News from New Writing North: 30 June 2023
25 writers recognised at the Northern Writers' Awards 2023
On Tuesday 20 June, at a special event at Northumbria University, we were delighted to announce the 25 writers who have received Northern Writers’ Awards worth over £50,000 in cash awards, mentoring and support. If you missed the livestream, it’s available to watch back on our YouTube channel here.
This round of awards included fiction, narrative non-fiction, poetry, children’s writing, short stories, and prizes for young writers. Another huge well done to our winners, who all exemplify the fantastic creative talent the region has to offer. Discover the 2023 winners here.
Operations and Data Assistant vacancy
We’re hiring! Our full-time Operations and Data Assistant will be the first point of contact for visitors and callers; support with organisational administration and office management; and coordinate data collection and analysis to support NWN’s reporting requirements. This role will suit someone interested in gaining some whole organisational experience in arts administration, who is meticulously organised, and who is not put off by new software or tasks but is willing to have a go.
Deadline 20 July, download the full job pack here.
Freelance opportunity: NHS Hospital Trust / New Writing North Writer in Residence
In partnership with the Newcastle Hospitals Charity Arts Programme, we are seeking to recruit a Writer in Residence to engage with staff across Newcastle Hospitals to help them tell their stories. The residency will be part of the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the NHS in Newcastle.
We are seeking an accomplished writer with experience of supporting and inspiring other people to tell their stories. The writer will work with staff across Newcastle Hospitals sites, which include RVI, Freeman, Regent Point and community sites.
Deadline 14 July, find out more and download the freelance brief here.
Summer Proof Party with Tinder Press
Book lovers, join us at our Summer Proof Party on Wednesday 5 July at the Magic Hat Café in Newcastle. With your ticket you’ll receive a goody bag including exclusive advance proofs of 2 exciting novels, and be in with a chance of winning a whole stack of Tinder Press paperbacks!
Spoilt Creatures by Amy Twigg is a dark, riveting literary debut about cults, transgression and female rage. Over the course of a blistering summer, Iris throws herself into an alternative way of life, seizing on new experiences and hidden desires. Until a group of men arrive at the rural commune, and everything is thrown into question...
A Sign of Her Own is the debut novel from the Lucy Cavendish Prize-shortlisted author Sarah Marsh. Feminist, intelligent and seductively imaginative, this story sheds light on the largely untold history of the role of the deaf community in Alexander Bell’s evolution of the telephone.
This event will be live-captioned and BSL interpreted. Sarah Marsh is a Deaf author who writes about this experience in her fiction, and we would like to encourage any interested d/Deaf readers to join us for the evening.
Book your tickets here.
Gordon Burn Prize 2023-24 open for entry
The Gordon Burn Prize 2023-24 is now open for entry to works in English published between 1 July 2022 and 30 November 2023 by writers of any nationality. The prize will be awarded in March 2024 in Gordon Burn’s home city, Newcastle upon Tyne, with support from Newcastle University, and the winner will receive £10,000 and the chance to undertake a writing retreat at Gordon Burn’s cottage in Berwickshire. The prize will be judged by Terri White, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, Andrew Hankinson and Sheena Patel.
The Gordon Burn Prize recognises literature that is forward-thinking and fearless in its ambition and execution, often playing with style, pushing boundaries, crossing genres or challenging readers’ expectations. Like Gordon Burn’s own work, the prize is open to a diverse range of themes and perspectives drawn from the breadth of today’s cultural and social concerns. It welcomes books by writers emerging from backgrounds underrepresented in the mainstream literary culture.
Find out more and enter books by 3 August 2023 here.
Arvon Award and TLC Free Reads Award open for entry
There are two more Northern Writers’ Awards strands currently open for entries! The Arvon Award offers one prose writer the chance to undertake a tutored or untutored Arvon course, and the TLC Free Reads Award offers up to three poets, prose writers and children’s writers the chance to receive an in-depth editorial report on their work in progress from The Literary Consultancy.
You can apply for one or both awards even if you applied to another Northern Writers’ Award earlier this year. Find out more and apply by 31 July here.
Poets of Colour Incubator
We are excited to be a partner on the Poets of Colour Incubator. Led by Manchester Poetry Library and Poets of Colour, this is a 12-month programme offering mentoring, change agency opportunities and creative development to three talented and emerging poets of colour. Open to all ages (18+), living in the North of England and at a crucial stage of their practice. Application deadline 24 July, find out more here.
Read us your writes!
We’re looking for writers interested in reading their work at our literary/culture night in Newcastle, Read Them Your Writes. Each month we have a different line-up, as well as some open-mic slots up for grabs on the night. Think ‘scratch-night’ meets ‘literary salon’. We are now looking for writers to read throughout the summer for July, August and September's dates. We are open to writers of all stages of their career and of any discipline. Find out more about Read Them Your Writes and apply by Monday 3 July here.
Creative Associates Residencies
We are seeking five writers or creatives from Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland to take part in a six-month residency to create new artistic work alongside our staff team. Each Creative Associate will be given a budget of £5000 to support the creation of their artwork. We have no preconceptions about what the artwork may be, although it will involve writing in some form.
Apply for a Creative Associates Residency by Monday 31 July here.
Amazon Literary Partnership
We’re delighted to be supported by Amazon Literary Partnership for another year. This funding has enabled us to establish two new Young Writers’ Groups in North Shields and Berwick upon Tweed, and to secure our Newcastle Group. Amazon Literary Partnership has also supported our First Edition Group for 18-25 year olds interested in pursuing a cultural career. Read more about this year’s grant recipients here.
Young Writers' Summer
Our summer programmes for young people are nearly sold out, so make sure to book soon if you want to join us! They are free to take part in and are for young people aged 11-19 across the North East to try fun writing projects. Sign up now to meet like-minded people in a relaxed, friendly and inclusive environment:
(SOLD
OUT) Pick n Mix Writers: Gateshead Central Library, 26-28 July
Young Songwriters’ Summer: Recoco/Loft Studios, 3, 4 and 7 August
Record the Future: Newcastle Civic Centre, 9-11 August
Dream Libraries: The Word, South Shields, 30 August-1 September
All details available on our website.
Brown Girls Write at Novum Festival
As part of Novum Festival, a brand new summer festival experience in Newcastle, our Brown Girls Write group will be sharing new spoken word and poetry alongside readings from guest writers. Completely free to attend, no booking required - show your support and hear some fantastic writing at Newcastle Civic Centre on Sunday 13 August 12:30pm! Find out more here.
People, publishers and podcasts
Historic England is asking youth organisations and community groups who work with young people across northern England to apply for funding to unearth and celebrate local histories that speak to young people as part of History in the Making. The aim of the programme is to improve young people’s wellbeing, from increasing connection to and pride in their local place, to gaining skills, confidence and social connection. Apply for a grant by 14 July here.
Bradford poet and writer Sheena Hussain was shortlisted for the inaugural Curae Prize 2023, solely for writers who care. As an additional prize she has won a mentoring package with Kit de Waal. The anthology of the winners and shortlisted entries will be published in November. Further details here.
Manchester-based CWA Dagger shortlisted Caroline England’s new psychological suspense, The Stranger Beside Me, will be published by Piatkus on 3 August: A gripping twisty thriller which will leave you asking yourself: who can you trust?
Congratulations to Newcastle author Simon Van der Velde, whose debut literary thriller, The Silent Brother (Northodox Press, 2022), has been shortlisted for the CWA GOLD Dagger. It is a dark, tense literary thriller set largely in Byker and Walker. Available to purchase here.
Toni Hurford’s debut poetry pamphlet is now available on Amazon. Lucidities is made up of thirty-two poems that explore identity in the modern world and our relationship to the labels we give ourselves and are given. Approached lightly, wittily, yet with depth as understandings dawn both in free verse and in the freedom of form.
Competitions, awards, and submission opportunities
Two weeks left to enter the 2023 Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation! Translate any poem from any language into English, and win publication and cash prizes. This year, the Stephen Spender Trust is delighted to extend the Open category to adults aged 19+ from all over the world, welcoming translations into all World Englishes. Deadline 14 July, find out more here.
The prestigious Aryamati Prize is back for its fifth year, seeking powerful voices of social change and peace. Submit your poetry collection (up to 100 pages) or pamphlet (up to 30 pages) for a chance to win a traditional publication contract, Fly on the Wall books worth £100, limited edition postcards featuring your poem, and opportunities for blog features, video recordings, and interviews with Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester Poetry Library. Deadline 28 August, find out more here.
Fly on the Wall Press is seeking socially conscious novels and novellas that challenge social norms and empower readers. Email the first 30 pages and a 100 to 800-word synopsis with a third-person bio. Response within 6 weeks. Word limit: 85,000 (novels) or 50,000 (novellas). Deadline 6 September, find out more here.
Freelance opportunities and jobs
Mockingbird NEST, a multi-disciplinary arts programme focussed on working alongside care experienced children and young people, is currently recruiting a Project Lead, Workshop Facilitator and Producer in Newcastle/the North East. Find out more and apply by 10 July here.
Comics Youth CIC is seeking a Global Majority Projects Officer to develop resources and session plans for young people and deliver a mix of 1-2-1 and group work via Microsoft teams or face-to-face. They will also complete illustrations of young people’s narrative stories in comic art form. Deadline 14 July, find out more here.
Manchester Literature Festival is seeking a Treasurer to join the Board of Directors/Trustees and to help lead one of the North’s most innovative literary festivals in its exciting next phase of development. Find out more and apply by 21 July here.
15-18-year-olds, want to learn about the business of publishing from an industry leader? Hachette UK is here to help you take your first steps into the publishing world with their Virtual Work Experience programme, introducing you to concepts around how to read the market, the importance of being digital in the modern age, and looking further at how this might present interesting career opportunities. Apply by 18 September here.
Workshops and events
There are still limited Pay What You Can tickets available for The Literary Consultancy’s Being a Writer Festival, taking place from 27 June–27 July. The Festival is fully virtual, featuring nineteen inspiring sessions in a range of formats (from panels to readings, interviews and workshops), and speakers across the publishing and wellbeing industries. Find out more about the Festival here.
Carte Blanche Writers Group invite you to the launch of their new Anthology Feral at Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society. Members will be reading work from the anthology during the evening. Wednesday 5 July at 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), free entry but donations welcome. For more information please ring the Lit & Phil on 0191 232 0192.
Seasonal Space to Write with Natalie Scott: Come and join other writers for a relaxed and supportive day of writing online. Including facilitated writing sessions, free time to write, and an informal gathering to discuss ideas and share work in progress. Saturday 8 July, 10am-5pm. Places cost £20 and writers from all backgrounds and abilities are welcome. One free place is available to someone who would otherwise not be able to attend. Email pen-power@outlook.com to enquire and book your place.
Lisette Auton and Richard Boggie’s play Chop, Dissolve, Burn is playing at Alphabetti Theatre until 8 July. It is a black comedy that relentlessly pokes fun at society’s attitudes towards disability, whilst exposing the terrifying truth about the impacts of inequality on disabled people’s lives. Read about Lisette’s inspiration behind the show and book your tickets here.
The Talk of the Town presents: Cycle. The Tour de France inspires Talk of the Town's summer show. Elaine Cusack, Steve Drayton and Rob Walton will perform poems, prose, memoir and songs. Special guest is Steve Urwin. A commemorative publication featuring the work of all four performers will be available to buy on the night. Friday 14 July 7:30pm at The Cycle Hub, tickets £10 available here.
Primadonna is a festival for people who love books. And ideas. And interesting conversations. And music in the sunshine. And good food in a field. And comedy and cabaret and workshops for the mind, body and soul. The line-up celebrates women, Black and Asian artists, the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled and working-class people. 28-30 July at the Food Museum in Suffolk, find out more here.
If you have news that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the newsletter please contact carys@newwritingnorth.com. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 21 July 2023.
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.
