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The latest news from New Writing
North
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Newsletter:
29 November 2019
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Enter your work-in-progress for a Northern
Writers’ Award
We’re celebrating 21 years of the Northern
Writers’ Awards as we open the platform up for entry for
2020. Entry is
free and applications are open online until 6 February 2019.
The Northern Writers’ Awards offer support for
writers at all stages of their careers, including mentoring, developmental support
and cash awards
to buy time to write, with £45,000
worth of awards available to writers based in the North of England.
We also have special awards for young
people aged 12-18, for which they can enter themselves or
be nominated by an adult. Find
out more
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Take part in a writing roadshow
In the new year, we're excited to be visiting
Blackpool and our hometown of Newcastle with the Northern Writers' Awards
Roadshow.
On 8
January in Newcastle we'll be hosting an evening event in
partnership with Channel 4 for people interested in writing for television
and radio (no experience required), and on 18 January we will be in Blackpool with our
partners The Literary Consultancy for a roadshow with sessions on the
author-agent relationship, finding outlets for new work and advice for
writers considering applying for the Northern Writers’ Awards and other
opportunities. Book
your tickets for the Newcastle
and Blackpool roadshows
now.
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Freelance and trustee roles at New Writing
North
We currently have vacancies at NWN for both
freelancers and trustees. We are seeking a dynamic, highly organised
and creative Project
Producer to deliver our long-running Young Writers’ City
programme at Excelsior Academy (deadline
Monday 2 December), and we're looking to hear from
experienced audio
producers for forthcoming work on the New Writing North
podcast (deadline
Monday 6 January).
We also have vacancies for trustees,
specifically with experience in Finance, Commercial
expertise, Property/Capital
Development, Communications, Legal and Creative Writing (deadline Monday 6 January).
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Tarjem: Arabic-English Translation
Workshop, Sharjah
As part of the Sharjah Market Focus at The London
Book Fair in March 2020, the British Council have partnered with New
Writing North, Kalimat Group and Sharjah World Book Capital to offer an
Arabic-English/English-Arabic Translation Workshop in February 2020.
This is an opportunity for up to six mid-career Arabic-English
and up to six English-Arabic translators to take part in a
three-day developmental workshop focusing on literary translation. The
workshop will involve a study
visit to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates between 12-16 February 2020.
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Edna O'Brien wins the David Cohen
Prize for Literature
The prize is £40,000 for a living UK or Irish
writer's lifetime achievement and was awarded to Edna O'Brien, a
writer who has broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland
and beyond and moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her
writing. Recognised by many as one of the greatest writers of the
twentieth century, Edna O’Brien is a bestselling novelist, memoirist,
playwright, poet and short story writer whose first book, The Country Girls was
published in 1960 and latest, Girl,
was published in 2019. Edna went on to award the Clarissa Luard Award -
worth £10,000 - to the Irish poet Clodagh Beresford Dunne. Read
more
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Young Writers' Groups
Our Young Writers' Groups are coming to a close
for 2019 with final sessions happening on Saturday 7 December. This term
the groups have been working on a variety of topics including horror,
protest and climate change. Amble Young Writers have been developing their
own monologues which will be performed by a professional actor at Amble
harbour from 10.30am this Saturday 30 November – come along if you can!
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Young Writers' City: Colour Blind legacy
Four of the young women who created and performed Colour Blind as part of Young
Writers’ City revisited their work recently at St Bernadette’s
Primary School in Wallsend as part of anti-bullying week. The girls
performed Colour Blind and facilitated a discussion with Year 5 and 6
pupils about racism, before working with the pupils to create their own
poetic work under the title Saint Bernadette’s Manifesto Against Racism.
The school’s deputy headteacher, Imelda Milner,
described the day as "one of the most inspiring days of my career… the
Q and A session where 9 and 10 year olds openly discussed racist abuse with
the girls was just amazing. What an amazing shift in popular culture for
our children to look up to young ladies such as Angelica, Manaar, Shakira
and Tessy who have such aspirations. For us today has been authentic,
unique and brilliant."
We are really proud of Angelica, Manaar, Shakira and
Tessy, and of all the young women who contributed to Colour Blind. As
Tessy says, ‘it would have been hard to believe, back when we started
playing around with words in our lunchtime creative writing session how far
it would take us and how many people we would have impacted with our work.’
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Congratulations to
Newcastle-based author and children’s songwriter, Caroline Hoile, who
had her first children’s story book published by SPCK Publishing in
September. The beautifully illustrated Christmas title The Hoity Toity Angel is
now available to purchase online, as well as Newcastle Waterstones and Blackwell’s.
Find out more here.
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North East author,
composer and broadcaster, Jez
Lowe, has recently published his second novel The Corly Croons, published
by Badapple Books,
which tells the story of a visitor from the south of England who
becomes entangled in a mystery; with inspiration from folk music of the
Tyneside region. Read more here.
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Congratulations to
Sunderland based author, Glenda
Young, who’s third novel, Pearl of Pit Lane, was published by Headline on November
14. Amongst other achievements this year, Glenda was also one of six
finalists in this year’s Sunday for Sammy / Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement
Comedy Award 2019. Find out more.
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The Sunday Times Audible
Short Story Award 2020 is now open for submissions. Entry is open to
authors from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a previous record
of publication in creative writing in the UK and Ireland. Stories must be
previously unpublished, or first published on or after 1 January 2019. All
entries must be 6,000 words or under and entirely original. Winner receives
£30,000 and the five runners-up receive £1,000 each. Deadline Friday 13 December.
Follow this link to
apply.
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Green Stories is a series of free
writing competitions across various formats to solicit stories that
showcase what a sustainable society might look like. The latest
competition, Flickers
of the Future invites UK filmmakers between
the ages of 18-25 to submit ideas for a human story incorporating a
sustainable future, without relying on dystopian narratives. Winner
receives £100k funding and guidance from Global Action Plan’s expert panel.
Submissions close 31 December
2019.
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Alternarratives is a new
£15,000 prize from Nesta for UK
writers to explore innovation in short-form storytelling that could inspire
young people (aged 11-16) to re-engage with reading for pleasure. Nesta is
looking for bold ideas that go beyond the word document and use all the
tools we have at our disposal to tell stories in new and exciting ways,
testing ideas and exploring different formats. Entries are open until 13 January 2020.
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The Word UK have
partnered up with Nothumbrian Words Project and the Northumbrian Language
Society to bring you Lost
Words Writing Competition; a new writing competition which
offers writers the chance to celebrate the North East dialect. It invites
adults, ages 20 and over to submit contemporary short stories between
500-1000 words in length which use The Word’s Word Bank of Lost Dialects as
their inspiration. Top three entries receive cash prizes of £100, £50 and
£25 respectively. Deadline Friday
28 February 2020. Apply here.
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Write On Art is an annual
competition for
school students aged 15-18, sponsored by Art UK and the Paul Mellon Centre
for Studies in British Art. All students have to do to take part is
choose any artwork on Art UK and write a thought-provoking piece.
The winners will receive a cash prize and have their
essays featured online. Deadline 31 March 2020.
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Ware Poets is running its
22nd annual competition, this year with poet Glyn Maxwell as its judge.
Poems must be your own original work and may be on any subject, typed or
hand-written on A4 and no more than 50 lines long each. 1st Prize is
£600, 2nd Prize is £300 and 3rd Prize is £150. Deadline 30 April 2020.
Application form can be found here.
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The 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize is
open for entries. The competition is open to all writers around the world
whether published or unpublished, UK or non-UK based. 1st prize is £1,000,
2nd prize is £500, 3rd prize is £250. 17 further prizes of £100 will be
presented to the remaining shortlisted writers. The closing date for
entries is midnight 30
April 2020.
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Applications now open
for Arvon’s Writing
for Performance with Communities course lead by
experienced tutors Sara Clifford and Francesca Beard. This course aims to
leave each participant with a tool kit of exercises and strategies for writing
and making work with, by and for communities. Submit a 500 word
statement to learning@arvon.org by 5pm on Tuesday 7 January.
More details here.
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Iron Press are calling for
submissions for their ALIENS anthology, a collection of short stories to be
published late in 2020. The subject of ‘aliens’ can be interpreted as
imaginatively as possible, 3000 words max. Deadline Tuesday 31 March 2020.
Follow the link for more details.
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Sunderland Literacy Aid
are looking to enrol a few groups of people to take part in their project Reading for Wellbeing.
The aim is to help them collect and interpret data on the increase or
decrease in mood as result of being read aloud to. The School of Psychology
at The University of Sunderland will help them with this part of the
project. Open to anyone who would like to hear literature read aloud in a
small informal group setting. If interested, contact hello@sunderlandliteracyaid.co.uk.
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As part of Hexham Book
Festival’s Gillian
Dickinson Trust Young People’s Festival 2020-21 Arts
Council England is supporting the Festival to offer emerging writers, from
across the county of Northumberland, the opportunity to create new pieces
of written work. It asks writers to produce new pieces of prose or creative
non-fiction (3,000 – 5,000 words) that respond to the title ‘Exploring
Rural Realities’. Successful applicants’ work will be showcased at the
festival in the Spiegeltent in 2020 and 2021, and they will take part in an
open celebratory event which runs from 24 – 30 April 2020. Follow this link for
more details.
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The Garsdale Retreat has announced
their 2020 schedule of courses and retreats which are open for bookings
on their website, ranging from poetry, fiction, non-fiction/memoir, a
tutored poetry retreat, a tutored fiction writing retreat and six
untutored retreats. Gift vouchers can also be purchased. Find out more here.
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Sam Read Bookseller
advertises a free Writing
About Place workshop with writing tutor, memoirist
and beekeeper, Helen Jukes, Wednesday
11 December at 3pm. This two-hour
workshop involves a series of short writing exercises that will
experiment with scope, scale, voice and tone, in order to help you
explore and re-describe a sense of place. Register here.
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Access NFTS (supported
by Universal) will be running a two-hour Screenwriting Masterclass in Leeds with
regular NFTS tutor, writer and director, Paul Fraser. Paul will
discuss his experience in the industry, the Screenwriting Masters
degree at NFTS, how he got into the field and the career opportunities
within it, as well as answering any questions. The featured Universal
film release that Paul will be drawing examples from is Last Christmas.
Two identical morning and afternoon sessions will take place tomorrow, 30 November at
ITV Yorkshire. Book tickets here.
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Join novelist and
creative writing tutor Tracey Iceton for her Novel Writing Course at
The Word, South Shields. There will be five fortnightly sessions
starting 23
January 2020, Thursdays 10am–12pm. Writing activities
allow participants to develop ideas while supportive, constructive
feedback enables them to get started on their first novel or improve a
work-in-progress. £75 per person. Email traceyiceton@hotmail.co.uk to enrol
or visit this link.
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Writer and
beekeeper, Helen
Jukes, will be discussing her first book, A Honeybee Heart Has Five
Openings, on Wednesday
11 December, 7pm –8.30pm at Emma’s Dell in
Grasmere. The book blends memoir, nature writing and cultural
history. To register for free, follow this link.
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Mudfog Press are launching a
new collection of poems by Mike Pratt based on his research in the lands
of the North Atlantic, from the North of England, to Shetland, to
Iceland, to Greenland. Mike is CEO of Northumberland Wildlife
Trust. Saltburn bookshop, December
13 at 7pm.
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Writer Ellen Phethean will
be introducing her two new books in the Ren and the Blue Hand series, Ren and the Blue Cloth and Ren in Samara,
on 2 December,
7pm at the Lit and Phil in Newcastle upon Tyne. Free
entry, with wine, refreshments and books available.
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Vane Women Press launches its
latest publication, a book by poet Rachel Burns titled A Girl in a Blue Dress. Join
them for this upcoming double bill at Colpitts Poetry, Durham on Friday 6 December at 7.30pm.
Admission £6/£4.
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Born Lippy’s
EleXionMas Eve Special will take place Wednesday 11 December 7pm–10.30pm at
Cobalt Studios, Newcastle upon Tyne. Born Lippy is a monthly celebration
of spoken word, hip-hop, comedy and poetry. This month’s headline guests
are spoken word artist Chris Singleton, Hip-hop artist Kay Greyson,
comedian Rosie Cole, and writer and performance poet Charley Reay.
Tickets are £6 on the door. Follow this link for
more details.
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Acclaimed Cumbrian writer, Sarah Hall, will
be discussing her new short story collection Sudden Traveller (Faber). Sudden Traveller is
Sarah Hall’s third story collection. Featuring her signature themes of
identity, eroticism and existential quest, these new stories travel far
afield in location and ambition. Monday 23 December, 7pm –9.30pm at
Emma’s Dell, Grasmere. Register free here.
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Writing on the Wall are looking for
a Project Worker to provide
support to their Co-Directors, Programme Manager, staff team and Trustees.
The Project Worker will work directly alongside freelance artists to
implement and support the development of Writing on the Wall’s Projects.
(Full time £15–20k). Deadline midnight
4 December. More information here.
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National Association of
Writers in Education (NAWE) is looking for an exceptional Director to
lead the organisation for a period of 6 – 9 months from mid-February 2020
while their current Director is on Maternity Leave. They are seeking an
individual with experience of working in the arts and/or educational
sectors at a senior level, who is passionate about promoting the value of
creative writing in community and educational settings. (Part time, £42k pro rata).
Deadline: 5pm,
Thursday 5 December. Full job description can be found here.
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Hull Culture and Leisure
Ltd are
seeking an enthusiastic Programming
and Events Officer for the Theatre and Halls service
which consists of two of Hull’s prestigious venues - Hull City Hall and
Hull New Theatre. (Full time £20k–25k). Deadline: 6 December. Apply here.
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Photoworks are looking for a Writer in Residence
to contribute to Photography+, Photoworks’ online magazine. The writer in
residence can be based anywhere in the UK and will be responsible for
delivering five written articles for each issue of 2020. Paid residency
with a £1,500 fee. Deadline Monday
16 December. Apply here.
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Dancing Bear Books are seeking
submissions of writing for their new anthology WOMXN, which
will be a collection of personal essays, poetry and short stories all
about the experience of being female. There is a one-time fee for the work.
All pieces must be linked to some kind of fairy tale, historical or
mythological female figure, and they are keen to hear especially from BAME
women, Gay Women, Trans Women, Disabled Women and Working-Class Women.
Deadline: 6pm,
January 11. More info here.
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If you have news that you would like to be
considered for inclusion in the newsletter please contact sophiekoranteng@newwritingnorth.com. The
deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 9 December 2019.
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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