If you are a writer or are interested in literature events and activities and live in the north east of England then you've found a great regional resource.

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News

  • 24 May 2013 Cuckoo Quarterly Prize

    We’re very pleased to announce the launch of the Cuckoo Quarterly Prize, an award of £50 which will be given to the best piece of writing in every issue. The prize recipient will be chosen by the Editorial Committee, the panel of young writers who select submissions, edit work and direct the magazine. To launch the award, the committee have chosen Dawn by Hazel Atkinson (published in Issue 6) to receive the first award.
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  • 10 May 2013 Newcastle Writing Conference opens door for new writers

    We’d like to thank everyone who helped make the inaugural Newcastle Writing Conference, which took place in Northumbria University’s Great Hall last weekend, such a great success. Nearly 150 writers attended the conference and heard a range of speakers discussing topics ranging from how to break into writing, to ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ in publishing today.
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  • 26 April 2013 Call for submissions: Voicewalks

    The Durham Book Festival team at New Writing North is working with the Hearing the Voice project at Durham University on a special series of events which will take place during this year’s festival. As part of the project, we’d like to invite writers of all levels to contribute to a pamphlet of poetry, prose and non-fiction in English about hearing voices when walking in the city.
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  • 21 April 2013 New Writing North launches new online magazine Cuckoo Review

    Cuckoo Review is a new online arts and culture magazine written by young people. Young writers aged 15-23 will have an opportunity to cut their journalistic teeth and offer their opinions on the latest cultural offerings in the region and beyond.
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  • 12 April 2013 Cuckoo group scores radio commission

    The Cuckoo Young Writers group in Newcastle has just been awarded their first commission from spoken-word supremos Apples and Snakes NE. The group has won one of ten commissions, which challenge poets and producers to write and produce an hour-long spoken word radio show which will be broadcast via digital station Basic FM.
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  • 10 April 2013 Words Across Northumberland writer in residence

    Words Across Northumberland, run by Hexham Book Festival, is seeking a writer in residence for a three-day residency in Rothbury in June 2013, leading to the production of a piece of prose or poetry by the end of October 2013.
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  • 3 April 2013 John Hegley has Cuckoo support for Sunderland show

    Join comedy’s Poet Laureate John Hegley on Friday 14 June for a wild word wonderland at Sunderland’s Bonded Warehouse for a show based on his new collection of poetry and prose: Peace, Love & Potatoes. John will be joined by Sunderland poet Sylvia Forrest and three young poets from the North East, including two Cuckoo Young Writers. The next day, John will be running a free writing and drawing workshop in Sunderland Central Library for young people from Sunderland aged 12-19.
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  • 2 April 2013 Full programme announced for Newcastle Writing Conference

    We’ve just confirmed the last speakers at the inaugural Newcastle Writing Conference, and the full programme is now available online at http://nclwritingconference.eventbrite.co.uk. The conference is a must-attend event for writers across the north of England who are either new to writing or have only recently been published and would like to learn more about the industry they’re now working in.

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More news

Events

  • Read Regional 2012/2013 Various library venues across the north of England: 1 October 2012, 12am

    The Read Regional campaign aims to connect local authors from the north of England to local readers via promotions in libraries, bookshops and with festivals and venues and runs from October 2012 to spring 2013. Check out the Read Regional website for details of events near you.
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  • Hartlepool Libraries spring events programme Hartlepool libraries: 28 May 2013, 9am

    
Hartlepool Libraries kick off their event programme with a fortnight of talks, storytelling, and workshops. There are 12 events from 28 May-Friday 7 June with something for all ages and interests, including crime, fantasy, and family sagas, with authors including Niel Bushnell, Steve Skidmore, Carolyn Jess-Cooke, Valerie Laws, Nick Quantrill and Nick Triplow.
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  • Michael Donovan: Behind Closed Doors launch Michael Donovan: Behind Closed Doors launch Plackitt & Booth book shop, Lytham St Anne’s: 30 May 2013, 7pm

    PI Eddie Flynn is having a bad day. And when some snot-nosed kid barges in with a story about a missing girl, it doesn’t get any better – especially since Rebecca Slater’s parents say nothing’s wrong. Problem is, the family are telling lies.
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  • Catherine Graham: Things I Will Put In My Mother’s Pocket Lit & Phil: 30 May 2013, 7pm

    Join Newcastle poet Catherine Graham for the launch of her new collection, Things I Will Put In My Mother’s Pocket (Indigo Dreams Publishing). Catherine’s chapbook Signs (ID on Tyne Press) was one of The Poetry Kit’s top five recommended books for 2011.
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  • Moth Publishing official launch, with reading by Alfie Crow, author of Rant Waterstones, Newcastle: 3 June 2013, 6:30pm

    Introducing the first in a series about the antics and misadventures of Mike Rant, jobbing actor and reluctant spy.
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  • Rebecca Muddiman: Stolen launch Guisborough book shop, Guisborough: 4 June 2013, 6:30pm

    When Abby Henshaw’s car is run off the road and she is brutally attacked by two strangers, her first thought is for the safety of her baby daughter, Beth, who is on the backseat. But what follows is a mother’s worst nightmare: Beth is gone.
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  • A Wondrous Place: Stories by Luke Barnes, Alison Carr, Matt Hartley and Sarah McDonald Hughes Northern Stage, Newcastle: 4 June 2013, 8pm

    
In Northern Spirit’s new theatre production A Wondrous Place, four outstanding young writers challenge the ‘it’s grim up North’ clichés and offer four fresh and vibrant perspectives on four amazing contemporary Northern cities: Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield and Manchester.
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More events
Moth Publishing

Check out the first four titles from Moth, a partnership between New Writing North and BEPL, who came together to publish and support crime writers who live and work in the north of England. >>>

Tyne View

Four Tynesiders set off to walk the tidal length of the River Tyne. The resulting book captures the ordinary and extraordinary people of the river and the river itself at a point of change. >>>

Cuckoo Review

Don’t miss Cuckoo Review, the new online arts and culture magazine where young writers offer their opinions on the latest cultural offerings in the North East and beyond. >>>

Dear Angel

People of the North East are being asked to write, record, tweet or film how they feel about this region as part of an engaging new literary artwork, Dear Angel. >>>

 

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