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New
Writing North news
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Last call for a
playwright proposals – closes Sunday 12 April
Last month we reported our good news that we have secured three years
of funding from Arts Council England, which will allow us to tour one
production adapted from a picture book each year, aimed at children under
7 and their families. We are still accepting applications for a
playwright to work on the 2015 production, but the deadline is this
weekend.
The writer should be based in the North of England and have experience
in creating work for children. They must have had at least one play
professionally produced and must be available to participate in
development sessions with the cast in Newcastle between May and July
2015, and deliver the script by the end of August 2015. They will be
expected to attend rehearsals and meetings in Newcastle. The production will
tour in October 2015. We will pay ITC rates for the commission.
To apply, please email Anna Disley a covering letter stating your
interest and experience in creating work for children, a writing CV, an
example of a script you have written, and a two-page treatment of a
picture book of your choice, adapted for the stage. Applications should
be submitted by midnight Sunday 12 April to anna@newwritingnorth.com.
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New faces for Cuckoo
Young Writers
 On 25 April
a new term of Cuckoo Young Writers sessions begins, and not only is there
a new group starting up in Amble, but there will be a whole new set of
writers and group leaders leading the sessions. If you (or a young person
in your life) has ever wondered about getting involved, now may just be
the time!
In Newcastle, poet John Challis and group leader Matt Wesolowski will
be taking on poetry and performance, and delving into the poetry archive
for inspiration.
Join in from
Saturday 25 April, 11am-1pm, Northern Stage, Newcastle
In Sunderland, songwriter and ex-Futurehead Barry Hyde and group
leader Lizzie Nixon will be getting election-ready, and exploring protest
songs and writing.
Join in from
Saturday 25 April, 11am-1pm, Pop Recs, Fawcett Street, Sunderland
In Cramlington, writer and artist Stevie Ronnie and group leader
Hannah Morpeth will be exploring poetry, people and place.
Join in from
Saturday 25 April, 11am-1pm, Cramlington Library
And in Amble, playwright Carina Rodney and group leader Emily Wiseman
will be developing characters, plots and themes to create excellent
stories.
Join in from
Saturday 25 April, 10am-12pm, at Amble Library
All sessions are FREE to attend for all 12-19 year-olds. If you’d like
any more information, email laura@newwritingnorth.com
or phone 0191 204 8851.
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Read Regional 2016:
open call for books
We are still accepting submissions of books by authors based in the
North of England to be considered for Read Regional 2016. The campaign is
run in partnership with 19 local authorities and will see 10-15 authors
visiting libraries, festivals and book groups across the North East and
Yorkshire in spring 2016. Libraries buy the Read Regional titles in bulk
and a comprehensive marketing campaign supports the project. Books must
be published between November 2014 and December 2015 (we are unable to
accept self-published titles). Authors may be based anywhere in northern
England. Deadline for submissions is Monday 4 May. For more information,
see www.newwritingnorth.com.
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Julia Darling on
4Extra
Don't miss the rare opportunity to hear the late and much loved Julia
Darling’s Appointments on BBC 4Extra next week. The funny and
moving story about a woman's response to being diagnosed with an
inoperable brain tumour is on every day next week at 2.30pm with an
omnibus edition on Sunday. 4Extra is also broadcasting The Waiting Room, an intimate web diary with poetry
and songs about Julia's last three years, on Monday 13 April at 11.15am.
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People
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We’re thrilled for Chloe
Daykin, one of our Northern Writers’ Awards 2014 winners,
who has just signed a two-book deal with Faber Children’s Books for Fish Boy, the
children’s novel for which she won the award. Chloe met her agent Ben
Illis at our networking event for NWA winners last summer. “It’s an
absolute dream come true,” said Chloe. “I am so excited, I’m bouncing
round the garden!”
Hooray for Newcastle University creative writing student Olivia Gwyne,
who has been shortlisted for the Home-Start Bridgwater Short Story Prize.
The winner will be announced by judge Tracy Chevalier at the Bridgwater
Arts Centre, Somerset, on 25 April.
Congratulations to Judy
Walker, who has won the annual Red Squirrel Short Story
competition. As her prize, Judy’s pamphlet will be published by Red
Squirrel in 2016.
Fiona Veitch
Smith says her head is spinning after she has signed
three book contracts in the space of two months. Lion Fiction will be
publishing The Jazz
Files, the first in the Poppy
Denny Investigates mystery series set in 1920s London, in
September 2015. Then SPCK Publishing have bought the rights to her
self-published children’s picture book series, the Young David books,
and commissioned her for a new seven-book series. Great news, Fiona!
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Opportunities
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Writer opportunity at
NTC Touring Theatre Company
NTC has received funding to produce A
Wife or the Gallows and Other Telling Tales, a new, northern Canterbury Tales for
family audiences, which will tour nationally in autumn 2015. The company
is now looking for an emerging North-based writer to join the writing
team for this project.
The production will comprise of six tale-telling misadventures with
comic, sad, bawdy stories in the vein of The Canterbury Tales, drawing upon the
working roots of the region, including fishing, mining, farming and ship
building. Writers may be complete beginners or have had one professional
production of their work. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to
attend a two-day workshop in Alnwick, Northumberland, in May 2015, before
a successful writer is selected. The chosen writer will have their work
professionally produced, and will receive a fee of £1,000. For full
application details, see www.northumberlandtheatre.co.uk.
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Call for proposals
for NAWE conference: 13-15 November 2015, Durham
The NAWE conference invites writers to share their various approaches
to writing and to the teaching of writing at all levels. NAWE would like
to stress the inclusive nature of the conference to newer members; it is
not just aimed at people working in a university setting but is a
gathering of a wide range of writers, educators and those interested in
creative writing and education. Proposals should consist of a brief (100
word) outline, exactly as you would wish the session to be described in
the programme, plus biographical information on all presenters (50 words
each). Please also specify exactly what technical equipment you require.
Sessions are generally 75 minutes, but plans to share sessions are
encouraged. Short presentations may be grouped according to focus by the
conference organisers. All presenters need to register as delegates but
benefit from a significant discount. You can book for the conference at www.nawe.co.uk/DisplayEdit.aspx?iid=17519.
Email proposals to conference@nawe.co.uk
by 4 May.
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Competitions
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The Portico Prizes
The Portico Library in Manchester has announced the call out for the
2015 Portico Prizes for fiction (including poetry) and non-fiction. The
prizes of £10,000 each will be awarded to books published between 1
August 2012 and 31 July 2015, that are of a good literary standard, of
general interest, and set wholly or mainly in the North of England.
Previous winners of the Portico Prize, which this year celebrates its
thirtieth anniversary, include Anthony Burgess (Any Old Iron), Sarah
Hall (The Beautiful
Indifference), Jean Sprackland (Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach),
and Jenny Uglow (Elizabeth
Gaskell, A Habit of Stories). Deadline: 31 July. To apply,
see www.theportico.org.uk/prizes.
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Jobs
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Active Northumberland is recruiting for a project coordinator
for the Northern
Poetry Library. The successful applicant will have an
excellent understanding of managing literacy/arts projects, working with
libraries and managing partnerships, and a successful track record of
managing similar projects. It is expected that the successful application
will make their own office arrangements, however some work will be
carried out within the libraries and on site. This is a freelance
contract with a £12,000 fee (60 days at £200) plus expenses (max of
£1,000) and it is fixed term from 1 July 2015 to 28 February 2017.
For further information or an informal chat about this post, please
contact Wendy Scott, Design & Arts Development Manager, on 01670
624754. Applications should be emailed to Wendy.Scott02@northumberland.gov.uk
by 5pm, 18 May 2015. Please put ‘NPL Project Co-ordinator Application’ in
the subject box. Interviews to be held 29 May 2015.
Eden Arts
in Penrith, Cumbria, is seeking a project
officer who will work across a wide variety of projects.
This new post will assist the head of projects and director to deliver
key projects such as Picnic & Remote Cinema, The Winter Droving,
C-Art and mass participation programmes. The role will have administrative
as well as project management responsibilities. Deadline: Monday 13
April, 5pm. Salary: £18k, full time. For an application pack, see www.edenarts.co.uk/jobs-and-opps.
Square Chapel
Centre for the Arts in Halifax is recruiting for a marketing officer.
Marketing experience is essential, ideally in an arts environment. The
appointee will be responsible for the marketing and promotion of Square
Chapel’s programme of events, as well as its website and online ticketing
systems, under the direction of the marketing manager. Deadline: Tuesday
14 April, 9am. Salary: £18k, full time. For an application pack, see www.squarechapel.co.uk.
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Workshops
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Creative writing
workshops at Hexham Book Festival
Aspiring writers in the North East could make a day of it at Hexham
Book Festival on Saturday 25 April when two workshops will guide them
through writing fiction and how to get published.
Bea Davenport’s Writing Fiction workshop at 10.30am will cover
characterisation, plotting, narrative distance and point of view, sensory
writing and showing not telling. Bea is the author of suspense novels In Too Deep and This Little Piggy
(Legend Press) and children’s novel The
Serpent House (Curious Fox).
In Creative Writing & How To Get Published at
1pm, Sarah Leipciger, debut author of the much anticipated The Mountain Can Wait,
will talk about how to improving your creative writing skills with Tinder
Press commissioning editor Mary-Anne Harrington. They will also share
tips on how to get your novel noticed in the competitive world of
publishing.
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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 laurafraine@newwritingnorth.com.
The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 20
April. The next edition of The
Listening Post covering May's events will be
published in late April so if there are any events that you would like to
submit for inclusion you will need to send information to Laura by 20
April.
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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