New Writing South

Creative Learning Team

All our team members have enhanced CRB checks and most are qualified Arts Award Advisers.

Roy Apps - Associate
Roy is one of only four writers to havereceived a BAFTA Writers’ Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to Children’s Film & Television. He is the author of fifty eight children’s books and also writes children’s musicals and plays for BBC Radio. He has some 20 years experience of leading writing projects for all ages and has helped young writers create books, plays, films, poetry, podcasts and opera.

Dinos Aristidou
Dinos is a playwright who runs workshops and consultancies on all types of writing. He was Writer in Residence at the Chester Gateway in 2000, commissioned to write the city’s Millennium production in collaboration with young people and members of the community. More recently he wrote and directed a community production for Watford Palace Theatre in collaboration with a range of communities and ages.
He has recently been working for Birmingham Royal Ballet as Artistic Director of a new version of Cinderella devised with and performed by young people (13-21).

Dean Atta
Dean Atta has been performing from a young age in West End musicals as well as community theatre and poetry open mic nights. His poetry has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and various publications, and he has supported the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Terri Walker at London's prestigious Jazz Cafe. He is already an accomplished actor, youth worker and award-winning poet and was President of the African, Caribbean & Asian Society whilst at university.

Sheila Auguste
Sheila is a published writer who has facilitated and tutored creative writing courses in a range of venues including university and community venues. She has a Masters in Creative Writing. She also works for Rise, an organisation providing support for women and children affected by domestic abuse, and as a counsellor for Relate.

KeliAnne B - Associate
KeliAnne enjoys most things in life, but mostly caramel nibbles and performance poetry. Keli is Portsmouth’s Poet Laureate and is represented by Apples and Snakes. Her most recent bookings include headlining the Not So Royal Variety Show and winning the Southampton vs. Bournemouth inter-county poetry slam as well as winning the Purbeck Arts Week 2011 Poetry Slam. She is passionate about getting teenagers excited about poetry and hopes to get many people writing by the end of her laureateship.

Stella Bahin - Associate
Stella is a poet and poetry facilitator. Nominated for The Ted Hughes Award 2009 for The Ballad of Ropley School, Stella subsequently worked as a director for a year 6 performance of the ballad. Stella has been involved with a variety of community projects, writes a regular arts feature for The Southsea Directory; and is a presenter of Write On creative writing radio show, Express FM 93.7, Portsmouth.

Chris Boiling
Chris was selected for the first BBC Writers' Academy, and currently writes for EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City. He is also working on the next series of The Street with Jimmy McGovern. Chris has taught English to foreign students and has a Masters degree in Television and Radio Scriptwriting.

Rosy Carrick
Rosy is a performance poet based in Brighton. Host of Hammer and Tongue, one of the UK's largest spoken word & slam events, she also performs her poetry at events and festivals around the country, as well as touring her shows internationally. She is currently working towards a PhD in Critical Theory at Sussex University.

Sara Clifford
Sara's plays include several for young people: Head Over Heels (OTTC) and Wedding Story (Nottingham Playhouse). She has led drama and writing workshops in schools for over twenty years, is an Education Associate for Donmar Warehouse, delivers the Continuing Development Programme for Creative Partnerships, and recently completed Belonging, a project for secondary schools using drama, dance and writing.

Linda Cotterill
Linda is a story-teller, playwright, director and screenwriter. She studied at the Lecoq Theatre School in Paris and is a member of Equity. She has been commissioned to create numerous stories for specific events, places and exhibitions. Audiences range in age from nursery to 105 and include many special needs groups.

Sarah Davies - Associate
Sarah is a playwright, writer and theatre director. She has a degree in Drama with English, a Masters degree in Drama (playwriting) and a PGCE in Post-Compulsory Education. Sarah has worked as a drama lecturer for the past seven years, teaching from A-Level to third year Degree level and specializing in Scriptwriting and Directing. Previous to this she ran her own theatre company (Pebble Beach Theatre Co), worked as a freelance drama facilitator in schools and worked at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Kent.

Suhalya El-Bushra
Suhalya is a trained drama teacher who now writes for TV, film and the stage. She has an MA in screenwriting and a Diploma in cinematography. She has been invited on two BBC writing initiatives, both of which resulted in commissions. She is currently working on a play, Whirlwind, Heat and Flash, and is in the process of setting up a night of new writing for the stage.

Julie Everton
A Royal Court Young Writer, Julie has written numerous plays and now concentrates on screenwriting and writing for television. She has worked in schools and community organisations for over fifteen years, including teaching drama and running playwriting INSETs. Julie also teaches creative writing and screenwriting.

Alison Fisher
Alison Fisher has been a professional writer for the last twenty five years. She started as a journalist, became a screen writer, and also writes short stories. She has written for the national press, for EastEnders and The Bill, and last year won the prestigious Bridport Prize.

Joe Hammond
Joe is currently one of 'The50' - a Royal Court/BBC initiative designed to support and nurture fifty ‘exciting and emerging’ UK writers. His most recent play, Costa Blanca, was awarded a grant by Arts Council England. Joe has a PGCE and an education background. He works with young people and adults, using techniques to build confidence and skills.

Christine Harmer-Brown
Christine’s television writing experience includes working on Casualty, co-writing with Lynda La Plante, and Inside Out, an original drama. Her plays include 15 Minutes and Wearing Something Heavy. She is part of the Writers' Centre at Soho Theatre, runs various workshops for adults and young people, and has worked on numerous schools projects.

Robert Hull
Robert is a much-published poet and writer, and a teacher with many years’ experience of working with children and adults. His poetry books for children include Everest and Chips and Stargrazer, both short-listed for awards. His poems have been widely anthologised, including in the forthcoming Puffin The Very Best of Children’s Verse. He has also written history books for young people, such as the Heritage series.

Marian Kilpatrick
is a writer and performer who was a stand-up comic for six years. She studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and has worked extensively in radio. She has also written for television and for magazines. She has worked extensively with young people, including running writing and drama workshops in schools.

Natasha Langridge
Natasha co-authored Rage and Reason: Women Playwrights on Playwriting. She has written and directed a number of plays, including Beverley which received a national tour and The Method which premiered at The Oval House Theatre ,London. Natasha's play, Shraddha, won the prestigious Mayer-Whitworth Award 2010. Her work in schools includes adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Jungle Book.

Greg Lawrence - Associate
Greg writes for TV, radio and theatre. Most of his credits are for writing in the comedy genre. He is developing several of his own short and feature length movies as well as commissions. He was commissioned to write the pilot series of Stupid for CBBC and has written sketches for Smack the Pony, Banzai, Stupid, Bearded Ladies and Swingers amongst others. Greg is currently working on a short play commissioned by the Theatre Royal Margate.

Paul Lyalls
Paul is a performance poet and storyteller. He has performed his poetry at the Edinburgh Festival, Glastonbury, and Hay-On-Wye. He is one of the stars of the tv series The Big Slam Poetry House. He features on the July 08 Oxfam children’s poetry CD. His education residencies have resulted in four anthologies of poems.

Andrew G. Marshall
Andrew is a journalist, writer of non fiction and published playwright (Oberon Books: Coming Around Again), whose plays include Walking Out and Sex in the Seventies. He is the author of I love you but I'm not in love with you published by Bloomsbury and translated into twelve different languages. He writes for major national newspapers and magazines and has lectured around the world.

Helen Nelder
Helen is a theatre director and playwright. She trained as an actress in Paris, and worked as an English and Drama teacher for more than ten years. As a freelancer she teaches playwrighting and media studies. She is the founder of w@rn Theatre Company 2000, a community theatre company exploring social issues, including domestic violence, young carers, refugees and bullying.

Josie Melia
Josie has written award-winning work for theatre and film, plus comedy sketches performed at the Komedia. She has worked with young people for several years as a teacher and as a youth counsellor, and worked for the Trust for the Study ofAdolescence. She is currently working on a feature length screenplay.

Peggy Riley
Peggy is a playwright, writer and community artist living in Kent. She was Writer on Attachment at Soho Theatre and Writer-in-Residence at HMYOI Rochester. She is currently writing fiction and plays, and has two musicals in development.Peggy has a background in creating magazine projects and live events and she regularly runs workshops on creative and life writing and filmmaking in schools, prisons, and community centres throughout the UK.

Maggie Sawkins
In 2003 Maggie co-founded the popular Tongues & Grooves Poetry and Music Club in Southsea. Flarestack published pamphlet collection, Charcot’s Pet, in 2003. The Zig Zag Woman is her first full collection. Her poems have been translated into Romanian and German and have been broadcast on Romanian National Radio.

Mike Sells
Mike is a playwright. He graduated on the MA playwriting course from Birmingham University and taught on scriptwriting projects within a number of local authorities. Mike then set up and ran the Outreach Program for Streets Alive Theatre Company. Mike is currently working on radio dramas and studying scriptwriting for film.

Evlynn Sharp
Evlynn Sharp is a poet and playwright who has experience of working in prisons, schools and the community. She is a visiting lecturer in Literature, Film, Art and Theatre, London Metropolitan University. Her numerous projects with young people include the award-winning RECLAIM! project for excluded teenagers. She was writer in residence at HMP Belmarsh for three years. She has performed her poetry all over the UK and Europe.

Jo Smith
Jo has worked in various forms of theatre and drama in education for many years. Her primary medium is writing for the stage, and she trained as a director at the National Theatre. She is currently engaged in developing a new musical. She works part-time as a copywriter and has a Masters degree in Performance Studies.

Chris Sykes
Chris Sykes is a poet, playwright and songwriter. He is also an experienced teacher and the author of Your Complete Evening Course in Creative Writing, Hodder, 2009. Visit his website: www.cpsykes.co.uk

Carolyn Thomas
Carolyn writes short stories, television sitcom scripts, plays for radio and theatre and is working on her first novel. In 2004 she was runner up in BBC3’s nationwide ‘End of Story’ competition. She is currently a part-time dyslexia tutor at Central Sussex College in Crawley. Carolyn has experience of working with special needs pupils.

Sean Tyler - Associate
Sean writes plays for the stage and his work has been performed at several London fringe theaters and other venues around the country. He has close links with New York – he was the Writer-in-Residence at The Gershwin Hotel, he is developing a new book-to-stage adaptation with Godlight Theatre Company and he is working on two other original plays to be performed in and around New York City in 2011 and 2012.

Sue Walker
Sue is a crime novelist published by Penguin. She has more than twenty years experience as an investigative television journalist working across all UK networks. She is a Skillset (Sector Skills Council for Creative Media) Careers Adviser and a creative writing tutor. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild and the Society of Authors.

Hilary Watkins - Associate
Hilary is a storyteller and youth worker. She performs and runs workshops all over Britain, using real life and traditional material to inspire the writing, reading and telling of stories. In January 2011 she was awarded a scholarship to study for an MA in Celtic Mythology at University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Bridget Whelan
Bridget is a fiction writer, her first novel has just been published. She is the winner of the Virtual Ireland international short story competition and flash fiction competition, Fish Literary Association, Ireland. She worked on the Daily Mirror for more than twenty years in various capacities, including researcher for investigative journalist Paul Foot. Bridget is Writer in Residence at a Brighton community centre, and teaches creative writing at Goldsmiths College.

Roy Apps - Associate Roy is one of only four writers to havereceived a BAFTA Writers’ Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to Children’s Film & Television. He is the author of fifty eight children’s books and also writes children’s musicals and plays for BBC Radio. He has some 20 years experience of leading writing projects for all ages and has helped young writers create books, plays, films, poetry, podcasts and opera.
Dinos Aristidou Dinos is a playwright who runs workshops and consultancies on all types of writing. He was Writer in Residence at the Chester Gateway in 2000, commissioned to write the city’s Millennium production in collaboration with young people and members of the community. More recently he wrote and directed a community production for Watford Palace Theatre in collaboration with a range of communities and ages. He has recently been working for Birmingham Royal Ballet as Artistic Director of a new version of Cinderella devised with and performed by young people (13-21).
Dean Atta Dean Atta has been performing from a young age in West End musicals as well as community theatre and poetry open mic nights. His poetry has been featured on BBC Radio 4 and various publications, and he has supported the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Terri Walker at London's prestigious Jazz Cafe. He is already an accomplished actor, youth worker and award-winning poet and was President of the African, Caribbean & Asian Society whilst at university.
Sheila Auguste Sheila is a published writer who has facilitated and tutored creative writing courses in a range of venues including university and community venues. She has a Masters in Creative Writing. She also works for Rise, an organisation providing support for women and children affected by domestic abuse, and as a counsellor for Relate.
KeliAnne B - Associate KeliAnne enjoys most things in life, but mostly caramel nibbles and performance poetry. Keli is Portsmouth’s Poet Laureate and is represented by Apples and Snakes. Her most recent bookings include headlining the Not So Royal Variety Show and winning the Southampton vs. Bournemouth inter-county poetry slam as well as winning the Purbeck Arts Week 2011 Poetry Slam. She is passionate about getting teenagers excited about poetry and hopes to get many people writing by the end of her laureateship.
Stella Bahin - Associate Stella is a poet and poetry facilitator. Nominated for The Ted Hughes Award 2009 for The Ballad of Ropley School, Stella subsequently worked as a director for a year 6 performance of the ballad. Stella has been involved with a variety of community projects, writes a regular arts feature for The Southsea Directory; and is a presenter of Write On creative writing radio show, Express FM 93.7, Portsmouth.
Chris Boiling Chris was selected for the first BBC Writers' Academy, and currently writes for EastEnders, Casualty and Holby City. He is also working on the next series of The Street with Jimmy McGovern. Chris has taught English to foreign students and has a Masters degree in Television and Radio Scriptwriting.
Rosy Carrick Rosy is a performance poet based in Brighton. Host of Hammer and Tongue, one of the UK's largest spoken word & slam events, she also performs her poetry at events and festivals around the country, as well as touring her shows internationally. She is currently working towards a PhD in Critical Theory at Sussex University.
Sara Clifford Sara's plays include several for young people: Head Over Heels (OTTC) and Wedding Story (Nottingham Playhouse). She has led drama and writing workshops in schools for over twenty years, is an Education Associate for Donmar Warehouse, delivers the Continuing Development Programme for Creative Partnerships, and recently completed Belonging, a project for secondary schools using drama, dance and writing.
Linda Cotterill Linda is a story-teller, playwright, director and screenwriter. She studied at the Lecoq Theatre School in Paris and is a member of Equity. She has been commissioned to create numerous stories for specific events, places and exhibitions. Audiences range in age from nursery to 105 and include many special needs groups.
Sarah Davies - Associate Sarah is a playwright, writer and theatre director. She has a degree in Drama with English, a Masters degree in Drama (playwriting) and a PGCE in Post-Compulsory Education. Sarah has worked as a drama lecturer for the past seven years, teaching from A-Level to third year Degree level and specializing in Scriptwriting and Directing. Previous to this she ran her own theatre company (Pebble Beach Theatre Co), worked as a freelance drama facilitator in schools and worked at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Kent.
Suhalya El-Bushra Suhalya is a trained drama teacher who now writes for TV, film and the stage. She has an MA in screenwriting and a Diploma in cinematography. She has been invited on two BBC writing initiatives, both of which resulted in commissions. She is currently working on a play, Whirlwind, Heat and Flash, and is in the process of setting up a night of new writing for the stage.
Julie Everton A Royal Court Young Writer, Julie has written numerous plays and now concentrates on screenwriting and writing for television. She has worked in schools and community organisations for over fifteen years, including teaching drama and running playwriting INSETs. Julie also teaches creative writing and screenwriting.
Alison Fisher Alison Fisher has been a professional writer for the last twenty five years. She started as a journalist, became a screen writer, and also writes short stories. She has written for the national press, for EastEnders and The Bill, and last year won the prestigious Bridport Prize.
Joe Hammond Joe is currently one of 'The50' - a Royal Court/BBC initiative designed to support and nurture fifty ‘exciting and emerging’ UK writers. His most recent play, Costa Blanca, was awarded a grant by Arts Council England. Joe has a PGCE and an education background. He works with young people and adults, using techniques to build confidence and skills.
Christine Harmer-Brown Christine’s television writing experience includes working on Casualty, co-writing with Lynda La Plante, and Inside Out, an original drama. Her plays include 15 Minutes and Wearing Something Heavy. She is part of the Writers' Centre at Soho Theatre, runs various workshops for adults and young people, and has worked on numerous schools projects.
Robert Hull Robert is a much-published poet and writer, and a teacher with many years’ experience of working with children and adults. His poetry books for children include Everest and Chips and Stargrazer, both short-listed for awards. His poems have been widely anthologised, including in the forthcoming Puffin The Very Best of Children’s Verse. He has also written history books for young people, such as the Heritage series.
Marian Kilpatrick is a writer and performer who was a stand-up comic for six years. She studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and has worked extensively in radio. She has also written for television and for magazines. She has worked extensively with young people, including running writing and drama workshops in schools.
Natasha Langridge Natasha co-authored Rage and Reason: Women Playwrights on Playwriting. She has written and directed a number of plays, including Beverley which received a national tour and The Method which premiered at The Oval House Theatre ,London. Natasha's play, Shraddha, won the prestigious Mayer-Whitworth Award 2010. Her work in schools includes adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Jungle Book.
Greg Lawrence - Associate Greg writes for TV, radio and theatre. Most of his credits are for writing in the comedy genre. He is developing several of his own short and feature length movies as well as commissions. He was commissioned to write the pilot series of Stupid for CBBC and has written sketches for Smack the Pony, Banzai, Stupid, Bearded Ladies and Swingers amongst others. Greg is currently working on a short play commissioned by the Theatre Royal Margate.
Paul Lyalls Paul is a performance poet and storyteller. He has performed his poetry at the Edinburgh Festival, Glastonbury, and Hay-On-Wye. He is one of the stars of the tv series The Big Slam Poetry House. He features on the July 08 Oxfam children’s poetry CD. His education residencies have resulted in four anthologies of poems.
Andrew G. Marshall Andrew is a journalist, writer of non fiction and published playwright (Oberon Books: Coming Around Again), whose plays include Walking Out and Sex in the Seventies. He is the author of I love you but I'm not in love with you published by Bloomsbury and translated into twelve different languages. He writes for major national newspapers and magazines and has lectured around the world.
Helen Nelder Helen is a theatre director and playwright. She trained as an actress in Paris, and worked as an English and Drama teacher for more than ten years. As a freelancer she teaches playwrighting and media studies. She is the founder of w@rn Theatre Company 2000, a community theatre company exploring social issues, including domestic violence, young carers, refugees and bullying.
Josie Melia Josie has written award-winning work for theatre and film, plus comedy sketches performed at the Komedia. She has worked with young people for several years as a teacher and as a youth counsellor, and worked for the Trust for the Study ofAdolescence. She is currently working on a feature length screenplay.
Peggy Riley Peggy is a playwright, writer and community artist living in Kent. She was Writer on Attachment at Soho Theatre and Writer-in-Residence at HMYOI Rochester. She is currently writing fiction and plays, and has two musicals in development.Peggy has a background in creating magazine projects and live events and she regularly runs workshops on creative and life writing and filmmaking in schools, prisons, and community centres throughout the UK.
Maggie Sawkins In 2003 Maggie co-founded the popular Tongues & Grooves Poetry and Music Club in Southsea. Flarestack published pamphlet collection, Charcot’s Pet, in 2003. The Zig Zag Woman is her first full collection. Her poems have been translated into Romanian and German and have been broadcast on Romanian National Radio.
Mike Sells Mike is a playwright. He graduated on the MA playwriting course from Birmingham University and taught on scriptwriting projects within a number of local authorities. Mike then set up and ran the Outreach Program for Streets Alive Theatre Company. Mike is currently working on radio dramas and studying scriptwriting for film.
Evlynn Sharp Evlynn Sharp is a poet and playwright who has experience of working in prisons, schools and the community. She is a visiting lecturer in Literature, Film, Art and Theatre, London Metropolitan University. Her numerous projects with young people include the award-winning RECLAIM! project for excluded teenagers. She was writer in residence at HMP Belmarsh for three years. She has performed her poetry all over the UK and Europe.
Jo Smith Jo has worked in various forms of theatre and drama in education for many years. Her primary medium is writing for the stage, and she trained as a director at the National Theatre. She is currently engaged in developing a new musical. She works part-time as a copywriter and has a Masters degree in Performance Studies.
Chris Sykes Chris Sykes is a poet, playwright and songwriter. He is also an experienced teacher and the author of Your Complete Evening Course in Creative Writing, Hodder, 2009. Visit his website: www.cpsykes.co.uk
Carolyn Thomas Carolyn writes short stories, television sitcom scripts, plays for radio and theatre and is working on her first novel. In 2004 she was runner up in BBC3’s nationwide ‘End of Story’ competition. She is currently a part-time dyslexia tutor at Central Sussex College in Crawley. Carolyn has experience of working with special needs pupils.
Sean Tyler - Associate Sean writes plays for the stage and his work has been performed at several London fringe theaters and other venues around the country. He has close links with New York – he was the Writer-in-Residence at The Gershwin Hotel, he is developing a new book-to-stage adaptation with Godlight Theatre Company and he is working on two other original plays to be performed in and around New York City in 2011 and 2012.
Sue Walker Sue is a crime novelist published by Penguin. She has more than twenty years experience as an investigative television journalist working across all UK networks. She is a Skillset (Sector Skills Council for Creative Media) Careers Adviser and a creative writing tutor. She is a member of the Writers’ Guild and the Society of Authors.
Hilary Watkins - Associate Hilary is a storyteller and youth worker. She performs and runs workshops all over Britain, using real life and traditional material to inspire the writing, reading and telling of stories. In January 2011 she was awarded a scholarship to study for an MA in Celtic Mythology at University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
Bridget Whelan Bridget is a fiction writer, her first novel has just been published. She is the winner of the Virtual Ireland international short story competition and flash fiction competition, Fish Literary Association, Ireland. She worked on the Daily Mirror for more than twenty years in various capacities, including researcher for investigative journalist Paul Foot. Bridget is Writer in Residence at a Brighton community centre, and teaches creative writing at Goldsmiths College.

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