News from New Writing North

The Listening Post: February 2010

Crime Wave
Touring North East libraries: 28 January-25 February
Crime fiction authors visit libraries in the North East to discuss their books. The interactive tour will consist of workshops, murder mysteries projects and quizzes. Tickets: £1. For more details, contact your local library, go to www.durham.gov.uk/pages/eventslist.aspx?p=3&ecid=7 or call 0300 123 7070.

Live entertainment at the Tyneside Cinema
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle: Monday 1 February, 7.30pm
Sunderland-based musician Lucas Renney plays music from his debut album, Strange Glory, supported by poetry from Scott Tyrell. Tickets: £3. For more information, see www.tynesidecinema.co.uk.

Bryan Talbot: Grandville and the Anthropomorphic Tradition
Lit & Phil: Wednesday 3 February, 6pm
Bryan Talbot presents a history of anthropomorphic representation in book and comic book illustration, exemplified by his new graphic novel, Grandville. Free to members, £2 for non-members. For more information, see www.litandphil.org.uk.

The Acoustic Kool-Aid Cabaret of the Spoken Word
The Python Gallery, Middlesbrough: Wednesday 3 February, 7pm-10pm
Event showcasing the literary works of numerous authors, including Harry Zevenbergen, PA Morbid and Bob Beagrie. Free entry (donations appreciated). For more information, email info@pythongallery.co.uk.

Tales from the Council Chamber
Bishop Auckland Town Hall: Wednesday 3 February, 7.30pm
Live talk with two former council members, Olive Brown and Chris Foote Wood, discussing their book, Tales From The Council Chamber, in an informative and amusing manner. Free entry with ticket. For more information, see www.bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk.

Joan Bakewell in conversation with Jackie Kay
Kings Hall, Newcastle University: Thursday 4 February, 7pm
Journalist and TV presenter Joan Bakewell discusses her first novel, All The Nice Girls. Tickets: £6/£4. For more information, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla.

PlayDay with Cloud Nine Theatre Company
Bishop Auckland Town Hall: Sunday 7 February, 7.30pm
A live rehearsal of two new plays: Mark Robberts’ light-hearted comedy, Kiss Me Quick, plus Sean Burn’s innovative drama, Fell. Tickets: £4/£3. For more details, call 01388 602610 or see www.bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk.

Matt Lynn: Fire Force
City Library, Newcastle: 10 February, 2pm-3.30pm
Matt Lynn talks about his new action-packed military thriller, Fire Force. Matt is the author of the Death Force series of novels, which started with Death Force in 2009, and continues now with Fire Force. To book your free place, call 0191 277 4100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.

Ronald Harwood: Playing with History
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle: Thursday 11 February, 7.45pm
Discussion with legendary dramatist Ronald Harwood. Followed by a screening of The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Tickets: £10/£8. For more details, see www.tynesidecinema.co.uk.

Poetry School presents Poetry’s Music by Rommi Smith
Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough: Saturday 13 February, 10.30am-4.30pm
A practical, focused writing exploration of the relationship between music and poetry, thinking about music as stimulation for ideas, imagery, rhythm and structure. £49/£35 concs. For more information, see www.poetryschool.com/?courses=1.

StAnza Poetry Festival event
Gallery North, Northumbria University: Tuesday 16 February, 6.30pm
New Writing North and the StAnza International Poetry Festival are delighted to invite you to a special evening in Newcastle with StAnza’s Artistic Director Eleanor Livingstone and poet Kei Miller, author of There is an Anger that Moves (Carcanet). Meet the festival team and find out more about the Scottish poetry scene. Free event.

You Are Here
Northern Stage, Newcastle: Friday 19 February, 7pm
Poets Colette Bryce, Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott come together on stage for a performance that asks, Who are you? Where are you and where are you going? Tickets: £6/£4. For more details, contact Melanie Birch at melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk or on 0191 222 7619, or to book call 0191 230 5151.

Writing out of the Corner of the Eye with Peter Bennet
Quaker Meeting House, Newcastle: Saturday 20 February, 10.30am-4.30pm
A day about ghostly or mysterious qualities in poetry. You’ll read and discuss poems that send a shiver down the spine, and aim to produce the beginnings of a poem of your own. Beginners as well as more experienced writers welcome. £49/£35 concs. For more details, email ask@quakers-in-newcastle.org.uk or call 0191 281 2924.

Sara Paretsky: Hardball
City Library, Newcastle: 22 February, 6pm-7.45pm
Internationally best-selling crime writer Sara Paretsky is the author of 15 novels, 13 of which have featured her legendary protagonist, female private investigator VI Warshawski. She is the winner of several awards and visits Newcastle on tour to promote her new book, Hardball. To book your free place, call 0191 277 4100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.

Sara Paretsky: Writings on the Wall
Wall Village Hall: Tuesday 23 February, 11.30am-1.30pm
Lunchtime event with the internationally-acclaimed best-selling crime writer, creator of VI Warshawski, the Chicago-based private investigator. Tickets: £9 (includes a light lunch) from Cogito Books, tel 01434 602555. The ticket price includes a paperback copy of Sara’s latest paperback, which may be collected when you buy your ticket.

Ann Cleeves and David Hewson in conversation
City Library, Newcastle: 23 February, 2pm-4pm
Two crime writers come face to face. Ann Cleeves’ Blue Lightning is the fourth book in the award-winning Shetland Quartet Series and is published by Pan McMillan on 8 February, while David Hewson’s latest, The Blue Demon, is the eighth novel in the best-selling Nic Costa series. To book your free place, call 0191 277 4100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.

Book of Songs launch
Gallery North, Northumbria University: Wednesday 24 February, 6pm
The Book of Songs is an entertaining and diverse mixture of poems and stories about music and songs from New Writing North’s young writers’ group, which is run by Kate Fox. Join Kate and the authors for the launch and find out how you could become a mentor for young writers at New Writing North. All welcome.

Yang Lian and Brian Holton
Culture Lab, Newcastle University: Thursday 25 February, 7pm
Widely regarded as one of China’s finest poets, Lian and his principle translator, Brian Holton, will be reciting poetry. Tickets: £6/£4. For more information, contact Clare Graham on 0191 222 7619 or email melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk.

Deadline for the next newsletter
The next edition of The Listening Post covering March’s literature events will go out towards the end of February. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 20 February to olivia@newwritingnorth.com. The Listening Post is North East-specific, but from time to time may also highlight interesting writing events nationally. Promoters should also note that they can also submit information on events happening in the Tees Valley area directly to the Lit-Tees website.

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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.

Northern Writers' Awards 2010 open for submissions

£25,000 to support local writing talent

We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2010 Northern Writers’ Awards. The annual awards, which are produced by New Writing North, support writers to complete new work and move forward with their careers. Each year £25,000 is awarded to support emerging talent and to recognise the work of established writers. Awards range from £1,000 to £10,000.

The Northern Writers’ Awards have been helping to boost writers’ careers since 2000. During the last ten years, 89 writers have received awards and a high percentage of those who have done so go on to successfully publish their work. Recent winners who have had great success include poet Toby Martinez de las Rivas , who was chosen as one of the Faber New Poets in 2009 and went on to see his first pamphlet published by Faber and Faber that year, and Carolyn Jess Cooke, whose first poetry collection, Inroads, will be published by Seren in February this year. Her new novel has also recently sold around the world and will be published in 2011 following support from New Writing North.

The Northern Writers’ Awards uniquely offer both financial and practical support to the winners, and each author who wins an award has access to a range of support including editorial support, manuscript appraisal, mentoring and introductions to the industry.
The winners will receive their awards at a special event in Newcastle and will attend an industry meet and greet in London in July.

The judges for the awards this year are:

Julia Churchill of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. The agency operates in both the UK and the US and specialises in representing children’s authors. Julia founded her reputation as a talent-spotter and deal-maker at the Darley Anderson Agency, where she developed the agency’s prestigious children’s books list. She joined Greenhouse in 2009 and is on the lookout for new storytelling talent.

Literary agent Madeleine Buston from the Darley Anderson Literary, TV & Film Agency. Madeleine is a fiction agent and handles all kinds of work with a commercial focus, including accessible literary, general fiction, and women’s fiction for a wide readership. Madeleine is also Head of Rights at the agency, handling US, foreign, and film and TV rights.

Writer Daljit Nagra, whose first collection of poetry, Look We Have Coming to Dover!, is one of the breakthrough poetry collections of the first decade of the century. It won him the South Bank Show Decibel Prize, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was nominated for the Costa Poetry Prize and the Guardian First Book Award.

The Northern Writers’ Awards are sponsored by Sunderland-based technology, media and communications company The Leighton Group, and are supported by Arts Council England.

The awards are open to writers who live and work in the north east of England. The deadline for entries is Wednesday 10 March 2010. Full entry information is available on our website at www.newwritingnorth.com/awards/awards.php?section=308.

A published collection, Ten Years On, bringing together new work from 11 previous winners of the awards, is available to buy from New Writing North’s web shop.

News from New Writing North: 22 January 2010

People's Play 2010 open for submissions
New Writing North and the People’s Theatre Company are proud to announce the launch of the 2010 People’s Play Award. The award is run to find an exciting new play that will be produced for one week in the studio theatre at the People’s Theatre in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, in November 2010. The winning writer will receive an award of £2,000. The competition aims to discover and develop new writers for theatre and is only open to writers who have not yet received a full professional production of their work on the stage. For full details on how to apply, see www.newwritingnorth.com/awards/awards.php?section=584.

New NWN book group starting in Durham
The new Durham Book Group, run by Jo Colley, will feature a mix of fiction and poetry. The group's first meeting is on 8 February at Leonard’s Café in Durham, when the book under discussion is What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn, which won the prestigious First Novel Award at the 2008 Costas. The book is about a disparate group of characters coming together over a missing girl and features a woman detective with a monkey on her shoulder! If you would like to join the group, contact durhambookgroup@newwritingnorth.com or phone 0191 233 3850.

Holocaust Memorial Day: 27 January 2010
On Wednesday 27 January, Durham Student Readers are marking Holocaust Memorial Day with a special day of reading and film events. At 1.30pm, the group will discuss The Reader by Bernard Schlink at Vennels Café, and then in the evening, the Gala cinema is showing the film of The Reader, along with Night and Fog, the celebrated documentary by Alain Resnais. To give people a special insight into the Nazi period and the films, the films will be introduced by Dr Sheila Wittlinger from Durham University. The evening starts at 7.40pm, with the films screening from 8pm. Tickets for films cost from £5 and are available from www.galadurham.co.uk.

People

Val McDermid wins CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award
Val McDermid has been named as the recipient of this year’s prestigious CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, which honours outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing. The announcement has been made by the Crime Writers’ Association in recognition of Val’s work over more than 20 years. The Diamond Dagger is the latest accolade in a highly successful career which last year saw Val inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards.

Rosalind Wyllie play selected for Red Lion performance
Congratulations to Rosalind Wyllie, from Newcastle, whose short play, Trust, has been selected to be performed as part of the first Bare Bones evening at Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington on 25 January. Over 450 applications were received and six were chosen. More information about the evening can be found at www.barebonesnights.com/page4.htm.

Prue Phillipson has date with Destiny
Congratulations to Hexham writer Prue Phillipson, whose historical novel, Jeanie’s Destiny, has been published by Quaestor2000. Prue has self-published novels before and also had two non-fiction books and articles and short stories published over a long writing career, but at the age of 81, this is her very first work of fiction to be accepted and published. Jeanie’s Destiny is set on the Galloway coast in the 1870s and is the story of a young girl’s efforts to keep her family together and find her true destiny in the face of many trials. For more information, go to www.quaestor2000.com.

Bea Davenport on Chicken House longlist
Congratulations to Bea Davenport, a writer from Berwick-upon-Tweed, whose children’s book, The Serpent House, has been longlisted for The Times/Chicken House children’s novel competition. Bea is one of 18 to be longlisted from more than 2,000 entries. The shortlist is announced in early February and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for her until then.

In the North East

Bloodaxe takes TS Eliot Prize honours
Congratulations to North East publisher Bloodaxe, whose publication, The Water Table, by Philip Gross has won the 2009 TS Eliot Prize for Poetry. Judge Simon Armitage formally announced the winner at the TS Eliot Prize award ceremony at the Wallace Collection in London on Monday 18 January. Mrs Valerie Eliot presented the winner with a cheque for £15,000 and each shortlisted poet received a cheque for £1,000. For more information about the prize, see www.poetrybookshoponline.com/tseliot.php.

Bridging The Gap: Wednesday 27 January
Don’t miss Bridging The Gap, which is broadcast at 11am on Radio 4 on 27 January. The programme is a vivid sound portrait of the Tyne Bridge and draws on the voices and sounds of the bridge, the river, local people and wildlife, while exploring the history, construction and role of the bridge. Contributors to the programme include sound recordist Chris Watson and poet Keith Armstrong.

Live announces new Introduction to Playwriting course
Live Theatre has finalised dates for its next Introduction to Playwriting course and is keen to receive applications from writers of all experience levels. The five-week course begins on 5 May and runs on Wednesday evenings in the Studio Theatre at Live. The course will be structured around the following plays: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen; A Number by Caryl Churchill; and The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall. For more information, see www.live.org.uk/newwriting/index.php or email degna@live.org.uk.

Call for applications: Greater North: Toronto study visit
Literature Northwest and Mslexia magazine, in partnership with Arts Council England and the Scottish Arts Council, are seeking literature professionals working in strategic roles relating to the short story, and based in the north of England (the North West, North East, Yorkshire) or Scotland to take part in a group study visit to Toronto, including a visit to the 11th International Conference on the Short Story in English. The trip will take place from 14-20 June this year. For more information on the conference, see www.yorku.ca/shortcon and for more information about the trip and to get an application form, contact Ra Page on ra.page@commapress.co.uk. Deadline for applications is Monday 1 February.

INK Festival seeking submissions of new writing
INK is a new festival promoting new writing from the region and beyond, comprising two nights of mini-plays, short stories and poetry. Submissions are now being accepted for the 2010 event. This is open to everyone, regardless of experience. Plays submitted should have a running time of no more than 15 minutes and with no more than four characters, short stories have a word limit of 2,000, while poetry submitted should be suitable for performance and in any language. There is no limit to the number of entries per person. Winners will have their entries performed during the festival and receive free entry to the event. Please email entries to inkfestival@hotmail.co.uk, including your name and contact details. The deadline for entries is 31 January 2010.

New home for Flambard Press
We’re delighted that Flambard Press, the North East’s acclaimed publisher of fiction and poetry have relocated their office to be part of the writing and publishing community at Holy Jesus Hospital. This vibrant, historically important building is New Writing North’s base and home to Mslexia magazine. You can contact Flambard’s editor Will Mackie at editor@flambardpress.co.uk.

National opportunities

John Betjeman Young People’s Poetry Competition 2010
This competition for young writers aged 11-14 years carries a prize of £1,000 (£500 to the winner and £500 to the English department of their school) which is donated by John Murray Publishers. Young people wishing to enter the competition can download the entry form at http://johnbetjeman.com/comp.html. The deadline for entries is 31 July.

Wigtown Poetry Competition open for submissions
The Wigtown Poetry Competition is now open for entries. The competition is the largest in Scotland, with a first prize of £2,500, runner up prize of £750, eight additional prizes of £50 each and a Gaelic prize of £500. The winning poem and runner-up will also be published in The Scotsman, or its sister paper Scotland on Sunday, and the winner invited to appear at the Wigtown Book Festival 2010. Full details of the competition, along with the application form, can be found at www.wigtownbookfestival.com/poetrycomp.

Jobs

Harmony Initiative project seeks creative writer and artist/film-maker
The successful candidates will work as a creative team with a group of young muslims in Middlesbrough (who include asylum seekers and refugees) to create a film that captures and represents who they are. They will be employed for six days beginning with two days during February half-term with the further four days to be delivered during Easter holidays. There will then be a period of post-production to edit and create the finished film. Please download the project outline for more information and details of the application process at www.teesvalleyarts.org.uk/newsandevents.html. The deadline for applications is Friday 29 January.

Miscellany

Correction from previous newsletter
In the last newsletter, we mentioned in The Listening Post that the BHS North East Haiku Poetry Group was holding a workshop on 24 January. The date has been moved to 31 January, at the same time (1.30pm-4.30pm) and at the same place (Morden Tower).

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 1 February. The next edition of The Listening Post covering March's literature events will go out in late February. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 20 February to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

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People's Play 2010 open for submissions

New Writing North and the People’s Theatre Company are proud to announce the launch of the 2010 People’s Play Award. The award is run to find an exciting new play that will be produced for one week in the studio theatre at the People’s Theatre in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, in November 2010. The winning writer will receive an award of £2,000.

The competition aims to discover and develop new writers for theatre and is only open to writers who have not yet received a full professional production of their work on the stage.

The People’s Theatre is one of the largest, oldest and most prestigious amateur theatres in the country. Many of its members go on to professional theatre work. The theatre has always been keen to promote new writing and the People’s Play is now a well-established event in its calendar. For more information about the theatre, see www.ptag.org.uk. New Writing North is the reading and writing development agency for the north east of England. New Writing North works with writers in all forms of writing, from plays and screenplays to fiction and poetry, to develop new opportunities and projects.

Winning The People’s Play is a great first step to establishing a career as a professional writer. Former winners who have gone on to write professionally include Alison Carr, Peter Straughan (who recently wrote the screenplay for The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney) and Carina Rodney.

The award is funded by New Writing North and The People’s Theatre and is open to writers who live and work within the Arts Council England North East region (Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, Tees Valley and County Durham).

HOW TO ENTER
You may enter for the award if you are permanently resident in Tyne and Wear, the Tees Valley, County Durham or Northumberland and have lived here for at least one year. The awards are supported by Arts Council England North East and as such are designated for this region of the UK. Writers may only enter one script for the award. The play that you enter for the award must be a new play that has not yet received a professional production.

For full details on how to apply, see www.newwritingnorth.com/awards/awards.php?section=584

Good luck with your application

News from New Writing North: 8 January 2010

Our focus is on getting you published and produced this year
It may have been nice to have had a White Christmas for a change, but the snow's starting to lose something of its appeal now. But if you’re starting to feel a bit stir crazy, don’t despair as there are lots of great opportunities for writers coming up from New Writing North this year. Our focus for 2010 is very much on helping new writers to take the next big steps with their careers and on seeking out and creating real commissioning opportunities for more established writers.

Next week we will be launching the 2010 Northern Writers’ Awards and announcing this year’s judges. With £25,000 of prize money up for grabs plus the chance to meet industry contacts and to be supported to develop your fiction, children’s fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction, it’s a chance not to be missed.

Also this month we will be launching the 2010 People’s Play Award, our biennial project for first-time playwrights. With a £2,000 prize to be won and the chance to see your play produced by the theatre this November, this is a wonderful opportunity for writers who aspire to write for the stage.

Scriptwriters will also be interested in our new Development Programme, which we are currently recruiting for until 15 January. Through this scheme, up to four writers will be supported by theatre director Deborah Bruce to complete a full-length play. At the end of the process, we would anticipate that one of the plays will be selected to be fully commissioned, produced and toured by the North East Theatre Consortium, a group of organisations led by New Writing North along with three regional venues: Queen’s Hall in Hexham, The Customs House in South Shields, and Darlington Arts Centre. The consortium has previously produced and toured Pub Quiz by Carina Rodney and Queen Bee by Margaret Wilkinson. Click here to download full details about the scheme and guidelines on how to enter.

Do make sure that you keep us abreast of your news too. We’re always delighted to hear about new books, awards nominations, things you’ve written in the media and any other writing-related news that you’d like to tell us about.

Here’s to us all having a great 2010. Claire

People

Anna Woodford on Crashaw shortlist
Congratulations to Anna Woodford, who runs our Poetry Room Book Group and who’s just been shortlisted for the international Crashaw Poetry Prize. There are 12 on the shortlist from a field of 120 poetry manuscripts by poets from the UK, USA, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The winners are announced on 26 February and will have their collection published by Salt.

Valerie Laws selected for international residency
Northumberland writer Valerie Laws, whose novel The Rotting Spot was part of our Read Regional 2009 promotion, has been selected for the first international El Gouna Writers’ Residency in Egypt, for the month of February. Four to six writers are invited to enjoy a full month’s stay at a beautiful villa in El Gouna, with opportunities to interact and exchange thoughts with writers from different cultures. Valerie will be working on her new poetry collection based on work with scientists and pathologists from her Wellcome Trust Arts Award-funded project.

New work from Sean Burn
Congratulations to North East writer Sean Burn, whose third collection, Wings Are Giving Out, has just been launched by Skrev Press after having been shortlisted for a DaDaFest 2009 award.

In the North East

Olympians, poets and prize winners at Café Culture this spring
New Writing North is one of the cultural programme partners for Café Culture North East, the popular Monday night talks programme which takes place at Dance City’s Urban Café.

On Monday 18 January, Rebecca Jenkins will be giving a timely talk entitled 'Lessons from Britain’s first Olympics in 1908'. Rebecca is the author of The First London Olympics: 1908 and will explain the impact of the Olympics 100 years ago, including the preparation of a 140 acre site of scrubland in west London which was transformed into White City. What cultural legacies did our first-ever Olympics leave? And what lessons can we learn for our forthcoming 2012 Olympic games? If you’ve not heard Rebecca talk before do come along – she’s really fun and very well informed.

Other events coming up as part of the programme include Mark Robinson and a panel of poets discussing whether poets are still the “unofficial legislators” of our world on Monday 1 March, and author Kate Clanchy talking about her memoir Antigona and Me on Monday 19 April. We’re delighted to have Kate along to the events programme and would like to congratulate her on winning the National Short Story Prize at the end of last year.

All the events start at 7pm prompt and are over by 9pm. Admission is free and there is no need to book, though we do advise turning up early to grab a good seat as events are popular. The ethos of the programme is for people to listen to guest speakers and then engage in a open conversation about the topics and themes of the night in a café-style environment. It’s relaxed, fun and if the evening makes your mind fizz with ideas, all the better. You can find out more about the annual programme of stimulating talks at www.cafeculturenortheast.org.uk.

Mslexia celebrates first decade by winning Women in Publishing’s 2009 Pandora Award
Mslexia, the quarterly magazine for women who write, became the proud recipient of Women in Publishing’s 2009 Pandora Award just before Christmas. The award has been presented since 1981 to an individual or organisation for a significant and valuable contribution to publishing and for promoting positive images of women in publishing, book-selling and related trades. Since 1982, the prize has been an antique writing desk, which is passed from one winner to the next. Mslexia is produced in Newcastle (from an office just downstairs from us at New Writing North, so we'll be down to inspect the desk as soon as it arrives) and is a must-read for writers and readers alike. For more information about Mslexia, including how to subscribe, see www.mslexia.co.uk.

National opportunities

The Script Factory wants women writers
The Script Factory has announced She Writes! – a new training programme targeted directly at women screenwriters, presented together with their partners at Birds Eye View and supported by the Skillset Film Skills Fund. The programme caters for eight ‘emerging’ women writers who will join The Script Factory over the course of 2010. During the year they will enjoy a residential retreat, attend two specialist workshops in London, meet with mentors, gain a better understanding of how the film industry works, have exclusive access to industry and training events at the Birds Eye View Film Festival and Script Factory preview events and masterclasses, and get the opportunity to workshop their feature screenplay project with actors. If you are a new writer with just one drama credit to your name (a short film or a piece of TV, radio or theatre), this could be the boost you need to take your writing to the next level. To find out more, see www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/Training/Article_757.html. Deadline for applications is 29 January.

The Listening Post

Poetry from Sheree Mack and Catherine Graham
Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library: Wednesday 13 January, 6.30pm-7.45pm
Free tickets available by telephoning the library on 0191 277 4100.

Meet the Author: Jasper Fforde
City Library, Newcastle: Thursday 21 January, 2.30pm & 6pm
Newcastle Library’s Meet the Author events continue with two events with the eclectic Jasper Fforde, who will be visiting Newcastle for the day to talk about his new book, Shade of Grey. For more information, tel 0191 277 4100. Admission free.

Julia Blackburn & Blake Morrison
Culture Lab, Newcastle University: Thursday 21 January, 7pm
Julia Blackburn is the author of four books of non-fiction and two novels, The Book of Colour and The Leper’s Companions, both of which were shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Her memoir of her troubled relationship with her parents, The Three of Us, was published to great acclaim in 2008. Blake Morrison is a novelist, playwright, memoirist, journalist and critic. And When Did You Last See Your Father? (1993), a chronicle of his relationship with his father was produced as a feature film in 2004. For more information, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla.

Ten by Ten
The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle: Thursday 21 January, 7.30pm
Andy Willoughby reads extracts from his new work, SAMPO: Heading Further North, while Kate Fox will be giving us an inside view of her new show, Fox News. Plus Kathleen Kenny, Barry Fox, Stephen Baines, Nikki Hawkins, Scott Tyrrell, Nick Montgomery, Keith Parker and Alfie Crow. Admission: £3 on the door.

BHS North East Haiku Poetry Group Workshop
Morden Tower, Newcastle: 24 January, 1.30pm-4.30pm
No previous experience of writing haiku is necessary. Refreshments provided. Admission: £3/£2. For more information and to reserve a place, email chrisphil79@hotmail.com.

Northern Voices Annual Poetry Award event
Bridge Hotel, Newcastle: Sunday 24 January, 7.30pm
Featuring Bob Beagrie, Andy Willoughby and Robert Lonsdale from Teesside; Stephen Murray and Brendan Murphy from Ireland; Geraldine Green from Cumbria and Catherine Graham, Dave Alton and Gordon Phillips from Tyneside. Plus the presentation of the Northern Voices Poetry Award 2010. Admission: £5. For more information, call 0191 252 9531.

Lee Hall: Six Necessary Ingredients for a Successful Play
Curtis Auditorium, Newcastle University: Tuesday 26 January, 5.30pm
Lecture by the writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, Lee Hall. Free event.

Articulate
ARC, Stockton on Tees: Wednesday 27 January, 7.45pm
An evening of live literature inspired by film. From the fleapit to the art-house, a diverse line-up of poets and storytellers present an eclectic mic of comic work. For more information, tel 01642 525199. Admission: £3.

Murder in the Cathedral: a special event with Ann Cleeves
St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle: 28 January, 7pm
An interactive murder mystery for lovers of traditional detective stories with crime writer Ann Cleeves and CSI Helen Pepper. A fundraiser for St Nicholas Cathedral choristers. Tickets: £7.50/£5, to include wine and nibbles from the cathedral chapter office. For more information, tel 0191 232 1939.

National Storytelling Week launch
Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, Durham: Saturday 30 January
National Storytelling Week begins. For more information, tel 0191 334 1823 or see www.durham.ac.uk/fulling.mill.

Writing workshops for new writers coming up in March

The Blank Page with Linda France
Saturday 20 February, 10am-4pm: Holy Jesus Hospital, Newcastle & Saturday 27 March: Clayport Library, Durham
Join poet Linda France for a day of creative writing. In the morning the workshop will focus on creative journal writing – how to write about real life and capture real events and experiences. In the afternoon you will be taken through the process of how to write a poem.

Starting to Write with Ellen Phethean
Saturday 27 February, Holy Jesus Hospital, Newcastle & Saturday 20 March: Clayport Library, Durham
If you’ve always wanted to write creatively but have never devoted any serious time to trying to do so, this workshop is for you. Aimed at beginners who would like to learn how to develop their work, this workshop will give you great ideas for starting to write and help you plan to develop and improve your writing.

Both workshops are produced by New Writing North in association with Women into the Network as part of the Learning Transformation programme Arts for Art's Sake. If you're a member of WIN there is no charge; if you are not, each event costs £15 plus VAT. You can find out how to book on the WIN website.

Miscellany

A Journey Round My Skull
The owner of blog A Journey Round My Skull describes the site as "Unhealthy book fetishism from a reader, collector, and amateur historian of forgotten literature." The blog has in the past featured beautiful and fascinating books of all sorts, but, the author notes, current obsessions are illustration and graphic design. One particular highlight recently has been a collection of images from Soviet children's books from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, although so much of the material is so extraordinary, it's easy to lose hours at a time just browsing.

New editorial consultancy based in Edinburgh
The Fine Line is a new editorial consultancy, who got in touch to ask whether we could put their details out to our mailing list. Their fees for a reader’s report are modest at just £50, as are their fees for a full edit of completed manuscripts. Even if you’re just starting out as a writer, their website has lots of blogs and insights from more established writers which you might find inspiring or interesting. For more information, see www.editorial-consultancy.co.uk.

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 18 January. The edition of The Listening Post covering February's literature events will go out in late January. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 20 January to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

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News from New Writing North: 18 December 2009

New Writing North is taking a break over Christmas and New Year, and from the time you get this newsletter until 4 January, the office will be closed.

We’ve had a busy, exhausting, but brilliant 2009, with some wonderful projects, and worked with some truly inspirational people. We’re working on our 2010 programme at the moment, and will of course let you know about it as soon as we can.

  We hope you all have a good break, and look forward to seeing you all in 2010.

Best wishes

Claire, Anna, Cath, Catriona and Liv

People

Peter Bennet scoops Bunting Award second spot
Congratulations to Northumberland poet Peter Bennet, who has taken second prize in the inaugural Basil Bunting Award for his poem, The Tower. First prize went to DH Maitreyabandhu for The Coat Cupboard. A total of 914 poems were received from around the world, with the winners announced at an awards ceremony at Culture Lab, Newcastle University, on 10 December. You can read Peter’s poem, as well as those of the other prize-winners, at www.basilbuntingaward.co.uk.

  Join Janet MacLeod Trotter on the hippy trail
Janet MacLeod Trotter was just 18 when in 1976 she set off on the hippy trail to Kathmandu. And now you can follow in her footsteps as she publishes her diaries of her overland adventures at http://janmacleodtrotter.blogspot.com.

Courses and workshops

Burning the Midnight Oil: creative writing course in Newcastle
The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is celebrating its centenary in 2010 and will be holding special events around the North East. Their creative writing workshops will be focusing on writing about the stories, poems, sketches and lyrics you see in any of the 'Pitman' paintings, which were themselves created at a WEA art course in Ashington and made famous by Lee Hall’s play The Pitman Painters. Two 10-week courses begin on Saturday 23 January from 10am to 12pm at the Nunsmoor Centre, opposite the BBC studios, Studley Terrace, Fenham and at the WEA, 21 Portland Terrace, Jesmond, from Wednesday 13 January. For more information, contact the Nunsmoor Centre on 0191 226 1006 or the tutor on 0191 274 7803, email gordonfrankphillips@hotmail.com.  

Creative writing course in Whitley Bay
Enrolment is now open for a Whitley Bay-based writing course called Creative Writing: Writing Dialogue, which will run for ten weeks from 13 January. The dialogue-focused classes are being targeted at people who are over 18, and who do not have a first degree, or equivalent, but are looking to expand their writing skills. Creative Writing: Writing Dialogue will run from 7pm-9pm on Wednesday evenings at Culture Quarter in Marine Avenue, Whitley Bay. For more information, contact Phil Dixon on 0191 253 0466 or at phil@culturequarter.org.

National opportunities

The Fielding Programme for writers: spring 2010
The Fielding Programme is a specialist residency programme for new and early career writers. In spring and autumn each year, it offers the opportunity to develop professionally in spectacular and inspiring surroundings and to receive one-to-one mentoring. You receive individual support from an accomplished writer who can share experience and ideas on everything from the details of technique to the direction your writing career might take. You also benefit from each other’s experience with informal workshops. Only six writers are resident at one time so places are very limited. You can get more details and apply at www.fieldingprogramme.com.

Miscellany

Last chance for a Mslexia Writers’ Diary
If you're thinking about one of these for a present, then you may be cutting it a bit fine, but if you haven’t sorted out your 2010 diary yet, look no further: once again, Mslexia, the magazine for women who write, has come up with the perfect writer’s diary. They still have a few left, so if you want one, hurry to www.mslexia.co.uk/shop/diary_buy.html and they'll post it out to you for the start of 2010.  

Take the David Foster Wallace grammar challenge
It goes without saying that we're sticklers here for grammar and spelling and all that sort of business, but quite clearly David Foster Wallace was in a league of his own. If you're up for a challenge, head to http://htmlgiant.com/craft-notes/grammar-challenge and try your luck at a grammar test he set his class of non-fiction students. And while you're there, the rest of the site – http://htmlgiant.com – is worth looking at too.

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 4 January.
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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.

Open call for submissions of new novels and new collections of poetry by North East writers

Read Regional is a campaign to promote published books by North East writers. The 2010 Read Regional campaign will be launched at the Hexham Book Festival in May 2010 and runs until the end of October. The campaign will include author promotions, reading stunts across the North East region, library promotions and stock purchases by participating libraries, book group events and a major press promotion, triggered by a special public launch event. The event ran successfully last year – see www.readregional.com for more information.

Read Regional aims to support the promotion of work by writers who live and work in the North East; if they are also published by regional independent presses, that’s a bonus too. We will aim to select a line-up of books which are diverse in nature and which will offer project partners lots of potential promotion opportunities. Last year the campaign focused on four fiction titles – this year we would like to consider poetry titles too.

Criteria for selection
• The book must be written by a writer who currently lives and works in the north east of England (Teesside to Berwick upon Tweed)
• The author must be available to participate in at least 10 events across the North East between May and October 2010
• Books must have been published between January 2009 and April 2010 in paperback

To enter
Please send the following if you would like your book to be considered for the campaign:
1. A copy of the book
2. Biog of the writer and information on the publisher and where the book is currently available to buy
3. A summary of past reviews and press coverage and marketing activity for older books, or information on forward marketing plans for new titles
Please send this information to New Writing North by Monday 4 January 2010. If you have any questions about eligibility, please email catriona@newwritingnorth.com.

Catriona Taylor
Read Regional Programme Manager
New Writing North
Holy Jesus Hospital
City Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 2AS

Please do not try to hand deliver materials as our building is not always open to the public and there is no public letterbox

Read Regional is core funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England.

Playwriting Development Programme

The North East Theatre Consortium (NETC) is made up of three venues in the North East and New Writing North, the writing development agency for the region. Managed by New Writing North, The Customs House in South Shields, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre in Hexham and Darlington Arts Centre have come together to develop and produce the best new writing from the North East, and tour it in the region and nationally.

The project was instigated by New Writing North, who recognised that there were relatively few opportunities for writers in the region to get their plays produced professionally. At the same time, venues from the region were interested in programming North East writers on their stages.

Over the past two years, the NETC has produced and toured two new plays: Carina Rodney’s Pub Quiz, and Margaret Wilkinson’s Queen Bee. The plays toured to each of the partner venues, but also to other venues in the region, including Northern Stage, and in the case of Queen Bee, outside the region at West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Duke’s Theatre in Lancaster. The plays have both been very well received by audiences and the press.

For the venues this is their opportunity to have some influence over the production process and to put on high quality drama that will speak to their audiences. For New Writing North this is also an opportunity to help writers from the North East launch or develop their playwriting careers. For this reason, we tour to North East venues, but we also want to make sure the play is seen outside the region and receives as much profile as possible. We want to build on this when developing and producing the next play.

We have funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to support the consortium over three years. That funding has contributed to the two plays produced so far, so we have Esmée Fairbairn support to produce one more play. This helps enormously with levering other funding to contribute to a full production. We would like to produce the next play in 2011.

Script development programme

In order to identify and develop the next play, we are undertaking an intensive script development programme from January-August 2010, which is open to North East writers.

The programme will be run by director Deborah Bruce. Deborah is a well established and well respected theatre director. She directed Fiona Evans’ plays Scarborough (Edinburgh Fringe and The Royal Court) and Geoff Dead: Disco for Sale (New Writing North/Live Theatre) to great critical acclaim. She has just completed a successful run of a new adaptation of Euripedes’ Helen at The Globe Theatre, and has directed many pieces of new writing for theatres across the country including The Royal Court, Bath Theatre Royal, The Gate, Bristol Old Vic and Soho Theatre.

We will appoint up to four writers, who will work on developing their own full-length plays. Deborah will support and mentor the selected writers in developing their plays from January-August 2010. This mentoring support will involve some face-to-face contact, as well as email correspondence. By August, we will have developed four full-length plays, and the director, New Writing North, and the consortium members will aim to select select the one we anticipate will be the next consortium play. Ideally, as long as circumstances permit, Deborah Bruce will direct the selected play.

From September 2010, we will start to sell the play for regional and national touring in autumn 2011. We are very keen to ensure the play receives maximum profile, so depending on the nature of the play, this may mean performing it at the Edinburgh Festival, or touring it to a London venue.

Provisional timescale

November 2009 Promote the opportunity for writers
Early January 2010 NWN, the director and consortium partners select the writers involved in the programme
Late January 2010 Director meets the writers to talk through their ideas
Early March 2010 First draft delivered to the director, New Writing North and consortium partners
Mid March 2010 Four days of script development involving actors and writer led by director. Consortium members see the results of this
Mid March-May 2010 Email correspondence between director and writers to advise on second draft
End of May 2010 Second draft delivered
June-mid July 2010 Work on second draft
Early August 2010 Final plays delivered. The director, NWN and consortium partners select the final play

To apply for the scheme

* Please send a proposal of no more than two pages of a full-length play that you would like to develop as part of the programme.
* Please send the first 20 pages of a full-length script that you have previously written (this should not be the play you want to develop during the scheme)
* Please include a writing CV and a covering letter explaining where you are with your playwriting career and why you think this scheme may help you to develop it.
* Please send four copies of each of these by Friday 15 January to:

Anna Disley

New Writing North,

Holy Jesus Hospital

City Road

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 2AS

Please POST applications only. Do not email your submission. It is not possible for us to accept applications delivered by hand.

Exemptions

* Writers must live in the north east of England (Tees Valley, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham)
* We cannot accept writers onto the programme if they have already had a full-length play produced by New Writing North in the past. This does not include people involved in Emerge, Bite Size Theatre or Four Play.

News from New Writing North: 4 December 2009

Journal Culture Awards open for nominations
The annual Journal Culture Awards are now taking nominations from the public for all categories, including Writer of the Year, Performance of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Best Event. So, for example, you might want to nominate Queen Bee for Performance of the Year if you came to see it while it was on tour in April and May this year around the region, or maybe you attended Durham Book Festival just recently and would like to submit it for the Best Event category. Or you might want to nominate your favourite author, playwright or poet as Writer of the Year.

To have a look at the categories and make your nominations, go to www.journallive.co.uk/culture-newcastle/culture-awards-2008. The closing date for nominations is 31 December 2009.

Arts Council England North East Literature Officer post
As most of you will know, changes are afoot at the Arts Council nationally and their staff reorganisation is now reaching the North East office. We were very saddened to hear this week that Christine Chambers, our region’s Literature Officer, has not secured the Literature Officer post for the North East office, and that consequently her contract will end in March next year. Here at NWN we were all very surprised by this news and would like to take this opportunity to wish Christine well and thank her for the support that she has shown to us and to many other writers and organisations in the region during her tenure.

Final newsletter of the year
The final NWN newsletter of the year will go out on 18 December and will incorporate The Listening Post, covering January’s literature events. If you have news or events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 14 December to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

People

Richard Milward shoots blanks in Bad Sex awards
After an otherwise outstanding year, Middlesbrough wunderkind Richard Milward has finally found something he’s no good at – bad sex. However, it must be said that he was pitched against an extremely strong international line-up and should be honoured to have been shortlisted for the Literary Review’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award 2009, where his fellow nominees included Philip Roth, John Banville, Amos Oz and Paul Theroux.

Emerging triumphant was Jonathan Littell for a toe-curling scene in The Kindly Ones, a book described by judges as “in part a work of genius. However, a mythologically inspired passage and lines such as ‘I came suddenly, a jolt that emptied my head like a spoon scraping the inside of a soft-boiled egg’ clinched the award for The Kindly Ones. We hope he takes it in good humour.’ Jonathan Littell was unavailable for comment.

You can read this year’s nominated passages at www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsexpassages.html, although be warned that none of them are for the faint-hearted and that most of them would probably result in disciplinary proceedings if you were to be caught reading them at work. Previous winners have included John Updike, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, AA Gill and Sebastian Faulks.

Co-authors collaborate from opposite ends of the globe
English barrister and NWN Northern Promise Award Winner Lorna Elliot has collaborated with Australian trade intermediary Davide Papa to produce a unique publication on conducting business as an international trade intermediary. The book, which took 12 months to produce, was written entirely by email and the two authors are yet to meet or speak to one another. You can read more about the book and the innovative collaborative process at www.firstwriter.com/newsletter/archive/2009/fwn81.htm#article2.

Lorna makes it through to next round
Congratulations to Lorna Windham, a children’s writer from North Tyneside, whose short story has made it onto the next round of the BBC My Story competition. You can read her story, A Northern Christmas, at www.bbc.co.uk/mystory.

In the North East

Lady Baby Gypsy Queen Elephant Monkey Tangerine makes perfect stocking-filler
Lady Baby Gypsy Queen Elephant Monkey Tangerine is a gorgeous, pocket-sized hardback of exciting new short stories from the makers of The Hotspur, the gloriously erudite and idiosyncratic parish magazine of St John’s, Healey, Northumberland. The anthology contains 12 bite-sized chunks of love, war, laughter, science, art, tragedy, intrigue and good old-fashioned promiscuous sex, making it this winter’s must-have bedside reading and a Christmas present to treasure. The book is available from Cogito Books in Hexham, Forum Books in Corbridge and The Baltic in Newcastle, as well as from Amazon. For more information, email thehotspur@googlemail.com.

Writing course in Whitley Bay
There are still spaces left on a Whitley Bay-based writing course, Creative Writing: Writing Dialogue, which will run for ten weeks from 13 January. The course is free to join. For more information, contact either Barry Stone at r541cottage@aol.com or Phil Dixon at phil@culturequarter.org.

Opportunity for scriptwriters
Dramatists have until 14 December to submit a 30-minute theatre script to be considered for Cloud Nine’s next PlayDay at Bishop Auckland in February 2010. The two chosen writers will be invited to spend the day with a Cloud Nine director and actors while their plays are put on their feet, then performed before a live audience at the town hall the same evening. For more information, contact Peter Mortimer on 0191 253 1901.

Ann Coburn Christmas play touring the region
Award-winning writer Ann Coburn’s new play The Last Snow Rider will be landing in Gateshead, South Shields and various other local venues. The play is touring until 30 January 2010, and you can get full details on the Northumberland Theatre website at www.northumberlandtheatre.co.uk.

Grants for the Arts: blackout period
As some of you may already be aware, the Grants for the Arts application process is being refined by Arts Council England. For that reason, there is a planned blackout period taking place early next year where existing applications will still be assessed, but no new ones will be accepted. The dates for the blackout period are Monday 18 January to Friday 26 February 2010, so if you’re working on an application, please make sure you get it in to Arts Council England before 5pm on Friday 15 January 2010.

Tees Valley international writing competition deadline nears
If you live in or come from the Tees Valley, you have the chance to enter a huge international writing competition with a cash prize of up to €1400. Entrants are invited to send a short story by 10 January 2010 to Middlesbrough Council. The prizes will be awarded in public in Oberhausen, Germany, in a ceremony that includes readings and a supporting program. The theme for this event is ‘Light Years’. For more information, see www.litaward.de.

Jobs

Writer-in-residence for Hexham Book Festival
Hexham Book Festival and Queen’s Hall Arts are looking for an experienced writer or poet to take part in a week-long residency in Northumberland (North Tyne area) in March 2010. The author would work with Bellingham Middle School and local food producers exploring the history of the region’s food production and the rural economy over the years and creating stories linked to these issues. This would culminate in a presentation at the Hexham Book Festival 2010. For more information, contact Susie Troup at info@hexhambookfestival.co.uk or 01434 600601.

Vacancies at Inpress
Inpress Books, the sales and marketing agency for small publishers, is looking to hire a sales and marketing executive and a finance executive. Full job descriptions and details are available at www.inpressbooks.co.uk/about_us.aspx.

National opportunities

Changes to BBC writersroom policies for scriptwriters
The BBC’s writersroom has changed some of its unsolicited script policies and has drawn up a Terms & Conditions document. They are keen for this to be known by aspiring writers out there, so for more information check their website at www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writing/terms_and_conditions.shtml.

The Festival of Writing: 9-11 April 2010, University of York
450 creative writers covering all forms of work are expected to attend and participate in writing workshops, talks and one-to-one sessions with agents, editors and authors, over one weekend. Interspersed with keynote addresses, the festival programme splits into six sessions (each of seven choices) where it would be possible to concentrate just on crime, children’s, general fiction, non-fiction or genre works. Alongside these are optional choices of one-to-ones with agents, authors and editors. As an early adopter you could be one (of the few) who gets to pitch to Barry Cunningham – the man who signed JK Rowling. See www.festivalofwriting.com for more details and to book.

The Listening Post

Burnlaw Craft Weekend: The Book, the Whole Book and Nothing but the Book
The Burnlaw Centre, Whitfield, Northumberland, NE47 8HF: Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, 10am-4pm
Katie Jackson and Linda France not only show you how to make a book, but also help you create the words to go in it. The writing and book-making sessions are woven together throughout the day to keep you busy. Tea and cake will be provided but please bring your own lunches. Booking is essential. Price £35 (open to 16-plus). For more information, call 01434 652 482. Bookings can be made through the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre box office on 01434 652 477.

Blackwell’s Newcastle Friends’ evening
Blackwell’s, Haymarket, Newcastle: Thursday 17 December, 7pm
Blackwell’s bookshop, a regular haunt for New Writing North, is holding a friends’ evening, with 10% off everything, plus mulled wine and mince pies. It’s a great way to get into the festive spirit and buy some presents everyone will enjoy – books! Anyone who receives the NWN newsletter is welcome to attend, so we will see you there. Free event and no booking is required.

Miscellany

Public Lending Right for published writers, photographers and editors
Many writers are not aware of the fact that they can register for Public Lending Right, which is a right to payment for the free lending of books in public libraries. Writers, photographers, editors and translators can all apply. For more details see www.plr.uk.com.

Illustrator for hire
Rachel Wood is a student at Newcastle College in her third year studying BA Hons Creative Practice. While earlier studying for an HND in graphic design she found she had a love of children’s illustration and is now looking for anyone wanting their work illustrated, particularly any work for children. She would however also be interested in illustrating other types of writing or book covers if any writers are interested. Call 0780 953369 for more information.

Deadline for the next newsletter

The final NWN newsletter of the year will go out on 18 December and will incorporate The Listening Post, covering January’s literature events. If you have news or events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 14 December 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.

The Listening Post: December 2009

A Jack Common Celebration
The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle: Tuesday 1 December, 7pm 
Keith Armstrong introduces his new book about Jack Common, followed by a talk from Peter Common, commissioned poetry by Catherine Graham and music from Kiddar’s Luck folk group. Free event, no need to book.

Vane Women Press book launches
Darlington Arts Centre: Wednesday 2 December, 7.30pm
Vane Women Press presents its two latest publications: County Durham poet Sheila Binks will read from her first collection, One Hand Waving Free, and members of the Vane Women writing collective will read from Love in Vane , a new anthology of poems and stories on love in all its guises. Free entry and a free glass of wine. Call Darlington Arts Centre box office on 01325 486555 for tickets or email vane.women@ntlworld.com for more information.

Durham Palestine Educational Trust event
Fisher House, Ustinov College, Durham University: Wednesday 2 December, 7.30pm 
Poets Keith Armstrong, Katrina Porteous, Paul Summers, Cynthia Fuller and William Martin, with musicians Gary Miller and Marie Little, perform their work in support of Palestinian education. Admission on the door: £4 (students £3). All proceeds go to the Durham Palestine Educational Trust.

An Evening with Martin Bell
ARC, Stockton on Tees: Thursday 3 December, 7.30pm 
Former MP and BBC journalist Martin Bell has written a major new book, A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy, which is set to shake up British politics. It covers the MPs’ expenses scandal, the state of Parliament in general and the future of politics from his unique insider’s perspective. Tickets: £2. To book, call 01642 525199 or see www.arconline.co.uk. You can also get tickets from any Stockton borough library.

Factory Nights: Joplings, Sunderland
Joplings department store, Sunderland: Tuesday 8 December, 6.15pm
Factory Nights are special working sessions, where artists, filmmakers, photographers and writers can come together in an interesting building and be allowed a rare tour of the building to stimulate artistic work. As part of the event, writers Claire Lewis and Sarah Shaw will be reading at various locations in the store during the evening. The store manager will be leading a tour of the building at 6.15pm, covering places the public don’t usually see, like the attics, the roof and basements. All are welcome but places are extremely limited so booking is essential. For more information, see www.rednile.org.

An Evening with Martin Bell
Newcastle City Library and Arts Centre: Wednesday 9 December, 6pm
Martin will be discussing his new book A Very British Revolution: The Expenses Scandal and How to Save Our Democracy and hosting a questions and answers session. This is a free event. To book a ticket or for further information, please contact City Library and Arts Centre on 0191 561 8407 or ask at your local library.

Poetry for Palestine
The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle: Wednesday 9 December, 7.30pm 
Local poets and musicians will perform their poems and songs in aid of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, including some Palestinian poetry in translation and Palestinian music. Compered by Keith Armstrong. Tickets £4 (£2 concs). Pay on the door or email alexsnowdonedu@hotmail.com to reserve a place.

Monica Sharp, Mike Edwards and Natalie Boxall
Centre North East, Middlesbrough: Friday 11 December, 7pm
Monica Sharp is a well-known and much loved figure on the writing scene in Teesside and will be reading from her new pamphlet from Mudfog. Plus prose from Mike Edwards and Natalie Boxall. Free event. Contact Pauline Plummer at pauline.sonnet@blueyonder.co.uk to book.

Deadline for the next newsletter
The next edition of The Listening Post covering January's literature events will be incorporated into the final NWN newsletter of the year, which will go out on 18 December. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 14 December to olivia@newwritingnorth.com. The Listening Post is North East-specific, but from time to time may also highlight interesting writing events nationally. Promoters should also note that they can also submit information on events happening in the Tees Valley area directly to the Lit-Tees website.

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News from New Writing North: 20 November 2009

North East Theatre Consortium Script Development programme
We are pleased to invite writers from the North East to apply to be part of a script development programme which will take place from January-August 2010. Up to four writers will be mentored and supported by theatre director Deborah Bruce to write a full-length play during this period. At the end of the process, we would anticipate that one of the plays will be selected to be produced and toured by the North East Theatre Consortium, a group of organisations led by New Writing North along with three regional venues: Queen’s Hall in Hexham, The Customs House in South Shields, and Darlington Arts Centre. The consortium has previously produced and toured Pub Quiz by Carina Rodney and Queen Bee by Margaret Wilkinson. Click here to download full details about the scheme and guidelines on how to enter. Deadline: Friday 15 January.

Northern Writers’ Awards 2010
Tis the usual season for kicking off the Northern Writers’ Awards, but for the 2010 awards we’ve decided to move the dates back a little. So if you were wondering, fret not – we will be accepting submissions from 10 January 2010, and the deadline for entries will be in the middle of March.
We’ll post more information on our website and in the newsletter as soon as we have it, including who the judges for 2010 will be.

People

Becci scores job at Atlantic
Congratulations to long-term New Writing North intern Rebecca Sharpe, who has just secured a full-time job at Atlantic Books, the independent publisher based in London. Atlantic published one of this year’s Read Regional books, Alice de Smith’s Welcome to Life, as well as Booker prize-winning The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, and many others.

Becci worked with us when she was still a student at Newcastle University on the Common Book 2008 project, and, once she had graduated, led on setting up the Durham Student Readers reading groups this year before Durham Book Festival. She was a great asset to New Writing North while she was working here, and we’re sure she’ll have the same impact at Atlantic.

UK and foreign sales for Carolyn Jess-Cooke
New Writing North is delighted to hear that Carolyn Jess-Cooke, winner of a Northern Writers’ Award in 2008 for her poetry, has secured sales in 10 languages for her first novel, The Guardian Angel’s Journal. Sales are through her agent at Darley Anderson, Madeleine Bustan, who signed Carolyn in September after meeting her at a reception New Writing North organised in July to introduce new North East writers to the publishing industry. Madeleine took The Guardian Angel’s Journal to Frankfurt Book Fair to present to foreign publishers in October.

Carolyn’s UK publisher is Little, Brown, and the book will be on the shelves early in 2011. Foreign sales include France, Germany, Italy, Holland and China.

In the North East

Poetry Society workshops in the North East: spaces still available
The Poetry Society is running two poetry workshops in the North East in the next week or so, and spaces are still available for them.

Why Write? With Jen Hadfield
Saturday 21 November, 11am-5pm: The Thistle Hotel, Fry Street, Middlesbrough, TS1 1JH. Price: £49 (£35 concs)
Is there a poem which has been personally significant to the way you think about life and writing? Jen will bring examples of ‘credo’ poems from, among others, WS Graham, Tom Leonard and Yannis Ritsos and help you put together a poem of your own in which you explore what your writing is for. If you’ve ever wondered why you write, this is for you.

Life Drawing in Poetry with Colette Bryce
Saturday 28 November, 10.30am-4.30pm: Alington House, 4 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET. Price: £49 (£35 concs)
So many poems of love and praise, yet how many of the faces can you actually remember? How many of their subjects can you visualise? Do words fail us in capturing a likeness? The morning session takes the portrait as its focus, exploring ways in which poets have attempted to portray the physical reality of others. In the afternoon, you’ll have the opportunity to share one poem of your own and to receive constructive feedback from Colette and other students. Suitable for those with some experience of writing poetry. Please bring 16 copies of your poem to share, on the day.
Further details for both events and booking information at www.poetryschool.com or call 020 7582 1679.

Jobs

Literary Officer, Live Theatre, Newcastle
Live Theatre is one of the leading new writing theatres in the country and is looking to appoint a Literary Officer to assist the Literary Manager and Artistic Director in the development and delivery of the company’s creative programme. Four days per week, 18 month fixed term contract. Salary: £14,400-£16,000 PA (£18,000-£20,000 pro rata). For an application pack and person specification, see www.live.org.uk or email clare@live.org.uk. Deadline for applications: Friday 4 December 2009. Interviews: w/c 14 December 2009.

Acting Writers in Translation Programme Manager
English PEN is looking for a literature professional to join the team on a temporary basis until 31 October 2010, delivering the work of the Writers in Translation programme, overseeing the development of the PEN Atlas, and creating activities to mark the fifth anniversary of Writers in Translation. The Acting Programme Manager will work with publishers to ensure that their titles reach the widest possible audience, through creative promotional campaigns. This is a three day per week role, joining English PEN’s staff of eight, based at the new Free Word Centre in London’s Clerkenwell. Salary: £23-25,000, pro rata, depending on experience, three days per week. Deadline for applications: Wednesday 25 November 2009. For more information, see www.englishpen.org/aboutenglishpen/vacancies.

National opportunities

Mslexia Women’s Short Story Competition open for submissions
The competition is judged this year by Tracy Chevalier and all winning stories will be published in Mslexia magazine. Send stories of up to 2,200 words on any theme. First prize: £2,000, plus one-week writing retreat at Chawton House Library (accommodation only) and a day with a Virago editor; second prize: £500; third prize: £250; three runners-up each win £100. Deadline for submissions is 25 January 2010 and the fee for each entry is £8. Further details and full rules at www.mslexia.co.uk.

The Listening Post

Pints & Poetry night with guest reader, Toby Martinez de las Rivas
25 November, 7.30pm at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle
Pints & Poetry provides regular opportunities for the talented young poets of the North East to showcase their work. This reading, the fourth event to date, promises an exciting line-up of writers under the age of 25 performing their own work. Pints & Poetry will also be hosting one of the Faber New Poets for 2009, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, who’s based in Gateshead and won a Northern Writers’ Award in 2008. If you missed the recent Faber New Poets tour, you can still catch the BBC Culture Show story about it on iPlayer (from 14:05, until Sunday) as well as our own photos from the Durham leg of the tour, which we helped organise.

Miscellany

The state of British screenwriting
If you’re at all interested in screenwriting (or even if you’re just interested in high-quality drama), don’t miss this outstanding piece in Prospect magazine at www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/10/why-britain-cant-do-the-wire.

Living on $500,000 a year
How on earth did F Scott Fitzgerald get by on a mere half a million a year? Find out at www.theamericanscholar.org/living-on-500000-a-year.

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 30 November.

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News from New Writing North: 6 November 2009

Emerging after Durham Book Festival
Durham Book Festival ended on Sunday 1 November with a rain-swept but atmospheric event on the Weardale Railway, where Andrew Martin presented his Edwardian train detective books to an assembled crowd of train aficionados. It was a lovely way to end what has been a wonderful book festival, and we hope those of you who attended enjoyed it as much as we did.

We were delighted to hear that the authors participating in the festival had a good time too – and even more delighted to see that one of them (the brilliant Amanda Craig, author of Hearts and Minds) used Durham Book Festival as a benchmark for other festivals in her blog. If you're doing the literary festival circuit soon, have a read of her article, and the comments, at www.amandacraig.com/pages/blog_01/blog_item.asp?Blog_01ID=220. And if you're ever in doubt as to how you're being treated as a writer, get in touch with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain to ask their advice. We honestly can't recommend them highly enough.

Durham Book Festival was followed by our Juice Festival event, Exploding Popcorn, at which 10 young poets aged 8-15, whose work can currently be seen on the Metro system, performed their poems alongside established performance poets Kate Fox, Bob Beagrie and Scott Tyrrell. All had written poems on the theme of 'My City' and it was great to see the young people performing their work alongside the adult poets, all in the very comfortable surroundings of Live Theatre in Newcastle.
Anna, Claire, Catriona, Cath and Liv

In the North East

New audio book group mooted for Hexham
Hexham Book Festival is hoping to start an Audio Book Group in Hexham for the visually-impaired, but first needs to know whether there would be sufficient interest in such a group.
Group members would take unabridged audio cassettes home and return to the monthly meeting to join an informal discussion about the book led by a book group leader. The group is not limited to people who are registered as visually impaired, the aim is to be inclusive and to open doors to the appreciation of the written word to those who may face barriers. For more information, contact Susie Troup on 07930 110830 or email info@hexhambookfestival.co.uk.

  New Denton Burn Writing Group
Denton Burn Writers was started 21 years ago and now the group, based in the Denton Burn Community Association, will be re-launched, with the aim of encouraging novice writers to come along and read their own work. All writing is accepted. If you wish to bring a friend to sit and just listen, that's fine. Meetings will be on Tuesday mornings, 10am-12pm. The cost is only £2 per session and there is a large free car park. For more details, call Ray Johnson 0191 264 0099.

National opportunities

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award
The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award, which carries a prize of £1,500 plus the option for Frances Lincoln Children's Books to publish the novel, is awarded to the best manuscript for 8-to-12-year-olds that celebrates diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or in terms of the ethnic and cultural origins of its author. Closing date: 26 February 2010. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books, at the beginning of June 2010. Full details and entry forms can be downloaded from www.sevenstories.org.uk/stepinside/diversevoices.php.

  First annual James Kirkup Memorial Poetry Competition open for entries
Run by Red Squirrel Press, the closing date is 31 December 2009 and the judges will be Terry Kelly, Tom Kelly and Alistair Robinson. First prize is the publication of a pamphlet and 24 other finalists will be published in a pamphlet anthology. Full rules and entry requirements are at www.redsquirrelpress.com/index.php?competition.

People

Congratulations to Newcastle University student Kachi Ozumba, whose short story, The One-Armed Thief, was named the Regional Winner for Africa in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2009. Full details of all the winners can be viewed at www.cba.org.uk/awards_and_competitions/Short_Story/2009_ShortStory_Results.php.

Congratulations also to North East poet Paul Batchelor, who has won first prize in the Times Stephen Spender Prize for Translation for his translation of The Damned from Inferno, Canto V, by Dante Alighieri, translated from the Italian. Full details are at www.stephen-spender.org/SSMTrust/times_ss_prize_09/ssmt_evPrize2009.htm.

North East playwright Alison Carr has launched a new website with all of her work and events on it at www.alisoncarr.co.uk. Her most recent work was performed at the Sage Gateshead where BBC Radio 3 recorded her mini radio drama, Worn Around The Edges, as part of the Free Thinking Festival. The play was one of nine recorded and will be available to listen online.

North East writer Laura Fish has also launched a blog, documenting her trip to Swaziland to research her new novel at http://laurafish.wordpress.com. Laura was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009 for her novel Strange Music, and works as a lecturer at Newcastle University.

Miscellany

How To Write Badly Well
It's early days yet for this one, but already we've had a few good out-loud laughs from http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com.

Collaborating writer required for fantasy/sci-fi adventure
A writer based in the North East has contacted New Writing North to find out whether we could put him in touch with another writer to help finish a work-in-progress. If you're interested, email Brian Stern at brian@stern2007.plus.com.

Mslexia Writer's Diary 2010 now available 
The 2009 writing year is coming to an end, so order your Mslexia Writer's Diary now to start planning for 2010. For next year's diary, Mslexia has collaborated with Seven Stories, selecting some of their favourite images and texts from Seven Stories' wonderful collection. The diary is £12.99 including postage and packing. Place your order before Monday 30 November and you will automatically be entered into a draw to win one of five mystery packs of five books. For more details or to order online, go to www.mslexia.co.uk/shop/diary_buy.html.

And if you're free on Saturday night... 
South African campaigner and Laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile brings together five of the most talented South African poets at the Saville Exchange, North Shields, on Saturday 7 November at 7.30pm for an event celebrating the art of live performance and featuring some of the most exciting newcomers in South African poetry. Tickets: £8/£6 (concs) from the box office on 0191 643 7093.

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 16 November. The edition of The Listening Post covering November's literature events will go out in late November. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 20 November to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

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