know about each other, cross-examine them about the tricks of the trade,
and discover their most closely guarded writing secrets. Tickets: £5. To find
out more or to book visit www.bedlingtoncommunitycentre.co.uk/nov.html.
|
Tommy Donbavand: Dr Who
is only 50, or is he?
Newcastle City
Library: Saturday 16 November, 2pm
Join Tommy Donbavand, author of Dr
Who novel The
Shroud of Sorrow, to celebrate Dr
Who’s 50th birthday. Guaranteed hilarity and lots of fun!
Presented by Reading Activists Newcastle. Free event. For more information or
to book visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/7573940861/eventful/r/eventful.
|
 Jim
Smith: I Am Not a Loser
Seven Stories,
Newcastle: Sunday 17 November, 2pm
Find out how Jim Smith, author of the hugely popular Barry Loser series,
creates his off-the-wall stories, read Barry’s hilarious notebooks where he
documents his life at home and school in a desperate attempt to prove that he
is NOT a loser. Admission: £3 plus admission fee or get a ticket to this
event free if you buy a copy of I
Am So Over Being a Loser from the Seven
Stories online store. To book or for more information visit www.sevenstories.org.uk/whats-on/events/118680/i-am-not-a-loser.
|
Radikal Words
Northern Stage,
Newcastle: Wednesday 20 November, 7.30pm
This eclectic spoken word night, hosted by Jeff Price, brings you the
finest poets from around the UK and the North East. This month, headliner
Maxwell Golden shares the bill with Kate Fox, local favourites Scott Tyrell
and Ann Porro, and writer, musician, poet and director of York Literature
Festival Miles Salter. Tickets: £8.50. For more information or to book call
0191 230 5151.
|
 Michael
Connelly: The Gods of Guilt
Waterstones,
York: Monday 25 November, 12.30pm
Join best-selling crime author Michael Connelly for a lunchtime signing of
his new book, The Gods of
Guilt. Copies of the book can be reserved by anyone unable to
attend the event if they call the store. Free event. For further details call
01904 628 740.
|
Vane Women Winter Sparkle
Conservatory Bar, Darlington Civic Theatre: Monday 25
November, 7.30pm
The Vane Women’s writers’ collective invite audiences to come along to an
evening of poems, prose and puns that are guaranteed to warm the cockles on a
cold winter’s night. Spoken word authors are also welcome to bring along a
piece of their own for the open mic. Tickets: £5/£3. Call 01325 486 555
for more information.
|
 Motion
and Bunting: An Evening of Poetry
Queen’s Hall,
Hexham: Friday 29 November, 7pm
A special evening of poetry with the winners of this year’s Basil Bunting
poetry competition, followed by a public reading of his poetry by the former
Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion, who is also judging this year’s awards. Sir
Andrew will read from his latest acclaimed collection, The Customs House.
Tickets: £12/£10. For more information or to book go to www.queenshall.co.uk/whats-on/seasons-diary/788
or call 01434 652 477.
|
Books On Tyne
Newcastle City
Library and Lit & Phil: Thursday 28 November-Sunday 1 December
Books on Tyne, presented by the Lit & Phil and Newcastle City Library,
celebrates a sense of place with a fantastic range of speakers who have
something to say about the North. Guests include master storyteller David
Almond, journalist Kate Adie, crime writers Ann Cleeves and Mari Hannah,
poets Jean Sprackland and Katrina Porteous, Radio 4 sound magician Sarah
Blunt, sportswriter Harry Pearson, Newcastle 1980s expert Chris Phipps,
Gail-Nina Anderson, Michael Chaplin, and many more, plus book art exhibition
by Theresa Easton, and a festival bookshop. Ticket prices: from £2-£8, with
many events free. To find out more information or to book visit www.booksontyne.co.uk
or phone City Library on 0191 277 4100, or the Lit and Phil on 0191 232 0192.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment