Happy New Year from Writing East Midlands and The Writing School

Happy New Year from Writing East Midlands & The Writing School

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Happy New Year from Writing East Midlands

We wish you a very creative and writing-filled 2017 and we're delighted to share with you news about writing projects, courses and events across the region.

A little preview about what's inside this Writing Gem. Scroll down to read the main articles.

News and Events

The Writers' Conference: Just 3 weeks to go to book your #wemconf2017 tickets and apply for an agent one-to-one
Books, videos and launches:
what's happening in the East Midlands
Volunteering opportunities in Leicester.
Competitions and calls for submissions: A selection of competitions, calls for submission and other writing opportunities

Writing School Courses

Short Story Writing (Nottingham): a new 4-week course with Victoria Villasenor starting Thurs 19 Jan
Writing My Novel: Getting Started (Derby): New Tutor Julia Ibbotson's fiction course starting Sat 21 Jan
Poetry Writing course (Leicester): a new short course with Lydia Towsey starting Tues 24 Jan
Special Events in Leicester and Nottingham: Short Story Masterclass with Jacob Ross, Writing Romantic Fiction with Sue Moorcroft, Values & Ethics in Fiction Writing with Kerry Young.

The Writers' Conference 2017

3 weeks left to apply for an agent/editor one-to-one!

“A unique, inspiring, vitally necessary event”

Writing East Midlands is delighted to be bringing The Writers’ Conference back to the University of Nottingham on Saturday 25th March 2017. Now in its fourth year, the conference has earned its place as one of the must-attend writing events for the Midlands.

This one-day conference gives the East Midlands’ writing community access to leading professionals from the industry through panel events, debates, seminars and agent one-to-ones. Topics covered will include Publishing your first Poetry Collection, After the Book Launch: What happens after you have been published, Writing the Personal and How to Pitch your Work to an Agent. Once you've bought your ticket you can apply for an agent or writer one-to-one*, which means you could get your work read by a professional literary agent or writer. We've been proud to have agents take on writers from these sessions.

Tickets are ON SALE now priced just £60 or £55 conc for a whole day of writing and networking opportunities.

For more information and to book your tickets visit www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk.

*Agent/Writer one-to-ones are allocated through a submission process. Buying a ticket to attend the conference does not automatically include an agent/editor one-to-one.

2017 Conference Keynotes Announced

We are delighted to announce our Keynote Speakers
are Alison Moore and Nikesh Shukla

Alison Moore’s first novel, The Lighthouse, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Awards, winning the McKitterick Prize. Both The Lighthouse and her second novel, He Wants, were Observer Books of the Year. Her most recent novel is Death and the Seaside. Her short fiction has been included in Best British Short Stories and Best British Horror anthologies and collected in The Pre-War House and Other Stories. www.alison-moore.com

Nikesh Shukla is the editor of Rife Magazine, an online magazine for young people, and the author of the novels Coconut Unlimited (Quartet) which was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and Meatspace (Friday Project). He is the editor of the acclaimed collection of essays about race and immigration by 21 writers of colour, The Good Immigrant (Unbound), for which he was shortlisted for the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award and won the reader’s choice category at the Books Are My Bad Awards. http://www.nikesh-shukla.com/

Writing School in Nottingham, Leicester & Derby in 2017

Start your New Year off with a creative writing course. Here's a selection from our spring term, or visit the Writing School website for the full programme.

LEICESTER:

Poetry Writing Workshop with Lydia Towsey
(8-week course, Tues 6.30–8.30pm, 24 Jan – 21 March at Secular Hall, 75 Humberstone Gate, Leicester LE1 1WB, £144, £128 conc). By combining creative writing with editing skills, participants in this weekly workshop will be encouraged and supported to develop new work across a range of poetry genres and styles and to discover our own unique voice. Suitable for poets at all levels. BOOK HERE.

SPECIAL EVENTS LEICESTER:

Short Story Masterclass with Jacob Ross (One-Day Special Event, Sat 11am – 5pm, 28 January 2017 at Secular Hall, 75 Humberstone Gate, Leicester, LE1 1WB, £55, £50 conc). In this one-day masterclass, critically acclaimed short story writer and novelist, Jacob Ross, will show us what makes a good short story. We will look at examples of published work and learn how we can develop and hone our own stories. Suitable for experienced writers. BOOK HERE.

Writing Romantic Fiction with Sue Moorcroft (One-Day Special Event, Mon 11am – 4pm, 13 February 2017 at Clarence House, 46 Humberstone Gate, Leicester, LE1 3JP, £55, £50 conc). This fun, interactive workshop is designed to arm participants with the writing and storytelling techniques particular to romantic fiction. We will take part in workshop exercises, study the genre and look at the publishing world with experienced tutor and award-winning author, Sue Moorcroft. Suitable for writers of all levels. BOOK HERE.

NOTTINGHAM:

The Short of It: Short Story Writing with Victoria Villasenor (4-Week Course, Thurs 1 – 3pm, 19 Jan to 9 Feb, Watersones Nottingham, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, NG1 2GR. £75, £65 conc). What can you do to make your short stories even better? How can you create short stories that engage a reader? In this mid-level short story course, we’ll discuss next-level elements of story creation, and develop a short story you can work with toward publication. Suitable for intermediate level writers. BOOK HERE.

SPECIAL EVENTS NOTTINGHAM:
Values and Ethics in Fiction Writing with Kerry Young (One-Day Special Event, Sat 10am – 4pm, 21 January 2017 at Watersones Nottingham, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, NG1 2GR. £55, £50 conc). This workshop focuses on the role of fiction writers as social observers and commentators. What is the underlying moral message of your story? Why does it matter? How can your writing help to create a more comprehensible human experience? The day will be organised around individual and group writing exercises & discussion, examples of work presented by participants, and workshop-based feedback. Suitable for writers at all levels. BOOK HERE.

DERBY:

Writing My Novel: Getting Started with Julia Ibbotson (21st Jan to 11th Feb 2017, £75, £65 conc.) An interactive, hands-on workshop-style course for creative fiction writing, which provides encouragement and writing practice within a positive, caring atmosphere. It aims to give support to participants who yearn to write something longer than a short story, and aspire to write and publish a novel or novella. BOOK HERE.

Write Here: Sanctuary Sharing Event at The Voice Box in Derby review

Throughout 2016, we've been working with six East Midlands writers in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby in the first phase of our Write Here: Sanctuary writing residency programme. The weekly sessions brought over 160 refugees, asylum seekers and new arrivals to the cities together to share their stories, poetry and writing with us and each other. Our writers were Rich Goodson and Leanne Morden in Nottingham, Kevin Fegan, Jamie Thrasivoulou in Derby and Jess Green and Alex Plasatis in Leicester.

Just before Christmas, we brought together members of the groups in a sharing event at The Voice Box in Derby. Introduced by Kevin and Jamie, writers from all three groups shared their work with an audience, some for the first time. The poems and stories were often moving, sometimes funny and always inspiring, and read in a mixture of English and the readers’ own languages with translations. With home-cooked food, including yam, fried dumplings and spicy tomato sauce, brought in from members of the Nottingham group, the event was a coming together of cultures through stories, poems and delicious tastes.

We hope to contribute to a culture of welcome and inclusion by creating safe spaces for creative expression. Phase one of Write Here: Sanctuary was delivered in partnership with City of Sanctuary and Nottingham Women’s Cultural Exchange. We’ll be developing the programme with Phase Two in the coming months - visit our website for updates.

Read Henderson Mullin's blog The Culture of Welcome written for last year's Nottingham Festival of Literature.

Writing across the region

Books, Videos and Launches!

Book releases, performances and videos from East Midlands writers

First World War Conscientious Objectors in Glossopdale. A booklet about Glossopdale’s local First World War "conchies", researched and written by members of Write From the Heart, has now been printed. Copies (£1.00 plus postage) are available on request. Anyone interested should contact Mark at markphenderson.com or Rob at poetryslamuk@aol.com

Leicester poet Shruti Chauhan has released her first performance poem video. Relations is about growing up speaking two languages, Gujarati and English. Click on this YouTube LINK to hear Shruti performing.

Launch of Loving the Life Less Lived by Gail Mitchell. Sillitoe Room, Waterstones, Nottingham 7:00 pm on Thursday 26th January 2017. Join local writer Gail Mitchell in the Sillitoe Room at Waterstones Nottingham for the launch of her new book. Drinks and refreshments will be served. Entry is FREE but places are limited so please call to register your place at www.waterstones.com

Distortion by Anne Grange. When teenager Jason Knight picks up a battered acoustic guitar in a charity shop, he just wants to form a band with his best friend Ben and stop being bullied by his nemesis, Bradley Smeed... find out more at Amazon.co.uk.

Volunteers Wanted for Leicester Arts Festivals

Leicester Arts Festivals (LAF) is a network of cultural festivals that take place throughout the year in Leicester. Volunteers are wanted for short and long-term who will have the opportunity to play a key volunteering role within three or more different festivals over in 2017. Volunteers must be 18+ For more information visit the LAF website www.leicesterartsfestivals.org.uk

New Writers' Retreat

The Centre for New Writing has a new Writers’ Retreat on 27 and 28 March, 2017 at Lake Isle Hotel, Uppingham, Rutland. Led by experienced tutors, there will be group sessions, tailored individual feedback and writers' talks. Places are limited to 12. Prices (includes tea, coffee and meals, including dinner at Lake Isle Hotel on the Retreat's first evening) are: £249 Residential. £174 Non-residential. £156 Non-residential: students and hourly paid tutors. Contact Emma Hipwell ech12@le.ac.uk.

Competitions, Commissions and Calls for Submissions

3 Commissions To Commemorate Adrian Mole’s Fiftieth Birthday. The Centre for New Writing and the University Library in Leicester announce 3 new commissions to celebrate Adrian Mole’s 50th birthday. Three five-minute radio plays or monologues to perform at Mole’s birthday party at Literary Leicester on 2 April 2017 (in partnership with Penguin). Two commissions are open to all writers. One commission is aimed at young writers aged between 16-25. Fee is £100 per commission. DEADLINE 2pm on 16 January 2017. More info at: www2.le.ac.uk
The Tibor Jones Pageturner Prize is open to any unrepresented writer with a completed or nearly completed manuscript of an unpublished novel. CLOSING DATE: 16th January 2017. Winner announced on 8th March 2017. PRIZE: £1,000 and literary representation by Tibor Jones & Associates, London’s leading literary agency for the post-digital generation. More info: at www.tiborjones.com.
Henshaw Press Competition (Short Story)
For a short story on any subject up to 2000 words. PRIZES: 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25. Prizes winners published on the Henshawpress website. Entry fee £5. CLOSING DATE: 10th January 2017. Results: end of January 2017. More info: henshawpress.co.uk/
Wundor Short Fiction Contest 2017. Inaugural short fiction contest. Novellas, short stories or collections of short work. PRIZE: £500 and work published on the Wundor website and considered for publication in book form. Entry fee: £10 per entry. CLOSING DATE: 31st January 2017. Winners announced end of February 2017. More info: www.wundoreditions.com
Snowdrop Festival Poetry Competition. Poems including snowdrops. Maximum line count – 30 lines. Prize – small prize plus certificate plus read out poem on local radio. Entry Fee - FREE.CLOSING DATE: midnight on 15 January 2017. Announced: 19 February 2017. More Info: http//sheptonsnowdropfestival.org.uk
Magma Poetry Competitions 2017. Two prizes: £1000 first prize, £300 second prize, £150 third prize. JUDGE: Jane Draycott. Entry Fee: £5 for the first poem. More Info: http://magmapoetry.com/competition/
The National Memory Day Creative Writing Competition invites entries from people of any age writing in English. Poems and short stories on theme: MEMORIES. Max 100 lines for a poem. Max 1500 words for your short story. PRIZES: £4000 Best Poem, £4000, Best Short Story Award, £2000 Best Young Writer aged 15 -18. Announced at the National Memory Day celebrations on 18 May 2017. Entry Fee: £3 per first entry and £2 for subsequent entries. Entry details: nationalmemoryday.org.uk

This is a small selection of competitions and opportunities available. Inclusion in the list does not represent an endorsement by Writing East Midlands.

FOR DETAILS OF MORE COMPETITIONS, EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk

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...be it readings, performances, workshops, seminars, conferences, competitions, calls for submissions - anything East Midlands and writerly, we can help you share it. Upload your events and opportunities onto our listings pages on our website. Opportunities/Events.

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