New Writing SouthNews
25 June 2010
NWS en France
Further to successful exchange visits with colleagues across the channel, we are in the exciting phase of setting up some joint initiatives with two arts organisations in Northern France, Live Lit company La Générale d'Imaginaire and cross art-form company, Fructôse.
NWS is planning a number of Live Lit exchange events in Brighton, Lille and other places and hope to start these in Autumn 2010. The longer term aim of this partnership working is to share knowledge and enable artist development. As part of this project we aim to commission a play to be performed both in the UK and France. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
23 June 2010
NWS welcomes new trustees
We're pleased to announce four new members to our board of trustees. Clare Christian, Shane Henderson, Stella Kanu and Ed Wood all bring with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise that fully complement the board as a whole. We're very much looking forward to working with the new team of trustees as we navigate into the future. Find out more about all of our trustees.
18 June 2010
The Literary Consultancy/Arts Council bursaries
Founded in 1996, The Literary Consultancy is recommended by Arts Council England and major publishing houses, and holds a strong track record of helping writers get into print. They offer one of the UK’s leading manuscript assessment services and provide expert, market-aware editorial advice to authors at all levels writing in English. NWS is working with both organisations and invite applications for these bursaries from authors looking for assessment on novels and/or short stories. They are solely available for authors on a low income in the south east region who would benefit from the TLC manuscript assessment service, but have difficulty meeting the cost. July 2010 deadline. To find out more and apply for a bursary, visit our web page.
4 June 2010
Rail Rhymes
Poetry written by participants in Rail Rhymes, our live lit performances with Brighton Festival and Southern Rail, have now been posted on the Brighton Festival website with more work to come! Over 250 people took part in Rail Rhymes over three weekends during the festival and it was a huge success. The carriage, which formed part of the last train to London from Brighton was curated to inspire passengers to create their own poetry. Take a look at one of the entertaining performances from Paul Lyalls on our YouTube channel.
3 June 2010
Live Poetry workshops get underway
New Writing South has teamed up with Creative Future to offer a stunning new six week Live Poetry workshop for new writers who are unemployed starting next week. Creative Future is a registered charity that provide talented marginalised artists and writers opportunities to earn income from their creative work. Writer Marian Kilpatrick will be leading the sessions and the participants will be performing their work at the Amnesty Bookshop in Brighton at the end of the course. Participants will also be informed of possible outlets for their work. (This course is full but to be informed of similar workshops contact NWS or Creative Future)
27 May 2010
Playwright wins NWS New Play Award in Brighton Festival Fringe first
Playwright Gytha Lodge has won the first New Writing South Best New Play Award for OTHERWISE. This new annual award is in recognition of an outstanding new play premiered at the Brighton Festival Fringe.
Chris Taylor, Director, New Writing South says ‘OTHERWISE by Gytha Lodge was original, truly theatrical, and formally inventive - with a sensational “coup de theatre”. All the judges agreed it was a diamond.’
Gytha says ‘I'm absolutely delighted to receive this award. It's wonderful and rare for new writing to be judged and rewarded in this way, and the New Writing South mark goes a long way towards demonstrating quality.’
The judging team also commended two joint runners-up playwrights: Anna Iwanowska for HANNA, AN ARTIST IN DIRT and Ben Keyworth for AFTER PARTY.
New Writing South and Brighton Fringe jointly designed the award to encourage more new plays in Brighton and to help promote quality, original pieces to the Fringe. The award differs from others in that it is given to a playwright for an outstanding play rather than to the production as a whole.
Almost 40 plays in the Brighton Fringe were judged by a panel of seven judges from New Writing South consisting of writers: Kefi Chadwick, Trevor Harvey, Kicking-K, Andrew G. Marshall, Josie Melia, Louise Monaghan and Chris Taylor.
The award winner receives £150 cash prize and New Writing South membership.
6 May 2010
New Writing South hosts Rail Rhymes Performance Poetry for Brighton Festival 2010
Rail Rhymes our interactive live poetry event for Brighton Festival and Southern Trains got underway last weekend with performance poets Paul Lyalls and Joshua Idehen. The carriage, which forms part of the last train to London and departs from Brighton at 11pm has been curated to inspire passengers to create their own poetry as they speed through the Sussex countryside. Already the performances have been producing some fantastic work by people who wouldn't normally interact with or write poetry. Performers planned during the rest of the festival are comedienne, cabaret and performance poet Liz Bentley and rising young wordsmith Niall O’Sullivan, author of the acclaimed collection Ventriloquism for Monkeys. Take a look at our Youtube space to see videos on the performances and visit the Brighton Festival website to read some great poetry!
14 April 2010
New Writing South award for Best New Play
New Writing South is proud to be working in partnership with Brighton Festival Fringe this year to present an award to a playwright in recognition of an outstanding new play premiered during the festival. The award is designed to encourage more new plays in Brighton and to help promote quality, original pieces to the Fringe. We will be looking for Writing that is original and demonstrates a unique theatre voice, a play that embraces risk and is brave in content, writing that shows flair and accomplishment and overall, a outstanding new play. For details on what the entry criteria are, along with the prize, take a look at our webpage.
1 April 2010
Writing Group celebrates its first year
One of six writing groups set up by New Writing South celebrates its first year. The Bitsandpieces Creative Writing Group based at Crawley Library in Southgate Avenue, Crawley, West Sussex is celebrating by holding an exhibition of work written by its members in the Longley Exhibition Room at the library between Saturday 27 March 2010 and 17 April 2010. Admission free.
24 March 2010
Watch Words
Patcham High School in Brighton is presenting Watch Words a showcase of writing inspired projects, of which New Writing South will be involved, reading poems created from a NWS residency at The Martlets Hospice in Brighton that finished last month. Creative Learning team member Evlynn Sharp worked with patients and staff at The Martlets where the group, who met once a week for four weeks, worked together and created some incredibly touching poetry. We were invited to work with The Martlets through Patcham High School, who had received funding from the Brighton & Hove Spring Forward Adult Learning Festival.
3 March 2010
John Hegley at The Hawth
New Writing South brought the spoken word to Crawley last Saturday night to a full house at The Hawth Theatre where John Hegley, Niall O'Sullivan and Paul Lyalls (not forgetting Paul Hegley on the music) gave the audience a superb performance. This was the first time The Hawth hosted such an event, and judging by the eagerness with which the crowd were up dancing at the end (initiated by John) they'll be wanting more!
24 February 2010
NWS Blog
Exciting news this week is that NWS will be launching a new Wordpress blog in the next couple of weeks. Blogs, or web logs, are one of the fastest-growing means of mass communication. The ever-growing "blogosphere" has affected elections and corporate policy, and some blogs have thousands of readers a day.
Well, maybe the NWS blog might not affect the next general election, but it will be a place for members to communicate with each other (for example keeping a group going after a NWS workshop or course), share work, ideas or just to post general thoughts about what's going on in the world around us. The blog will be accessible for members and NWS staff to post, and will be visible to the outside world, so if you're a serial blogger, or new to the whole thing, details of how you can log in and start blogging will be on the way to you shortly.
17 February 2010
NWS at Oxfringe 2010
We're excited to announce that we will again be part of the Oxfringe festival. Oxfringe is an annual series of literary, theatrical, comic, artistic and musical events in April running alongside the Oxford Literary Festival. This year, we have three events in the programme. Meet the Industry, Advice & Information Sessions and Crime Salon.
Other festival news is that NWS will be hosting a two-hour masterclass at the Minghella Film Festival on the Isle of Wight. TV writer Jenny Lecoat will be leading this session at the Quay Arts Centre on Saturday 13 March. Tickets will go on sale at the end of this week, but in the meantime, keep up to date with news on their facebook page.
Also, NWS was at the Brighton Festival Fringe launch last night at the Thistle Hotel. The Brighton Festival Fringe is one of the largest fringe festivals in the world and priority booking has opened! Be sure to check out what's on. Our Creative Learning Manager, Anna Jefferson (along with Alice Trueman) has written a play and will be performed during the fringe. My Second Life will be on at the Nightingale Theatre on 17 & 18 May.
4 February 2010
Arts Council Consultation
Right now, Arts Council England is consulting on the directions it should take and the ways of working it should adopt over the next ten years. Between now and 14 April they are consulting artists, arts organisations and other key stakeholders on future priorities for the arts, and will ask them about their understanding of the current landscape of the arts and the areas that need developing in the next ten years. Take part in the discussions.
4 February 2010
Young Playwrights Programme at CFT
Saturday 9 February sees this year's Young Playwrights Programme take a bow at Chichester Festival Theatre. However, this partnership project with CFT does not end there, in August PlayPod will present half a dozen of these talented writers present 'plays in progress' during CFT's main festival programme. Directed by Festival Associates and CFT Assistant Directors, the 'plays in progress' will be performed by festival actors in an exciting short showcase from tomorrow's playwrights. More details about PlayPod will appear soon.
20 January 2010
New Writing South with Will Self
This Monday sees novelist and social commentator Will Self hit the Brighton stage at the Komedia for Lugubrious Monday, a celebration of the most miserable day of the year and it's set to be a corker! Hosted by performance poet and storyteller, Paul Lyalls, special guest support comes from sharp-edged writer, Matthew De Abaitua and stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonagall.
Tickets are selling fast, so if you're thinking of coming, ensure you book early. For those of you in Brighton and Sussex, watch out for a special feature interview with Will in this Saturday's pull-out entertainment edition of The Argus.
8 October 2009
Cabaret on a Sinking Ship
A big thank you goes out to everyone who supported us last week during our run at the Nightingale Theatre with our cabaret-style play, Cabaret on a Sinking Ship. The week was a great success and we're still receiving your letters of congratulations. As a company we were very proud to present this unique and powerful piece, which gave voice to a team of seven writers (the first of its kind.) Well done to all the cast and team for their hard work. To find out more about the play, read the national press release
5 August 2009
Exciting new Young Playwrights Programme launched
We're proud to announce that New Writing South has teamed up with Chichester Festival Theatre to establish a new programme for young playwrights. Available to 16- 25 year olds in the south east region, the selected young people will have the same opportunity as afforded by the Royal Court Young Writer's Programme in London. The programme will offer the opportunity for young writers to work with a professional playwright to turn their ideas and passions into drama, and will give vaulable experience of what it is like to work in the industry and meet with theatre professionals. The first course will run over Autumn/Winter 2009/10 on Saturdays fortnightly from 11.30am to 1pm.
For more information and details on how to apply, visit Chichester Festival Theatre’s website www.cft.org.uk or call Rupert Rowbotham, Learning & Participation Director, Chichester Festival Theatre on 01243 784437.
29 July 2009
NWS plays its part at the 5th International Festival of Making Theatre
New Writing South was one of twenty companies represented at the 5th International Festival of Making Theatre last month. Tutors, practitioners and students gathered from every corner of the globe to explore new ways of making theatre - as the only writing company involved, NWS waved the flag for playwrights and introduced new ways for young practitioners to develop new work through text.
The festival brought together an extraordinary variety of superb practioners from all over the world who are experts in a range of theatrical disciplines. They shared their knowledge not only with the fantastically enthusiastic participants, but also with each other and this was an excellent forum to meet different forms of theatre and compare what is being done in different parts of the world.
Most of all the event affirms the principle that in art, we do not recognise geopolitical borders but somehow speak a common universal language of creativity and humanity which we endeavour to explore through our work.
The week was genuinely inspirational.
1 July 2009
New Writing South welcomes Fay Weldon as Patron
NWS is delighted to announce that novelist, playwright and screenwriter Fay Weldon has agreed to be the company's newest Patron. (Our other patron is playwright Mark Ravenhill)
Throughout her long career Fay Weldon’s writing has provoked opposing reactions of popular acclaim and critical controversy. Her work includes over twenty novels, five collections of short stories, several children's books, non-fiction books, magazine articles and a number of plays written for television, radio and the stage, including the pilot episode for the television series Upstairs Downstairs. Fay is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University. She was awarded a CBE in 2001.
Fay has previously worked with NWS as a guest speaker and workshop leader during our 2007 "Writers teaching Writers" conference at the University of Sussex.
We hugely look forward to working with Fay and to enjoying her support as our advocate. Finally, a huge thanks to Carole Hayman for her time in brokering this patronage.
28 May 2009
OurSpace project ends on a high with showcase finale piece Insomnia
On 10 June, 15 students aged 13-16 from Brighton Youth Theatre, Falmer will perform an exciting new performance piece at the Pavilion Theatre, Brighton. The piece entitled Insomnia, is the showcase finale of OurSpace, a two-term school project where students were given the rare opportunity to work with top professional practitioners to create and produce their own piece of theatre.
Initiated by New Writing South and working with partners Theatre Royal Brighton and Brighton Dome, the project was designed to give students an insight into the many aspects of working in the performing arts through talks, workshops and visits, and equipped them with new theatre skills. Students collaborated to devise, script and produce Insomnia, as well as starring in it, and were involved in every aspect its development.
Writer Jo Smith introduced the young people at Falmer High School to the craft of playwriting. With the help of award-winning filmmaker Simon Wilkinson, they explored ideas of how film and performance work together on stage. Workshops with professional practitioners included a session on writing musicals with Olivier winner Stephen Clark (playwright and lyricist of Zorro and The Return of Martin Guerre), a workshop on collaborative theatre-making with Simon Harvey of internationally renowned Kneehigh Theatre, physical theatre sessions with zany Brighton based Unpacked Theatre, and an exploration of theatre skills with ex Eastenders actress Victoria Gould, who has also worked with ground breaking Theatre de Complicite
Jo Smith says: 'The development in the students' confidence and creative learning has been the most positive aspect of this project. Once they realised that this was an opportunity to explore all the different possibilities of creating a performance, they came up with amazing ideas, and were very keen to experiment and push themselves out of their own comfort zones.'
The group took part in other workshops in costume design, sound design for the stage, and a workshop with professional voice coach Nancy Wigglesworth, on training the voice for stagework plus insights into stage management, lighting and sound from the Theatre Royal staff. There were also backstage visits and theatre trips to see Brief Encounter by Kneehigh Theatre at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, A Christmas Carol at Chichester Festival Theatre and Justitia by Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company at Brighton Dome.
Katie Westein, a student on the project said, ‘I enjoyed having visitors in helping us devise and write Insomnia. I think everything I have learnt in the workshops will help me in my future career.’ Another student, Jack Leonard said, ‘I’ve really enjoyed doing this because of the amount of live performances I’ve seen; they have really inspired my thinking’.
Tania Banks, Head of Drama at Falmer High School said ‘The improvement in their self esteem, self belief and in their support for each other has been extraordinary. They have had so many fantastic opportunities of going to the theatre for free and backstage tours and finding out how a theatre space works. Most of them are now considering a career as an actor or working in theatre and have seen this project as a step towards this goal.’
Funded as a pilot by Arts Council England and Brighton & Hove City Council, it is hoped that the legacy will inform future large-scale schools projects.
The performance will take place at the Pavilion Theatre, New Road, Brighton on Wednesday 10 June 2009 at 7pm. Tickets £3 on the door or in advance. Box Office: 01273 709709.
16 April 2009
The Book and the Rose
New Writing South is pleased to be part of a new festival entitled The Book and the Rose, which takes place in Brighton's Jubilee Square on Sunday 26th April 2009 from 11am to 5pm. Hosted by Brighton & Hove City Council, the festival is inspired by the Catalonian, Fair of the Book & The Rose where it is considered good luck to exchange a book and a rose with loved ones.
Come along and enjoy free readings, live music, children’s activities and entertainment in and around the square including previews of Brighton Festival and Festival Fringe events. Bring along your old books and donate them to Oxfam.
Brighton & Hove Children’s Festival will fill Jubilee Street with child-friendly windmills, workshops and performances and Jubilee Library will also be holding special events.
We look forward to seeing you there!
25 March 2009
Disability, the Novel and the Literary Festival
This year for the first time, New Writing South will be hosting three exciting events at The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival and it’s sister festival Oxfringe. The festival has been described as their biggest yet.
We will be hosting a debate on the topic of how disability is portrayed in contemporary writing. The debate will explore our collective interest in disabled representation in the written word and media. Working in partnership with Disability Arts Online, we invited people with personal or indirect experience with disability, to join us for a lively and stimulating discussion in the magnificent surroundings of Christ Church.
The discussion itself will be hosted by a worthy line-up. The debate will be chaired by Tony Panayiotou, Director of Diversity Strategy at Arts Council England. He will be joined by novelist Adam Mars-Jones, Playwright and TV producer Nigel Smith and Playwright and Literary Manager of Graeae Theatre Company, Alex Bulmer.
Along with the main festival we will be hosting two events at Oxfringe, which will be from 1-13 April. The programme for Oxfringe 2009 has an expanded range of literary, theatrical comic, artistic and musical events running alongside The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival.
New Writing South will be presenting Meet the Agents, which will be at the Said Business School on Thursday 9 April. Recession Proof Writing, a one-day practical workshop with writer Kay Sexton, will be held at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday 10 April.
www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk
15th December 2008
Successful launch for budding new writers
Last Thursday 11th December saw the Brighton launch of The Map of Me – True Tales of Mixed Hertiage Experience at the Brighton Media Centre.
The launch was to celebrate New Writing South member Monika Akila Richards and Brighton author Rounke (Ronnie) Williams success after beating off hundreds of other competitors to be selected for the national Prize, for both of them this is the first time they have been published.
The anthology contains fourteen fascinating true stories about the joys, sorrows and surprises of coming from a mixed heritage from new writers resident in the UK. The decibel Penguin Prize is a collaboration between decibel, an Arts Council England initiative dedicated to promoting diversity in the arts, and Penguin Books.
Winner, Monika Akila Richards says: "My first reaction on being selected for the anthology was that it was a mistake of 'wishful reading'. Grasping the reality of my story being published by Penguin, facilitated by decibel, I got worried about exposing my personal history, some of it painful. On reflection I decided that my experience is bigger than me, it will speak and connect with the readers and raise awareness of an issue I feel passionate about - the human experience".
The event was buzzing and well attended with a wide mix of people. Both Akila and Ronnie read excerpts from their short stories and then followed a lively and engaging Q&A session hosted by John Hampson from the Literature department at Arts Council England.
New Writing South has some copies of the book at an offer price of £8, please call Mark Bryant on 01273 735353 to order your copy. (r.r.p. £8.99)
Visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/pressnews to find out more about the decibel project.
7 October 2008
Sussex Schools get creative for National Poetry Day
New Writing South is partnering up with schools in Brighton and Eastbourne, to place professional writers to work with young people as part of National Poetry Day.
Westdene Primary School, Carden Primary School and Patcham High School in Brighton, and Eastbourne Technology College are all involved in bringing poetry into the classroom, which takes place on Thursday 9th October. For one day each year National Poetry Day channels the enthusiasm, passion and skill of poetry readers and writers into a national celebration, and brings poetry to the public eye.
Dr Beth Miller, Education Manager at New Writing South says ‘We’re really excited to be involved in National Poetry Day as it gives young people the opportunity to get creative with writing and helps them realise how much fun poetry can really be’.
New Writing South has placed members of its education team with each school, at Eastbourne Technology College is poet and performer Paul Lyalls. Paul is writer in residence for the London Borough of Brent and appears on the TV series The Big Slam. All year 7 students will be able to hear Paul read and perform, including the opportunity for 40 Year 7 students the chance to attend a Masterclass.
At Westdene Primary School Jo Smith will be leading workshops. 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.
At Patcham High School and Carden Primary School in Brighton, is Andrew G. Marshall. Andrew is a playwright, author and journalist with experience working in schools as a writer of residence. Andrew writes for the Times, Mail on Sunday and Sunday Express.
And finally, at Coldean Primary School is Helen Nelder. Helen is a theatre director and playwright. 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.
For more information on National Poetry Day and how you can get involved visit www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk
2 October 2008
The journey starts for Points of Fiction
This weekend sees the first session in the exciting Points of Fiction series kick off at the Jubilee Library in Brighton.
The 11 events, which are being led by leading writers and publishing professionals such as Bernadine Evaristo and Mavis Cheek are intended to help aspiring and emerging writers find their own voice as an author, or help established writers to refine their fiction writing. Participants can learn how to create engaging plot-lines, develop real characters and explore strategies for successfully completing their work.
Chris Taylor, New Writing South Director says: ‘We have consulted with writers and publishers to produce these unique set of workshops, all of which are interesting in their own right, but if taken in sequence, they can equip participants with the skills to produce strong, original work’.
Each event is continued every month finishing with the final session on 18 July 2009, where participants will be able to join an array of speakers and guests including literary agents, publishers and publicists in one-to-one intensives, practical workshops, talks and seminars on how to get published! See workshops and events for more information and how to book, places are going fast - session 2 has already sold out!
30 September 2008
Writernet winds-up
After 10 successful years, Writernet is winding up and needs your help so that the organisation can end well and leave a clean space for what might come next.
Since it evolved from New Playwrights Trust, Writernet has worked to support playwriting across the UK. They have done this by working with hundreds of individual playwrights, dozens and dozens of organisations which work with
playwrights to produce and develop their work, and those responsible for funding and promoting them.
Writernet has achieved this with no regular funding and they have consistently aimed to do what they do at no cost, or as little cost to individual playwrights as possible.
Bonnie Greer, Chair of Writernet is asking for donations so that they can complete their work, and allow the organisation to end well. If you would like to help, please donate what you can. Visit www.justgiving.com/writernet
If you are a UK taxpayer and you click on gift aid Writernet will benefit from the additional tax.
26 September 2008
Top Award for BBC Radio Drama inspired by Brighton young offender
Company Paradiso Productions - which was founded and is run by New Writing South member Jon Potter - has won an award for its work with youth offenders in Brighton.
The Koestler Trust's prestigious 1st prize Koestler Award 2008 for Radio Drama went to the young people in Brighton involved Company Paradiso's interactive radio drama project called 'Legsy Gets a Break'. The project, which was performed on BBC Southern Counties Radio and live at the Ropetackle Arts Centre last year, drew inspiration from real life stories from a number of young offenders. The stories were compiled into an interactive play, written by Bill Writer Phil Gladwin.
The project also received a Highly Commended Award for Spoken Text and a Merit Award for Non-Fiction.
It was performed by actors but told the real life struggles of young people living life on the edge. One young participant, who was the inspiration for the main character Legsy, ran away from care homes to find his family at the age of 13 and lived as a missing person in Brighton. The certificate and £80 prize money has been given to him in recognition of his commitment to the project.
Jon Potter, said 'What inspired us with ‘Legsy’ was the idea that we know people best when we understand their stories. Many people caught in a cycle of offending don’t know their own stories, their own lives. It’s often only when you start to understand your own story, and the part others play in it, that you can move forward positively'.
