Northern Writers’ Awards 2010: Ten North East writers win a share of £25,000 prize fund
A bumper crop of writing talent has been rewarded today at the annual Northern Writers’ Awards ceremony. The awards were announced at a special event at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal, where the ten winning writers received their share of the £25,000 prize pot. The awards are made possible by sponsorship from the Leighton Group and support from Arts Council England.

Crime writers in particular were noticed this year by adult prose judge Madeleine Buston, of Darley Anderson Agency, with Andrew Dawson, from South Africa but living in Gateshead for several years, and Mari Hannah, from Northumberland, both winning prizes for their crime novels. A third promising young crime writer, Rebecca Muddiman from Redcar, was also a winner.

Three poets were awarded this year by poetry judge Daljit Nagra: Stevie Ronnie, from Ryton; Degna Stone, from Newcastle; and Sophie Baker, also from Newcastle, who this year is named as winner of the Andrew Waterhouse Award, which is named in memory of poet Andrew Waterhouse, who died in 2001. The award aims to give special support to a poet whose work shows great promise.

2010 also saw a children’s fiction agent judging the children’s entries for the first time. Julia Churchill, of The Greenhouse Agency, which specialises in children’s fiction, singled out Elizabeth Lawson, from Bedlington, and Beda Higgins, from Newcastle, for their works-in-progress.

The final award was given to Jane Thomas, who this year wins the Andrea Badenoch Award for Fiction. This annual award was established by the family and friends of Andrea Badenoch, a gifted novelist who died of breast cancer at the height of her literary career.

Photos of the awards event and more information on the winners this year will soon be available at www.newwritingnorth.com.

Fiona Veitch Smith wins 2010 People’s Play award
Fiona Veitch Smith has been announced as the winner of the People’s Play 2010 for her play Pig Stew. Fiona was one of over 40 new playwrights from across the region to enter this biennial playwriting competition, run as a partnership between New Writing North and the People’s Theatre, Heaton.

Fiona was born in Northumberland but raised in South Africa, where she worked as a journalist. Since returning to the UK in 2002 she has worked as a freelance journalist, editor and ghost-writer and completed an MA in creative writing at Northumbria University. She has had children’s fiction published and also writes for the screen. Her short film, Enemy Lines, has been screened at festivals around the world and she’s currently working on a documentary. She has previously written for amateur theatre and was shortlisted for the People’s Play Award in 2006.

Pig Stew will be premiered at the People’s Theatre between 16 and 20 November 2010, and more details will be on its website soon at www.ptag.org.uk.

Special offer for NWN newsletter readers: Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
The Sage, Gateshead, Hall Two: Monday 5 July, 8pm
British writer William Dalrymple’s latest book, Nine Lives, explores how faith and ritual are evolving in the face of India’s commercial boom. To find these stories, Dalrymple criss-crossed India and Pakistan visiting the shrines, temples, remote villages and vast megacities where individuals are still keeping these traditions alive. To celebrate this journey, performers including a group of ganja-smoking tantric Baul singers from rural Bengal, and British Tamil virtuoso Susheela Raman join Dalrymple to bring his book to life and create one of the wildest collaborations in world music history. Special offer: quote ‘New Writing North’ when you book and get £2 off (normal price £13). To book, phone 0191 443 4661 or go to www.thesagegateshead.org.


People

Dan Smith shortlisted for Brit writers award
Congratulations to Newcastle writer Dan Smith, whose first novel, Dry Season, has been shortlisted for the Brit Writers Published Author of the Year Award. Dan is a Northern Writers’ Award winner and a graduate of the MA in creative writing at Northumbria University. The award is decided by public vote, and if you’d like to offer him your support, all you have to do is email ‘Dry Season’ to leah@britwriters.co.uk or text ‘Dry Season’ to 07772 311901.

A Doggerel Bard: BBC Radio 4, Tuesday 29 June, 11.30am
Comic poet Elvis McGonagall explores the world of satirical verse and discusses the craft of writing it, with guests including the bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke, and North East poets Tony Harrison and Kate Fox. You can listen live, or if you miss the show, catch it on iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00stsjf.

Tynemouth Grand Hotel residency
Whitley Bay poet Keith Armstrong and graphic artist Peter Dixon of North Shields begin an arts residency at Tynemouth’s Grand Hotel towards the end of June. They will be documenting the hotel in words and images and the results of their residency will be launched in a brochure and special display on Thursday 9 September as part of North Tyneside’s Heritage Open Days programme. For more information, call Northern Voices on 0191 252 9531.


In the North East

Writers’ Block North East opens its doors: launch event Friday 2 July
Writers’ Block North East – a service bringing creative people together in the North East region – finally has a home at 95-97 Albert Road (the pink ‘We are open’ shop unit) and the team would like you to come and celebrate with them on Friday 2 July. The launch event will open at 1pm and should finish around 5.30pm. Confirmed guests include BBC writersroom North, NFM and Live Theatre. To book a ticket, go to http://writersblocklaunch.eventbrite.com. Following the event, there will then be a launch party at Blu Bar, near the new Writers’ Block North East venue. No tickets necessary, just come along. For more information about Writers’ Block, see www.facebook.com/writersblockne or email laura@writersblockne.com.


Workshops and courses

Factory Night @ Dunston Staithes, Gateshead: Friday 2 July, 12pm-2pm
Factory Nights is a series of inspiring working sessions for visual artists, photographers, writers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and any other creatives to come together in an interesting venue and supportive environment to make work or initiate ideas. Built by the North Eastern Railway in 1890, the staithes at Dunston were used to load coal arriving via train from the North Durham coalfields onto ships. They were used until the 1970s and were finally closed in the 80s. Today, the staithes are reputed to be the largest surviving structure of this type in Europe, and are protected as a Listed Building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Places are limited to 25 so please RSVP to info@rednile.org. Due to high demand, only one space may be offered per email. For more information, see www.rednile.org/factorynights_09-10.htm.

Hall Garth Poets summer school: 26-30 July
The annual summer school will take place at Chop Gate village hall, Stokesley, from 26-30 July, 10am-4pm and will be led once again by Mandy Sutter. Cost for the week to include sandwich lunch is £85 but it’s also open to single day attendance, at £25 per day. Contact Jo Briggs on jo.heather@bilsdale.org for further details and to book, or phone 01439 798320.


National opportunities

Aldeburgh First Collection Prize 2010 open for entries
The prestigious Aldeburgh First Collection Prize is now open for entries. Established in 1989, this is one of the most important and long-established poetry prizes in the UK, and the only one to offer a cash prize as well as significant professional development. The winner receives £3,000, plus a week’s writing time and a fee-paying invitation to read at the 2011 Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. Deadline for entries: 31 July 2010. Full competition details are at www.thepoetrytrust.org/aldeburgh-first-collection-prize/2010_prize.

Final call for entries for The John Betjeman Young People’s Poetry Competition
Time is running out for entrants for the John Betjeman Young People’s Poetry Competition, which closes for entries on 31 July. The competition is open to all 11- to 14 year-olds. Entrants are limited to one poem each about their local surroundings or any aspect thereof, whether it be a house, a street, a garden, or a city. The first prize is £1,000 (£500 to the winner and £500 to the English department of her/his school). The first prize winner, runner-up and highly commended entrants will also each win £50 of book tokens, while commended winners will receive books. For more information, see www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com/pages/2010-competition/submit-entry.asp.


Miscellany

Extraordinary Measures: Belsay Hall, 1 May-26 September
Beautiful Belsay Hall in Northumberland has been transformed this summer into a playground of perspectives – sculptures by contemporary artists including Ron Mueck, street artist Slinkachu and one-time Young British Artist Mat Collishaw flip your normal expectations of size and scale upside down. New Writing North has been given a VIP pass for the exhibition to give away as part of Read Regional 2010 (details coming soon) but normal ticket prices start from only £4 (English Heritage members free). You can see more about the exhibition at www.extraordinarymeasures.co.uk.

Folkworks/Folkwords Adult Summer School
The Folkworks Adult Summer School at The Sage Gateshead runs from 9-14 August and is open to participants aged 20 and over. This year, organisers are offering a new element: a new timetable option of Folkwords. This is for the morning only, exploring the written and spoken word, including story-telling, creative writing and working from existing texts. The class is led by Mike Tickell, who we recently commissioned to create a new mixed media piece with poet Carolyn Jess-Cooke as part of the Words & Music Festival at The Sage. Prices for the week range from £255 to £520, depending on accommodation/catering requirements. For more information, see www.thesagegateshead.org or email folkworks@thesagegateshead.org.

Oxford Editors literary consultancy: special offer for New Writing North newsletter subscribers
The Oxford Editors is an international literary consultancy and agency, providing editorial and assessment services to writers, agents and publishers. Their editors are published authors, successful screenwriters, world-class ghost-writers, copy editors or proofreaders. Manuscript assessments depend on the word count, and start from £160; editing and proofreading fees depend on the content and the state of the manuscript. To learn more visit their website at www.theoxfordeditors.co.uk or contact info@theoxfordeditors.co.uk. As a special offer, the Oxford Editors are offering a 10% discount on their fees to members of New Writing North – Just quote ‘New Writing North’ when contacting them.


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 5 July. The next edition of The Listening Post covering August’s literature events will go out in late July. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 20 July June 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.