New Parents Book Group off to a roaring start
Our newest book group got off to a roaring start at The Sage this week, when ten new mums and seven babies met to discuss The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer. The group, the brainchild of journalist Laura Fraine, has been set up to allow new parents the space to talk about books and to meet new people. The pilot meeting was supported by Women into the Network’s Learning Revolution funding. To join the group, email us at newparents@newwritingnorth.com and for more information, see its Facebook page. We’ll also be posting details of the next meeting in April on our website very soon.

Need news more often than fortnightly? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
New Writing North has (finally!) got with the times and has joined Twitter. We’ll be putting any news for writers on Twitter and Facebook as often as we can, but certainly every weekday. So if you want to hear about competitions, grants, jobs or workshops for writers, and events for readers as soon as we do, join us at:

www.facebook.com/newwritingnorth
www.twitter.com/newwritingnorth

Listen at Lunch: Oh What A Lovely War
In association with Northern Stage we have been inviting writers to submit short stories inspired by the themes in Joan Littlewood’s landmark satirical musical, Oh What A Lovely War. On Friday 26 March at 1pm, actors from the cast of the show will read two new stories. In Duty, by Shelia Corbishley, a young wife steels herself as she opens a telegram with news from the front, while in Rosa Aers’ Third Window from the Left, two contemporary policemen are finally given their signal to ‘go over the top’ – but who’s listening?

The event is designed to help liven up your lunch hour, and tickets are £7 including lunch at Mckenna’s at Northern Stage. If you want a ticket for the reading only, it’s £3 per ticket. Call Northern Stage’s box office on 0191 230 5151 to book your tickets. And if you haven’t seen Oh What A Lovely War yet, you have just a week left to catch it!

The Word Cup: young people’s writing project
Are you aged 13-18 and interested in writing? Would you like to have a go at performing your own work? Performance poet Kate Fox will be running a poetry and performance workshop programme in Newcastle between April and June 2010, aimed at young people. If you really like writing, but are not so interested in performance, or like performing but have never written a thing, then this workshop would be perfect for you. Dates are still to be finalised, but there will be nine workshops between April and June, and they will mostly take place on Saturdays and during the Easter and half-term holidays. This project is part of a national programme run by Apples and Snakes called the Word Cup, which will culminate in a performance poetry competition, with the regional final at ARC in Stockton on 3 July, and the national final in Manchester on 9 July. To register your interest, please contact anna@newwritingnorth.com.

The Galloping Stone: a new anthology of writing by torture survivors
Thanks to everyone who attended or took part in the launch of The Galloping Stone earlier this week. The event was wonderful: as someone said afterwards, it was a rare privilege to be in a place where there was such a tangible sense of warmth, love and goodwill. The book is a collection of poems and prose written by clients, staff and volunteers at the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture, and is the result of a project led by poet-in-residence Gillian Allnutt, whose own poems inspired by the project also feature in the collection. To find our more about the project, have a look at the interview in The Journal this week with Gillian and Alan Brice from the foundation.

We are hoping to do more work with the remarkable Medical Foundation, and if you couldn’t make the event we urge you to buy the book; not only is it a good read, but all proceeds go to the Medical Foundation. The cover price is £5, but of course any donation on top of that would be gratefully passed on. To buy your copy, go to www.newwritingnorth.com/shop/shop.php?section=1.


People

David Almond up for double honours
Once again, congratulations are due to multi-award-winning author David Almond, who has been shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen prize, awarded biennially since 1956 to an author “whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children’s literature”. An impressive line-up of past winners includes Eleanor Farjeon, Tove Jansson and Astrid Lindgren. This year’s winner will be announced on 23 March.

As we announced in an earlier newsletter, David is also nominated for The Astrid Lindgren award, which is presented a day later, on 24 March, at Lindgren’s birth place in Vimmerby, Sweden. The award is worth SEK5m (£460,000) and is given to a body of work “in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren, with a focus on a profound respect for democratic values and human rights”.


In the North East

Northern Lights looks for film reviewers
The Northern Lights Film Festival, which runs from 20-28 March, is offering people the chance to write their own film articles and reviews, which will be published online and then on paper in a fanzine at the end of the festival. The Journal will also be printing short reviews throughout the festival, plus indie film magazine Little White Lies will be carrying a selection of reviews changing everyday on their website.

The publisher and editor of Little White Lies will be giving a talk on Saturday 20 March at 11am at the Star and Shadow Cinema about their experience of setting up the magazine and what makes a good review. Tickets are free but should be reserved through the festival on 0191 231 4066. For more information, see www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/event/273.

The heritage of North Tyneside in words and pictures
Congratulations to Keith Armstrong, whose Northern Voices Community Project has recently published a history of North Tyneside, looking in particular at its historic buildings, called From Segedunum to the Spanish City. Members of the local projects have donated poetry, artwork and photography, discussing these special sites. The book can be ordered from Northern Voices Community Projects, 93 Woodburn Square, Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, NE26 3JD. For more information, call 0191 252 9531.

New Open Clasp play rolls into Customs House
New writing theatre company Open Clasp’s latest show, Rattle & Roll, set over 24 hours, is a story about chaos, the order behind it and the strength of those women trying to survive it. All the characters were created by women in the North East, bringing audiences authentic slices of life which are poignant, funny and insightful. Having almost completed a 35-date tour including a sell-out run at Live, Rattle & Roll is set to end its seven-week North East tour at the Customs House on 25 and 26 March. For more information and to book, see www.customshouse.co.uk.


National opportunities

Submissions now open for 2010 Aldeburgh First Collection
Submissions are now open for one of the most prestigious poetry prizes in the UK – the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize – which is seeking entries from both publishers and individual poets. The prize is £3,000, plus a fee-paying invitation to read at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival in 2011. A ‘protected’ writing time on the East Suffolk coast is also included. Past winners include Robin Robertson, Colette Bryce and Nick Laird. The poets acting as judges this year are Michael Laskey (chair), Neil Rollinson and Jo Shapcott and closing dates for entries is 31 July. For more information about the prize and the festival, visit www.thepoetrytrust.org/site/aldeburgh-first-collection-prize/more-info.

Biennale seeks young artists
The first UK Young Artists event will take place in the autumn of 2010, showcasing the work of the best young talent, both nationally and internationally. Those artists selected could also go on to represent the UK at the Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean. Although work can be from any art form, there is a section that specifically focuses on literature. Artists must be between 18 and 30 and UK citizens or resident in the UK for at least one year. Details at www.ukyoungartists.co.uk/content/biennale-2009.


Miscellany

The Future of Publishing? It could go either way, apparently
Find out from this smart little movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weq_sHxghcg. The video was prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared with the rest of the world.

Take part in Arts Council consultation
The Arts Council has opened a debate considering how to create positive change in, and increase the success for, the arts over the next decade. In order to express its vision and to open the debate to arts organisations and networks, the Arts Council has published this consultation on its website, giving information describing the essential role that culture needs to play in the social and economic recovery of England. Wanting to make the very best of the arts accessible to all, this debate aims to decide on the approach the council should take and where its priorities should lie. To read and join this debate, see www.artscouncil.org.uk/consultation.

Bunny heist saga takes final twist
You may recall a couple of weeks ago we mentioned that a mysterious character in a rabbit costume had been observed making off with a couple of rolls of film from one of the movies from this year’s Northern Lights Film Festival. Well, the Heist Bunny – now revealed as disgruntled filmmaker Ted Hex – has now invited the people of Newcastle to take part in a treasure hunt to find the copy of Kick-Ass he stole from the festival offices. The treasure hunt will take place on the closing night of the festival on Saturday 27 March and see teams of people scouring the city centre for the stolen film. There are prizes for the first team to retrieve a canister of film and anyone who takes part will receive a free VIP ticket to the preview screening of Kick-Ass at the Tyneside Cinema – but only if the film is found in time! If it isn’t, self-proclaimed underground auteur Ted Hex will screen his seven-hour metaphysical thriller, Bring Me The Head Of Harvey The Rabbit. To register, see www.letsmakemischief.com.


Deadline for the next newsletter

If you have news that you would like to submit for inclusion in the newsletter please contact olivia@newwritingnorth.com. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 29 March. The next edition of The Listening Post covering April’s literature events will go out in late March. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 22 March to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

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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.