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Jane
Smiley in conversation with Debbie Taylor
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 Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle: Sunday 9 March, 2.30pm
Award-winning novelist Jane Smiley comes to the Tyneside Cinema in a
rare UK appearance for an exclusive Q&A, brought to you by New
Writing North and Mslexia.
Smiley will discuss her fascinating writing career with Debbie Taylor,
editor of Mslexia
magazine, before introducing a screening of A Thousand Acres,
based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and starring Michelle Pfeiffer
and Jessica Lange. Jane Smiley’s other novels include Horse Heaven (shortlisted
for the Orange Prize) and most recently, Private Life. She has also written
non-fiction including Thirteen
Ways of Looking at the Novel and contributed to numerous
magazines and newspapers. Tickets: £10/£8. To book, go to www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/whats-on/films/view/a-thousand-acres-plus-jane-smiley-qa. |
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Teesside New Writing
Festival 2014
Middlesbrough
Theatre: 3-8 March
Four brand new plays, four North East writers, and an exclusive preview
of a new piece of work by Middlesbrough writer Ishy Din. Tickets: £7 per
show/£25 for the week. For more information and to book call 01642 815181
or go to www.middlesbroughtheatre.co.uk. |
Forensic narratives with
Ann Cleeves
 When New
Writing North needed to commission a crime for Crime Story, our weekend of
discussion and workshops for fans and writers of crime fiction, we turned
immediately to best-selling author Ann Cleeves. The creator of the enormously
successful Vera Stanhope series and the Shetland Quartet, both of which have
been adapted for major TV series, Ann is known for her technical accuracy,
working with forensic professionals to make sure that every crime scene can
stand up to scrutiny. Ahead of Crime Story, we caught up with Ann to talk
about how she approaches the forensic narrative. To find out more about
Crime Story, and to book your place, go to www.crimestory.co.uk.
Early bird rates are available for a limited time only.
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Explore the art of the
interview
On Friday 21 March [i’ll be your mirror] in association with New Writing
North is holding the first in a series of free workshops exploring the art of
conversation. In this first session, titled Interviewing is just talking, isn’t it? What could be
easier? Caroline Beck and Gary Malkin offer artists, writers and
practitioners of different backgrounds practical advice and insights into
creative and effective speaking and listening, specifically through the
process of interview.
Caroline Beck has been interviewing professionally for over 20 years, as a
BBC radio producer, feature writer and chair at literary festivals both here
and abroad. Gary Malkin is the producer of BALTIC’s audio and video material,
using interviews with national and international artists to create
interpretative films and podcasts.
This first event takes place at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, 21
March from 2pm. Places are limited so to book yours RSVP to ibymirror@gmail.com by 11 April.
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Susan Elliot Wright
shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year
 Susan Elliot
Wright’s debut novel, The
Things We Never Said, has been shortlisted in the Contemporary
Romantic Novel category in the Romantic Novel of the Year Award presented by
the Romantic Novelists’ Association. The winners of the shortlist categories
for the Romantic Novel of the Year and the winner of the RoNA Rose Award for
shorter fiction will be announced during a ceremony at London’s Gladstone
Library on 17 March, with the awards presented by Darcey Bussell.
Meanwhile, Susan is continuing to appear in libraries across the North as
part of New Writing North’s Read Regional programme. Catch up with her, and
other great authors such as Gavin Extence, Celia Bryce and Melvin Burgess, in
Darlington, Gateshead, Bradford, Hull and just about everywhere in-between.
For event listings and information about all the authors and their books, see
www.readregional.com.
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Jane Smiley: Pulitzer
Prize-winning author comes to Tyneside
New Writing North and Mslexia
hope you’ll join them at an event with Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer
Prize-winning author of A
Thousand Acres, at Newcastle’s Tyneside Cinema on Sunday 9 March.
To book tickets to the event go to www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/whats-on/films/view/a-thousand-acres-plus-jane-smiley-qa.
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Hexham Book Festival
announces 2014 programme
 Hexham Book
Festival returns from 24 April-8 May with a star-studded line-up, including
Jeremy Hardy, Penelope Lively, Ian Rankin, Tracy Chevalier and Kirsty Wark.
Globetrot with a fearless explorer; hear politicians turned novelists and
biographers; listen to crime writers mashing it up, philosophers arguing
about food and foodies arguing about philosophy, economists arguing about
who’s to blame for the mess we’re in, an iconic potter, historians bringing
up the bodies, poets reflecting on the Northumberland landscape and feminists
calling for men to become converts. All this and badgers, birds and Henry
‘Blowers’ Blofeld. For more information and a full programme, see www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk.
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Tyne
Theatre
Royal, Newcastle: 4-8 March, 7.30pm
Michael Chaplin’s play, Tyne,
dramatises extracts from Michael’s own book Tyne View, published by New Writing
North. The play ties the scenes together with stories from some great North
East writers, such as Tom Hadaway, Julia Darling, Alan Plater and Sid
Chaplin. Using music, story and images it maps the epic history, atmosphere
and soul of the river, using stories gathered from the people Michael met
walking the tidal length of the river in 2011 when he was writer in
residence at the Port of Tyne. During the run, a limited number of copies
of Tyne View
will be on sale in the New
Writing North shop for just £15 plus £1.50 P&P. |
 Celia
Bryce: First Thursday
Room G.13,
Percy Building, Newcastle University: Thursday 6 March, 1pm
Celia Bryce writes short fiction as well as novels for young adults.
Born in Jarrow, Celia trained in nursing but gave up bedpans for writing
and singing. Her first novel for children, Anthem for Jackson Dawes, is set on a
children’s cancer ward. It has been nominated for a number of awards
including the Carnegie Medal. First Thursday readings are free to attend,
no need to book in advance. |
 Nick
Sharratt: Socks
Waterstones,
Durham: Thursday 6 March, 4.30pm
Join author and illustrator Nick Sharratt at Durham’s Waterstones where
he'll be reading from his hilariously silly picture book, Socks, and there will
be a chance to make some sock puppets. For further details call 0191 383
1488 or visit the Waterstones
website. |
Divine Installation: A
reading to celebrate women and engineering
Innovation
Centre Lecture Theatre, University of Teesside: Thursday 6 March, 4.30pm
Locomotion Museum, Shildon: Wednesday 19 March, 1.30pm
In 2012 Durham-based writer Julie Ward was commissioned to write a
response to engineering as part of Arts Council England’s Cultural Olympiad
programme which accompanied Ed Carter’s Flowmill
on the Tyne. The result was Divine
Installation, an unashamedly feminist response which has
subsequently been broadcast by Basic FM. The story will receive two more
outings as part of Durham Women Rising’s Festival. For more information see
http://durhamwomenrising.wordpress.com/events/. |
Would Enid Tweet?
Blyton in the 21st century
Seven
Stories, Newcastle: Sunday 9 March, 2pm
Enid Blyton had a powerful relationship with her publisher and had a
strong brand before other authors. Now publishers expect authors to use
social media and visit schools and festivals. Is this the right approach
for everyone? How would Enid have taken advantage of modern branding
opportunities? Join authors Helen Limon and Lucy Coats to discuss these
issues and more. Tickets: £5/£3 for annual pass holders, no additional
admission fee required. Find out more at www.sevenstories.org.uk. |
 Michael
Chaplin: Writing The Great War
Room G.05,
Percy Building, Newcastle University: Thursday 13 March, 5.30pm
Newcastle playwright and screenwriter Michael Chaplin is one of the lead
writers on Tommies,
an ambitious four-year drama project for Radio 4 that will tell the stories
of a group of characters on the front and at home during the First World
War. In this talk, he describes the process of shaping the series and the
challenges of using a veritable mountain of historical sources to create
plays that do justice to the real experience of the trenches. Tickets are
free and can be booked via the webstore at http://webstore.ncl.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&catid=206&prodid=273. |
Gwyneth Lewis: Bloodaxe
Poetry Lectures: Quantum Poetics
Room G.05,
Percy Building, Newcastle University: 19 March, 5.30pm/20 March, 5.30pm/26
March, 5.30pm
Gwyneth Lewis’s lectures explore the connection linking form and
politics with the content of poetry while exploring how each of these
changes our understanding of time. She argues that the poet steers a path
between making music and making sense – not at the level of the line, but
in the deep structures of meaning which are poetry’s terrain. The accuracy
of what they say is just as important as its expression, both for their own
well-being and for its worth to the reader. Taken together, her lectures
begin to posit not the science in poetry but a science of the artform.
Tickets are free and can be booked at www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/events/item/gwyneth-lewis-quantum-poetics-bloodaxe-poetry-lectures. |
York Literature
Festival
Various York
venues: 20-31 March
York Literature Festival began in 2007, and has grown steadily
since then. Guests this year include Germaine Greer, Alan Johnson, Andrew
Motion and Roger McGough. For more information and to book, see www.yorkliteraturefestival.co.uk. |
 World
Poetry Day: Colette Bryce, Zaffar Kunial, Ahren Warner: Poetics of the
Archive
Room G.05,
Percy Building, Newcastle University: Friday 21 March, 7.15pm
Join Leverhulme poet in residence Colette Bryce, poetry editor of Poetry London Ahren
Warner and Wordsworth Trust poet in residence and Northern Writers’ Award
winner Zaffar Kunial for World Poetry Day. Tickets are free and can be
booked at www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/events/item/world-poetry-day-colette-bryce-zaffar-kunial-ahren-warner-poetics-of-the-archive. |
Sara Park Memorial
Short Story Competition
Lit &
Phil, Newcastle: Monday 24 March, 7pm
Red Squirrel Press invites you to the launch of the short story pamphlet
anthology of the winning and highly commended short stories. Free
admission, all welcome. For more information email Sheila Wakefield at editor@redsquirrelpress.com
or visit www.redsquirrelpress.com. |
Brian Alderson: Looking
at Children’s Books
Robinson
Library, Newcastle University: Wednesday 26 March, 5.30pm
Using original artwork, manuscripts and correspondence from Seven
Stories, Brian Alderson offers a unique insight into the development of
British children’s literature in the 20th century. Admission free but
booking required. For more information, see www.sevenstories.org.uk/whats-on/events/119209/looking-at-picture-books-part-4. |
 Gwyneth
Lewis
Culture Lab,
Newcastle University: Thursday 27 March, 7.15pm
Gwyneth Lewis was Wales’s National Poet from 2005-06, the first writer
to be given the Welsh laureateship. She has published eight books of poetry
in Welsh and English. Her latest book is Sparrow
Tree, which won the Roland Mathias Poetry Award 2012. Tickets:
£6/£4 (concs)/£2 (Newcastle University students). To book or for more
information, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla/events/item/gwyneth-lewis.
In the
North
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New Teesside drama
festival spotlights local talent
The New Writing Festival at Middlesbrough Theatre from 3-8 March features
four brand new plays from four North East writers. Audiences at this new
festival produced by theatre company Less is More will be able to see That Gay Play by David
Tuffnell, String by
Allison Davies, One Way
Street by Jonny Bussell and A
Slice of Life by Olivia Brady. There is also a festival exclusive
with the first performance of a work in progress of a new piece of work by
Middlesbrough writer Ishy Din, whose play Snookered
toured in 2012, taking in the Traverse Edinburgh and a four-week run at the
Bush Theatre, London. For more information and to book call 01642 815181 or
go to www.middlesbroughtheatre.co.uk.
Click here
to download a festival programme.
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Writer wanted for ‘impromptu
musical’
As part of Bridging
the Gap, a multi-venue scheme to support the making of new theatre in the
North East, multi-disciplinary performance and film producer Encounter is
looking for a writer with interest in fictional narrative, direct address and
(unpolished) song for Choir,
‘an impromptu musical’ that looks at modern notions of community and
individualism. Please submit your expression of interest with an example of
writing to jennifer@encounterproductions.org
by 7 March.
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Working Culture Residency
offers free Newcastle desk space
A participatory project by artist Alexia Mellor in partnership with The
NewBridge Project, WCR explores the current working climate of the UK culture
sector. Whether you are an artist, administrator, local officer, or
freelancer, Working Culture Residency is excited to welcome you to their hot
desk studio setting in Newcastle city centre. Spaces are completely free and
available on a regular or one-time basis Tuesdays-Fridays, 10am-6pm, from 1
March- 30 April. For more information and to reserve a space, email workingcultureresidency@gmail.com.
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Celebrate Blucher
bicentenary in poetry and prose
North East writer Keith Armstrong is working on a new publication
commissioned by North Tyneside Council and is looking for some poetry and
prose on the theme of George Stephenson in Killingworth, with particular
reference to his steam engine, Blucher, which he built in 1814. You can
contact Keith at k.armstrong643@btinternet.com.
The deadline is end of March with publication is planned for July.
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Northern theatre makers
wanted to join The Lowry’s Spring Showcase
In partnership with Cheshire Rural Touring, Spot On and Lancashire’s Rural
Touring Network, The Lowry Studio is looking for expressions of interest from
companies in the Greater North with experience of touring and new stories to
tell in interesting ways – whatever that might mean. The successful
applicant(s) will receive mentoring, introductions to the rural touring
network, a cash investment and access to professional development
opportunities. To apply email Claire Symonds at claire.symonds@thelowry.com
about your work to date, why this is the right opportunity for you and a
description of your project by 10 March.
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The Dorothy Wordsworth
Festival of Women’s Poetry
The third Dorothy Wordsworth Festival of Women’s Poetry, run in
association with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, will run a three-day showcase
of women’s poetry in Grasmere from 11-13 April. There will be readings from
Sujata Bhatt, Rita Ann Higgins and Carol Ann Duffy, panel discussions with TS
Eliot Prize winner Sinead Morrissey, Rebecca Goss and Carolyn Jess-Cooke, and
talks about women’s poetry in the First World War and their lives through
their letters. To book call 015394 3554 or book online at www.wordsworth.org.uk.
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Opportunities
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Young Writers by the Lake
Theatre by the Lake in Keswick is looking for young playwrights aged
between 14-25 for the Festival of Youth in February 2015. To enter all you
need is a short play (no longer than 20 minutes and suitable for a maximum of
eight performers) on the theme of ‘Swings and Roundabouts’. The winners will
be mentored by a professional theatre maker, get two tickets to Theatre by
the Lake’s production of The
Comedy of Errors, and have their play staged by the Theatre by
the Lake’s Youth Theatre. If you need a few hints about playwriting, www.theatrebythelake.com
will be posting writing tips during the course of the competition. Closing
date is 18 April at 5pm. Send a copy of your play, along with your age,
address and telephone number, to participation@theatrebythelake.com.
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The John Betjeman Poetry
Competition for Young People
The John Betjeman Poetry Competition for Young People is looking for poems
on a sense of ‘place’ from children aged 10-13. The first prize is £1,000
(£500 to the winner and £500 to the English department of their school) as
well as four Eurostar tickets. £50 book tokens are awarded to commended
entrants. This year’s judges are National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke, and
the founder of Gifford Circus, Nell Gifford. The competition is free to enter
and closes on 31 July. See www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com
for details and an online entry form.
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Jobs
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Corridor8: Editorial
researcher
Corridor8, the annual international journal of contemporary visual arts
and writing based in the North of England, is looking for an
editor/researcher to deliver international research and development work
between Manchester and Seoul for publication to coincide with the Asia
Triennial 2014. Closing date: 5 March. For more information see www.artsjobs.org.uk/index.php?id=25&ne_post_id=120803.
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The Reader Organisation:
Communications coordinator
The role will require the candidate to devise and deliver regional and
national media campaigns, support the delivery of the Reader Organisation’s
work through the creation of appropriate materials and supporting other
members of staff, as well as maintaining a detailed analysis of the
stakeholders, both internal and external. Deadline for submissions: 7 March.
For more information, see www.thereader.org.uk.
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Edge Hill University:
Lecturer/senior lecturer in creative writing
The University of Edge Hill is home to a well-established creative writing
section, in which students gain experience in all the major literary genres.
This is an opportunity for a professional writer with substantial experience
in higher education to join this growing department. You will be able to
contribute to both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, with an
established specialism in poetry. Deadline for applications: 5 March. For an
online application form and full job description, see
www.edgehill.ac.uk/jobs.
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West Yorkshire Playhouse:
Senior marketing and audience development officer
West Yorkshire Playhouse is looking for an experienced marketing officer
to plan and deliver marketing campaigns and work with the arts development
and education teams. They will need a rigorous approach to integrated
campaign planning and management, combined with the ability to react
creatively to sales figures. Deadline for applications: 17 March. Apply at www.wyp.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/job-opportunities.
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Encounter: Arts marketing
and administration assistant internship
Multi-disciplinary performance and film producer Encounter is seeking a
bright, creative, reliable and self-motivated individual for a two-month
part-time internship. The role will include day to day administrative tasks,
marketing/PR, assisting with casting, overseeing and executing mailings and
overseeing of social media. Deadline: 7 March. For more information see http://encounterproductions.org/Jobs-and-Opportunities.
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Miscellany
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Still time to join the
Writing Squad
Do you write? The Writing Squad is looking for writers aged between 16-21
who live, work or study in the North of England to join a free
writer-development programme. To apply visit www.writingsquad.com/join-the-squad/.
Final deadline for applications: 30 March.
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Special
offers for New Writing North newsletter subscribers
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Refugee Boy at Northern
Stage
 Friday 21 & Saturday 22 March
New Writing North subscribers can get tickets to see Lemn Sissay’s
adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah’s novel for just £10 (normally £24). Book
online at www.northernstage.co.uk
and use the code ‘NWNOffer’ or call the box office on 0191 230 5151 and quote
‘NWNOffer’.
Alem is 14, in London with his father on the best holiday he has ever had.
Then he awakes to find himself alone in an unfamiliar country. As a violent
civil war rages at home, his Ethopian father and Eritrean mother make the
decision to leave him in London. For more information, see www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/refugee-boy.
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Deadline
for April’s Listening Post
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The next edition of The
Listening Post covering April's literature events will go out
in late March. If you have events that you would like to submit for
inclusion, send your information by 20 March 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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