New media artists and writers Jon Winet and Peter Likarish are busy in pre-production on Tyneside Novel, a Twitter-based fiction work to be created over a three-day period from 13-15 June by a soon-to-be-formed community of writers. The US-based duo will travel to Newcastle to work on site at Culture Lab and hope to involve local writers in the project.

Our spring season got off to a great start last weekend with the launch of Mari Hannah’s novel, The Murder Wall, at Hexham Book Festival. The detective at the heart of the novel was brought to life by actress Phillippa Wilson and Mari talked about the book’s journey to publication and what it’s like to be a first-time published author. Our next event is on 15 May, when we will be launching new novels by Dan Smith and Carolyn Jess-Cooke at Waterstones Newcastle at 6.30pm.

New Writing North is teaming up with Juice Festival to search for young writers to take part in their Press Gang project, which will give writers the opportunity to write pre-festival articles, reviews and blogs for the Juice Festival 2012. 

We’re full of the joys of spring this week, and have just launched our new season programme, which heralds the arrival of some great books by regional authors, including exciting new novels from Richard Milward, Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Dan Smith, and a debut from Mari Hannah. We’re also very proud to be launching a new international award in memory of the writer Gordon Burn.

For the past six months, New Writing North has been working in partnership with The Changing Age team at Newcastle University, Alzheimer’s Society and Age UK Newcastle to better understand the science and the experience of living with dementia. This work has informed the play Geordie Sinatra by Fiona Evans, which opens at Live Theatre on 18 April. We are hosting a very special pre-show event before the 25 April performance at which writers involved with the project will discuss their exploration into the social, ethical and medical issues of dementia with scientists specialising in dementia and related disorders.

We’re delighted to be taking part in the Wonders of the North festival, a festival aiming to raise the sense of belonging which young people feel to this summer's Olympics by celebrating the region, its places, stories and traditions. The festival is organised by Changemakers and each of the ten projects which make up the festival will be led, directed and devised by a team of young people. The festival will take place throughout Newcastle and Northumberland from 27 July-5 August, to coincide with the Olympic opening ceremony. We are looking for an experienced playwright to work with the Wonders of the North team to write a series of mini-plays/monologues.

We are delighted to open the call for writers and publishers to propose their books for inclusion in the 2012 Read Regional campaign. The campaign has run successfully in the North East for three years and due to this success is now expanding into Yorkshire and Humberside. Deadline for submissions Monday 30 April 2012.

New Writing North is looking for young writers aged 11-19 to get involved in a playwriting project, which will be part of the Wonders of the North festival taking place across the region from 27 July-4 August. Young people will work with a professional playwright and young actors and directors from Northern Stage to produce a piece of site-specific theatre which will be performed “on location”, as part of the festival. Young people involved will not only write the play but will plan and direct the project too.