New Writing North newsletters

Here are the latest New Writing North newsletters, with details of Durham Book Festival's 2020 Commissions and more:

Every year Durham Book Festival commissions new writing and we are thrilled to share our 2020 commissions with you. During the festival we launched a host of exclusive essays and podcasts, and these commissions are available to read and listen to now. If you've watched these events, we'd love to hear your feedback so we can keep making Durham Book Festival the best it can be. Some of the events below have a link to an event survey, where you can let us know what you think. Thanks from the festival team to all our viewers and to everyone who has left feedback already this year – we hope you'll continue to enjoy these absolutely fantastic commissions through the new year!    Murmuration is a collective film poem for our times; created by Linda France and celebrating our love for the natural world in a time of Climate Crisis and Coronavirus. Read Murmuration here, and read Linda France’s commissioned essay about the process of writing a collaborative poem Making Murmuration here. Complete the survey for this event here. In this thought-provoking and poignant piece, Fatima Bhutto takes PEN’s Women’s Manifesto as a starting point to explore the violence of the world we are living in today and the kindness and love she believes are essential to our survival in these tumultuous times. Read Fatmia’s exclusive essay A World on Fire here and watch Fatima discuss her piece. Complete the survey for this event here.   Writing the Missing – A River Cycle is a new film commissioned for Durham Book Festival which came out of New Narratives of the North East, an ambitious project from New Writing North and the NECP. The film includes new commissions from disabled artists Bex Bowsher, Sarah Crutwell and Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Complete the survey for this event here. Join us as we enter the studio of award-winning graphic novelist duo Bryan and Mary Talbot. In this specially commissioned film, Mary and Bryan talk about their collaborative process and show us where and how they work. Complete the survey for this event here.   “They tell us that we live on a tiny crowded island. They try to tell us that we are tiny within ourselves. Tell them to come up here with the skylark, to forget what they think they know, and to look down upon the vastness of the North.” – David Almond, from ‘Sing the North’. We believe that in order to thrive we need strong narratives and stories, which help shape our collective imagination. We believe that the North East needs new narratives to tell its story and to help shape its future. These commissions from 15 writers look beyond the flux and rhetoric of the current moment to capture something deeper and more lasting about the contemporary North East and its people. Read the commissions on the festival website and listen to the podcast series here.  Complete the survey for the New Narratives podcast here.   Read The Long Cascade, an exclusive commission from Booker Prize winning author DBC Pierre and listen to him speak on the piece which is inspired by his family’s strong connection to Durham, as well as his new novel Meanwhile in Dopamine City. Hear stories of ancient scribes, poets, prize winning authors, political discourse, and folklore; and see Durham from a new perspective. The walk lasts approximately 1.5 hours, or longer if you take your time enjoying the views and sampling the fare on offer along the way - listen here.   This Inside the Archives session draws on Dr. McKenzie’s recent Writing Durham project, which aimed to chart the County’s literature of place. The literature of place is distinct from ‘regional’ literature: it mediates between society and the space it inhabits in specific ways, and in the instance of Durham reveals a historically complex relationship between writers with a significant attachment to it, and its social, cultural, and physical environment. This Inside the Archives event will introduce you to the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, using their amazing rare book collection at Palace Green Library. In 1642, two English women founded an English branch of this religious order with roots going back to the Crusades. As Catholicism was illegal in England at that time, they chose Liège in modern-day Belgium as their base.       New Writing North PO Box 1277, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 5BP Tel: 0191 204 8850 office@newwritingnorth.com     Share     Tweet     Forward

News from New Writing North: 27 November 2020   Northern Writers’ Awards 2021 open for entry The Northern Writers’ Awards 2021 are now open for entry until Thursday 18 February 2021. Writers from across the North of England are invited to send in their unpublished work-in-progress for the chance to win a share of £40,000 in cash awards and professional development. There are awards for writers at all stages of their careers and across a wide range of genres. Find a full breakdown of the opportunities and eligibility criteria at northernwritersawards.com   Young Northern Writers' Awards Alongside our adult awards, we have three awards this year for young people aged up to 18. The Matthew Hale Award is open to young writers who show promise but have had limited opportunities to pursue their talent. The two Young Northern Writers' Awards (Years 7-9 and Year 10+) will recognise young writers whose work shows exceptional promise.  Young writers can submit creative work in any form including prose, poetry, scriptwriting, blogging, songwriting and rap. If you know a young person who is excited about writing, you could either encourage them to enter for the awards themselves or you could nominate them for an award. The deadline is Thursday 18 February 2021 and you can nominate a young person alongside submitting your own entry. Find out more here.     Northern Writers’ Awards 2021 Roadshows Northern Writers' Awards: Writing for TV Roadshow, supported by Channel 4 Wednesday 16 December, 6.30pm - 7.30pm, online Sign up now for our free Northern Writers' Awards: Writing for TV Roadshow, supported by Channel 4. This virtual roadshow is for anyone interested in writing for screen or audio formats, no matter how much experience you may have. It will also offer advice for anyone considering applying to the Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards, part of this year's Northern Writers' Awards. Speakers include writer Jayshree Patel; script editor Kate Adori; writer Taiba Amla; and the Society of Authors' Theo Jones. --- Northern Writers' Awards: Poetry Roadshow  Monday 11 January, 6pm - 7pm, online You can also now register for our free Northern Writers' Awards: Poetry Roadshow. This virtual roadshow will feature poets and poetry publishers, and offer advice for emerging or established poets on getting your work published. Speakers include poet Rommi Smith; poet and editor Jo Clement; poet and editor JT Welsch; and Hannah Bannister, Operations Manager of Peepal Tree Press.   Festive Shared Reading 15 December, 1.30-2.30pm, online Join us this December for an online festive shared reading session with Dr Laura McKenzie. We will be reading texts with Christmas themes and reflecting on them as a group.  This session is free and open to all, but spaces are very limited so early booking is advised. Book your place on Eventbrite now.   We’re recruiting: Digital Marketing Intern We’re looking for our next Digital Marketing Intern. Please note this role is part-funded by Northumbria University and is only open to Northumbria graduates (although you don’t need to have graduated recently). This is a great entry-level opportunity for someone who is interested in marketing and literature; who is excited by the way social media can help us to engage and inspire our audiences; and who is keen to gain experience working in arts administration.  The Digital Marketing Intern has a particular responsibility for social media and newsletters, as well as supporting the broader marketing programme. 12-month, full-time role. Find out more and apply by 9am on 8 December https://newwritingnorth.com/vacancies/   NWN nominated at the Audio Production Awards We were really thrilled that the New Writing North podcast was nominated at the Audio Production Awards, which took place last night. Although we didn't win in the Grassroots category, it meant a lot to see the podcast - and by extension all the brilliant writers and producers who have worked on it - recognised by these industry awards. If you haven't listened yet, you can find us here on Soundcloud or by searching 'New Writing North' on your podcast app.    NWN Young Writers update Our Young Writers creative writing sessions for 12-19 year-olds continue on Zoom on Saturday mornings. We’re also excited to announce the return of our Newcastle Young Songwriters sessions which now take place on Zoom from 5pm-6pm on Wednesday evenings – please email youngwriters@newwritingnorth.com if you are interested in either of these sessions. We’re finishing off 2020 with some festive fun – we are posting out creative writing advent calendars to our young people as well as running a Zoom Christmas party for our young writers on Wednesday 16 December!    People and publishers   Okapi Books is an independent press set up in 2019. One of the winners in the 2019 Hallam Enterprise Awards Show, their first book, The Storm by Akeem Balogun, is available now. The November Club brings Lost, Found and Told, an audio production inspired by traditional fairy tales and draws on the rich heritage and landscape of Northumberland. Lost Found and Told promises to enchant and captivate the whole family with seven original stories written by Fiona Ellis. Listen at home in the comfort of your living room, close your eyes and you will be transported to the landscape that inspired the tales and the characters you will encounter. Fly on the Wall Press is excited to announce its 2021 short story season, which features 6 incredible short stories by 6 amazing writers. The stories, though diverse in theme and narrative voice, are unified by themes such as expectations, relationships, and identity. The season features some Northern writers, including Louise Finnigan and David Hartley. We step outside and start to dance is a new, award-winning audio experience written by Alison Carr and directed by Melanie Rashbrooke. The piece is inspired by an outbreak of uncontrollable dancing recorded in the 1500s when a woman did, indeed, step outside and start to dance. And kept dancing. Within a month, four hundred people had joined her. It’s available for free right now, with an option to PWYD if you’d like to. Along with the audio version, BSL Interpreted and captioned film versions are also available. Anna Chilver’s new novel East Coast Road is out now from Bluemoose Books. Jen is seeing things that others do not. As university term gives way to the summer break she is plagued by dark memories and the only person there for her is her cousin – a cousin that no one else can see – and together they embark on a journey that changes Jen and her world forever. Newcastle-based environmental writer Sophie Yeo has started Inkcap, a newsletter about nature and conservation in the UK. Subscribe and read on here. CivicLeicester have published Black Lives Matter: Poems for a New World (edited by Ambrose Musiyiwa) in response to their June 2020 callout for poems on short prose on the theme ‘Black Lives Matter’. Find out more and get a copy here. Manchester author Caroline England’s newest psychological thriller Truth Games is out now. Ellie Wilson tries hard to be the perfect mother, partner and daughter - but she can't always get it right. As dark memories from her past start to resurface, Ellie realise she must choose between keeping the family she loves and facing the truth. Mudfog Press have published Patrick Shannon’s first collection Spirit Bird. Patrick is originally from Ireland but has lived and worked in Sunderland for over 20 years.  His poems explore his youth on a tough estate in Dublin, the growth of his love for the nature and the environment both there and in the North East, his survival of cancer. Beverley writer Rhoda Baxter’s new book Getting Published is Just the Beginning is a layman's guide to IP rights and contracts, aimed at early career authors and creative writing students. Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books has appointed Mairi Kidd as Chief Executive Officer. Mairi will take up leadership of Seven Stories early in 2021. She will bring considerable experience from her previous roles at Creative Scotland, providing strategic leadership for literature, languages and publishing, and at children’s book publisher Barrington Stoke where she was Managing Director.   Competitions, awards and prizes   The Papatango New Writing Prize is back and remodelled, in a new partnership between Papatango and English Touring Theatre. Remaining free, open to anyone in the UK or Ireland, and anonymously assessed, the 2021 Prize will expand to select three winners. Each will receive £2000, an audio production, and digital publication with Nick Hern Books. The winning plays will then tour across the UK in free listening stations. Feedback will be offered to all entrants. Deadline 7 February 2021. Ware Poets is running its 23rd annual Open Poetry competition, offering cash prizes for the winning poems, including one for the best sonnet, and publication of an anthology of prizewinning and shortlisted poems. This year’s intake will be judged by poet Kim Moore. Deadline 30 April 2021. The Women’s Prize for Fiction has launched a new writers’ development programme Discoveries, which invites women from across the UK and Ireland of all ages and backgrounds to submit their works of fiction, with the possibility of securing a cash prize of £5,000 and an offer of representation by Curtis Brown Literary Agency. Discoveries is free to enter. Deadline 17 January 2021.    Opportunities and jobs   Unreal Estates is a project that commissions new work about domestic interiors and ideas of home. They are looking for artists (primarily working in 2D) and writers with a strong connection to Leeds, Bristol, Norwich or Thanet who are interested in collaboratively producing new work that responds to these themes. The AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership doctoral studentship competition is now open, including ring-fenced studentships for BAME and disabled students. The AHRC NWCDTP provides funding opportunities students to undertake doctoral research and training. Students must have a confirmed offer on a doctoral programme at one of their member institutions before applying for NWCDTP funding. The National Centre for Writing has launched Open Doors, a new programme of commissions and open submissions inviting writers to respond to the challenges of our times. Open Doors will explore innovation in the presentation of literature events and reflect on the experience of the last year. Find out more and apply via their website. In January, February & March 2021 Cove Park will run a series of subsidised independently funded residencies. These residencies offer artists of all disciplines the chance to step away from their domestic sphere and spend time dedicated to their work and practice on Cove Park’s outstanding 50-acre site overlooking Loch Long on Scotland's west coast (just 60 minutes from Glasgow). Deadline to apply 30 November.   Digital workshops, events and podcasts   Write Here… Online is an eight-week course, taught by former Curtis Brown Literary Agency editor Rufus Purdy, which takes writers from those tentative early planning stages right through to submitting their finished manuscript to literary agents and publishers. Featuring masterclasses on plot, characterisation, dialogue and all the other essential aspects of novel-writing, the course also involves all-important sessions on editing and pitching your novel. The final week will also involve a Q&A session in which Rufus directly answers students’ questions directly. If you want a taster of his work, Rufus has written a brilliant article for us on our website on how to nail a perfect letter to an agent - read on here. North East writer Amanda Quinn will be teaching creative writing online for the Workers’ Educational Association in January - click here for course dates and details. Amanda also offers a critique and mentoring service for writers wanting individual support.   The Literary Consultancy’s annual Writers' Day is going digital! Join in for a day of online talks and workshops run by industry professionals, creative challenges and workshops for you to get involved with and the iconic TLC Pen Factor competition. Links to video recordings of your sessions will be available to watch back for up to 30 days after the event. Tickets available now. Join Reclaiming the Rainbow, a six week online LGBT+ creative wellbeing course, for a multifaceted creative exploration of sexuality, gender and community, themed around LGBT+ rainbow flags. In a safe and contained environment, Reclaiming will support members around grief and loss, and celebrate relationships and sexualities, in their kaleidoscope of forms. Anyone with an interest in writing and creative wellness can attend. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, of all intersectional, gender and sexual identities are heartily welcomed. Find out more and book here (limited subsidied places available). Hexham Book Festival is offering a two-hour online workshop with Andrew Lownie on 1 December; learn how to present your work to an agent or publisher. Click here for more details & to book a place. Northern Writers Studio is providing a bumper pack of events for writers this festive period. Join Winter Write-Ins, full day writing sessions dedicated to writing with others delivered via Zoom, Sunday 27th December and Sun 3rd January, 10am-4pm, £5 with free spaces for low-income writers. Their new free quarterly spoken word night Hearth will be showcasing their Last Tuesday writing group. Tuesday 15th December, 7.30pm. Finally, their January Gather group is open for new writers. A month-long writing development group starting Thursday 7th January and running for four weeks. £35 or £17.50 concession. Tania Hershman is offering a 2hr Zoom Kickstart Your Writing workshop on the first Mon of every month from January, 7pm UK time. The workshop will be a mix of reading and discussing pieces Tania brings to the group and at least 3 writing exercises to get you writing. Everyone is welcome, beginners and experienced writers alike. £20 per workshop - sign up for as few or as many as you like, with a discount for 3 or more with free places available for those in need. Email tania@taniahershman.com to sign up.       If you have news that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the newsletter please contact victoria@newwritingnorth.com. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 14 December 2020. 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.   New Writing North PO Box 1277, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 5BP Tel: 0191 204 8850 office@newwritingnorth.com     Share     Tweet     Share     Forward

The Northern Writers' Awards 2021 open to support new work-in-progress We’re delighted to let you know the Northern Writers’ Awards are now open for entry. Entry is free and open to people based in the North of England. You can apply online until 18 February 2021. Judges for this year’s awards include the writers Jacob Ross, Cathy Rentzenbrink and Andrew McMillan. 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.

 

 

Now open: the Northern Writers' Awards 2021 The Northern Writers’ Awards flagship awards strand, which offers cash prizes of up to £5000 to support writers of fiction, narrative non-fiction, YA, graphic novels, short stories and poetry.  The Hachette Children’s Novel Award is open to debut children’s writers with a full-length manuscript. The winner will receive £5000 and a guarantee of publication with the Hachette Children’s Group, whose list includes authors such as: David Almond, Onjali Q. Raúf, Cressida Cowell, Piers Torday, Jessica Townsend, as well as previous winners of this award, James Harris (2019) and Hannah Durkan (2020).  The Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards offer two emerging writers development opportunities within television. One writer will receive a mentoring placement with Lime Pictures working on their award-winning serial drama Hollyoaks for Channel 4 and E4. The second writer will develop an original TV drama project with Bonafide Films, whose recent shows include The Last Post by Peter Moffat for BBC One. Both winners will receive a bursary of £3000. The Northern Debut Awards offer structured developmental support to writers of fiction, young adult fiction, narrative non-fiction or poetry who are yet to publish a full-length work. The package of support includes a £2000 bursary, mentoring and access to New Writing North’s development activities. This year, there are three Northern Debut Awards for poetry and three for fiction. One additional fiction place will be made in memory of the North East writer Andrea Badenoch (1951-2004), whose novels include Blink and Loving Geordie. This award is open to debut writers over the age of 42 who self-identify as women or non-binary.  The Northumbria University Student and Alumni Award, worth £2000, for fiction or poetry, is open to final-year students and recent graduates of the university in any discipline. The Sid Chaplin Award, in partnership with Newcastle University and The North Literary Agency, supports writers of fiction and narrative non-fiction who identify as originating from a working-class background. The winning writer will receive a bursary of £2000 and a comprehensive package of support. Additionally, this year’s winner will receive a week-long writing retreat at Embleton Bay in Northumberland, generously provided by EmbleArts. The award is made in memory of the writer Sid Chaplin (1916–1986) whose novels including The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched. This year’s judging panel will be joined by the writer Eleanor Thom. The Word Factory Northern Apprentice Award offers a bursary of £1000, eight months of mentoring and support from the Word Factory to a writer of a single short story. This year’s mentor is the acclaimed author Catherine Menon. TLC Free Reads Scheme offers up to three poets or prose writers an in-depth editorial report from The Literary Consultancy and a £500 bursary.  The Arvon Award offers a prose writer the chance to undertake an Arvon residential creative writing course.

 

Young Writers' Awards 2021 We're seeking applications from young people who are excited about and show an early talent for creative writing. They may be writing across a broad range of forms, from poetry to blogging to rap. Young people can enter these awards themselves or they can be nominated for an award by an adult (parent, teacher, group leader etc). The Matthew Hale Award is open to young writers who show promise but have had limited opportunities to pursue their talent. This award is for a young person in Year 7 upwards (up to a maximum of 18 years of age) and consists of a package of support created by New Writing North, worth £500. The Young Northern Writers' Awards will recognise one young writer in Years 7 to 9 and one in Year 10 upwards (up to a maximum of 18 years of age) whose work shows exceptional promise. Each writer will be awarded £150.

 

Additional support  In addition to individual awards, New Writing North supports its winners with up to 12 months of tailored support. In 2021 selected winners will be offered additional opportunities including: -       The chance to pitch work to literary agents and editors at the annual Summer Talent Salon in London -       Membership of The Society of Authors -       A professional development session with the leading independent publisher, Oneworld Publications -       Advisory sessions with literary agents Madeleine Milburn Associates.

 

 

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New Writing North PO Box 1277, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 5BP Tel: 0191 204 8850 laurafraine@newwritingnorth.com

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Northern Writers’ Awards 2021  The Northern Writers’ Awards will open for entry on Thursday 26 November at 10am, when you will be able to see the full list of awards available and apply for the award most suited to your needs.  As always, we will be awarding unpublished work-in-progress and we have a range of cash awards, mentoring and professional development awards in order to support writers at all stages of their careers. Find out more Virtual roadshows for new and aspiring writers Whether or not you are preparing an awards entry this year, we hope you will join us at our free online roadshows. We will be sharing advice from the publishing industry and previous winners, as well as answering your questions about getting published and thriving as a writer. It would be great to see you there!  Thursday 26 November, 6.30-7.30pm: Northern Writers' Awards Roadshow: Launch Event  Join us as we launch the Northern Writers’ Awards 2021 with advice for new and aspiring writers looking for publication opportunities. This roadshow will feature a panel discussion with four previous winners, and will offer essential advice for anyone considering applying for the Northern Writers’ Awards. Speakers include four previous Northern Writers’ Awards winners: J. A. Mensah; Alex Clarke, Kit Fan; Polly Atkin. Register for your free space now Thursday 10 December, 6-7pm: Northern Writers' Awards Roadshow: Fiction  This event for new and aspiring fiction writers will look at the author-agent relationship, finding outlets for new work and advice for writers considering applying for the Northern Writers’ Awards and other opportunities. Speakers include agent Emma Finn; writer Yvonne Battle-Felton; Joe Sedgewick from TLC; and founder of publishing house Saraband, Sara Hunt. Register for your free space now  We will also be adding further sessions to look at Writing for Television, Writing for Children and Writing Poetry, later in December and early in 2021.      The Northern Writers' Awards are produced by New Writing North with funding from Northumbria University and Arts Council England and support from a wide range of publishing and media industry partners.    New Writing North PO Box 1277, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 5BP Tel: 0191 204 8850 office@newwritingnorth.com     Share     Tweet     Forward