New Writing North has announced its winter programme, featuring a range of opportunities for aspiring and emerging writers across the region…
The Newcastle-based charity supports the development of professional skills for writers in the north, as well as encouraging writing and reading for pleasure and wellbeing. This winter sees an array of career development opportunities for emerging creatives, including paid work placements in publishing and professional industry workshops.
Anna Disley, Executive Director of Programme and Impact at New Writing North:
“This winter, there’s a chance for emerging creatives to kick-start, explore or develop careers with our far-ranging programme of workshops, courses, awards, and work placements. Our mission is to practically support and nurture talent from across our communities, and remove barriers to transformative creative opportunities. Thanks to our partners and supporters, there are a number of bursaries for career-making prospects on offer too.”
Topping the bill is a major TV industry event, the Screenwriting Weekender, sponsored by North East Screen. It runs 31 January to 2 February at Live Theatre, Newcastle and features a packed programme of workshops and talks on industry know-how, screenwriting skills and networking opportunities.
The TV and film writer Peter Straughan, whose credits include Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy starring Gary Oldman and the BAFTA-winning adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, is keynote speaker. Other guests include writer of the hit drama, The Responder, starring Martin Freeman, Tony Schumacher.
On hand are representatives from North East Screen, Creative UK, Film Hub North, BBC, BFI Network and the Film and TV Charity, as well as execs and producers from regional production companies keen to build networks with northern writers. A limited number of bursary places are available to support northern writers, thanks to FilmNation TV.
The next generation of writers and artists are being invited to apply for the Emerging Creative Associates six-month development programme, which starts in March 2025. Applications close 27 January. It offers training, mentoring, and networking with a £1,500 package of support.
There’s also a host of opportunities for young people, aged 18 to 25, interested in creative careers, including a free Faber Publishing Open Day, with travel expenses covered, to spend a day at the UK’s largest independent publisher’s London office for a practical insight into careers in publishing.
Five-day work placements and bursaries of £500 are also available at publishers, bookshops, and literary agents to gain real world experience. There’s an opportunity too for creatives interested in using their artistic practice to work with young people and communities, with an ‘Inkubator’ aimed at writers and freelancers in the North East, with a £1000 bursary.
The New Writing North Academy is offering a host of online creative writing workshops with industry experts on topics including, advanced structure in stories for screenwriting, writing crime fiction, and writing a novel for Young Adults.
This winter also sees community workshops including the free Young Writers’ Groups on Saturdays, hosted in Cramlington, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Shields, and South Shields, as well as Safe Space drop-in sessions in Gateshead.
New Writing North features a new space at the John Marley Centre in Newcastle’s West End this year. This hub for creative writing is the new home for its West End Writes programme, including weekly workshops for older residents, Remembered West, Brown Girls Write, and the multilingual creative writing programme, World Writes. Winter also sees the return of the flagship Northern Writers’ Awards 2025, which are open from 26 November 2024 to 6 February 2025.
England’s biggest writer development programme is free to enter, and offers mentoring, support, placements, publication, and cash awards to new, emerging, and established writers in the North. There are submission periods throughout the year, including awards for children’s and YA fiction, poetry, fiction, narrative non-fiction, short stories and writing for television.
For emerging poets, Northern Writers’ Awards Poetry Workshops take place at Leeds Central Library from January 22, led by Northern Writers’ Award-winning poet Shash Trevett.
For anyone in Sunderland keen to learn about writing scripts for TV, Sunderland New Screenwriters offers taster sessions on the topic from November to January in libraries across Sunderland in partnership with Culture House Sunderland.
The Hachette Children’s Novel Awards 2025 for debut manuscripts of middle-grade and early teen fiction is also open to entries until 13 January 2025. These Awards will support two new writers through a bespoke development programme devised by New Writing North and Hachette. Each writer will receive a £3000 bursary to help develop their work towards being ready to submit for publication.
New Writing North works with a diverse range of partners across higher education, publishing, literature, media, healthcare, and local government to create opportunities across the region.
Find out more; View the full Winter Season brochure
