Tyneside Cinema book commission
We are delighted to announce that writer Michael Chaplin was awarded our recent commission to produce a collection of essays based on stories from the history of the Tyneside Cinema. As well as having a significant track record of writing for television, radio and theatre, Michael is also a prose writer and was one of the contributors to Fix This Moment, our recent book about North East literary history. Many writers applied for the position and New Writing North and staff at the Tyneside were very touched by the enthusiasm and warm feelings that many of the writers who applied had for the cinema and we’d like to thank everyone who made an application for doing so.

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
British writer William Dalrymple’s latest book, Nine Lives, explores how faith and ritual are clinging on – and changing – in the face of India’s commercial boom. Nine Lives explores this process through nine personal stories — a Sufi, a possession dancer, a Buddhist monk, a Jain nun, a tantric, and a Bengali Baul singer, among others. To celebrate this journey, 21 performers join Dalrymple in a world tour across the UK, US and Australia – bringing his book to life and creating one of the wildest collaborations in world music history courtesy of a group of ganja-smoking tantric Baul singers, and Susheela Raman, an award-winning British Tamilian virtuoso who has helped to foster an ancient but dying sacred song tradition from the temples of southern India. Join them at The Sage Gateshead on Monday 5 July 2010 at 8pm. To book, call 0191 4434661 or see the Sage website.

How often do you want your writing news?
Don’t forget that you can also follow NWN news and opportunity updates on Facebook and Twitter. We now post info on competitions, awards and activities on these sites on a daily basis so do sign up if you’d like to keep in closer contact with us. You can also view these pages if you aren’t fully signed up to the sites in question at www.facebook.com/newwritingnorth?ref=ts and http://twitter.com/NewWritingNorth.

Read Regional: events coming up in June
The first few author events in libraries have gone really well, with some lovely audiences asking the authors all sorts of questions – including a few they really weren’t prepared for! Throughout the summer, the Read Regional authors will be doing free events, reading from their work and taking questions from readers, in libraries all over Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Teesside. You can get all the details about Read Regional and see some photos from our launch event on the Metro last week at www.readregional.com but here’s what’s coming up in June: You can follow the events on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ReadRegional.

Linda France: You Are Her
Hartlepool Central Library: Friday 18 June, 6.30pm

Cynthia Fuller: Background Music
Tynemouth Library: Thursday 24 June, 2pm
(The Read Regional stall will be at Longsands Beach, Tynemouth, next to Crusoes Café, from 10am that day)

Graham Pears: The Myth of Justice
Blackwell Bookshop, Newcastle: Wed 30 June, 6pm


People

Read Regional 2009 author Valerie Laws shortlisted for McKitterick Prize
The Rotting Spot by Valerie Laws (published by Red Squirrel Press, and one of our selected books for Read Regional 2009) has been shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize. Judges Russell Celyn Jones, Lindsey Davis and Frances Fyfield have shortlisted six books for the £4,000 award which will be awarded on 15 June at the Society of Author’s Wards. Fingers crossed for Valerie!

New play for People’s Play winner
Former People’s Play winner Noreen Rees has written a new play, Signs and Miracles, which is being performed in Whitley Bay next week. The production will feature actors from Dreamcoat, a community arts group working with both deaf and hearing performers, encouraging both groups to perform together collaboratively in the same production and will be signed by BSL/English interpreters. Performances are at St John’s Church, Whitley Bay, and St Mary’s Church, Whitley Bay, from 17-26 June. For further information, email noreenrees@hotmail.com or call St Mary’s Church on 0191 251 4216.


In the North East

Tyneside Cinema book club: The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
The prolific Michael Winterbottom, adapter of Thomas Hardy and Laurence Sterne, turns his hand to a classic of American crime fiction, Jim Thompson’s 1952 novel The Killer Inside Me. Come to the Tyneside Cinema Book Club at the Tyneside Bar after the 2pm screening on Sunday 13 June and discuss this remarkable adaptation with Dr Andrew Shail and Dr Stacy Gillis from Newcastle University. For more information, see www.tynecine.org.

Music magazine looking for writers and reviewers on Teesside
Music magazine NARC, which many of you will have seen in the hip and happening bars and shops around the North East, are looking for more contributors on Teesside. They’re looking for people interested in writing for the magazine, contributing reviews of music, and other music- and culture-related stuff going on in the Tees Valley. If you’d like to get involved, email info@narcmedia.com with some information about yourself, what music you’re into, and what writing you do.

Networking and support event for unusual workers
North East company Space on Tap has organised two ‘Colleagues on Tap’ days for people who usually work from home or in a small team, or outside of the usual 9 to 5, while they’re setting up or running a business. The one-day co-working events provide the opportunity to combine a day’s work with the chance to make new contacts. The workshop days offer dedicated workspace with free wi-fi and relaxation areas, so participants can get their head down for as long as they like, then take a break to talk through business ideas and issues with their colleagues for the day, or just have a chat over coffee. As many writers work from home and have flexible working hours, it may be that some of you would benefit from attending one of the days. The first event is in Benton on 16 June, the second in Shiremoor on 26 June (with childcare facilities on the latter day). You can get more information and book at http://colleaguesontap.eventbrite.com or by emailing info@spaceontap.com.


National opportunities

John Whiting Award
This year’s John Whiting Award is now open for submissions. Awarded annually to the new play which best demonstrates an original and distinctive development in dramatic writing, The Whiting Award, worth £6,000, has been instrumental in the development of the careers of some of the best-known British dramatists in the last 45 years. Deadline for entries: 20 August 2010. For more information, see http://twp2009.wordpress.com/projects/whiting-award.

BBC National Short Story Award 2010
The BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000. The runner-up receives £3,000 and three further shortlisted authors get £500 each. Deadline for entries: 18 June 2010. For more information, see www.booktrust.org.uk/Prizes-and-awards/BBC-National-Short-Story-Award.

Picador Poetry Prize
The Picador Poetry Prize will recognise and publish the best new, previously unpublished poetry in the UK. It will be awarded for a representative selection of a poet’s work, rather than a single poem. The prize is a much-coveted publishing deal with Picador, and a £1,000 advance. Deadline for entries: 1 September 2010. For more information, see www.picador.com/Poetry/prize/picadorpoetryprize.aspx.

The Fielding Programme 2010
A specialist residency programme for writers, running for two weeks beginning Monday 18 October. The programme is a chance for you to develop professionally in inspiring surroundings and receive one-to-one mentoring from award-winning writer Polly Clark. You can stay for one or two weeks, depending on your project, staying at Scotland’s international artist residency centre, Cove Park. With time to write, the company of a small group of fellow writers and the quiet hospitality offered by your hosts you can make real progress on your writing. For more details or to book, see www.fieldingprogramme.com.


Miscellany

North East writer selling caravan – perfect retreat!
North East writer Kitty Fitzgerald has made us aware of her caravan in Northumberland, near Hexham, which she’s looking to sell. You can get photos and more information about this idyllic writer’s hideaway by emailing Kitty at wolfitz@blueyonder.co.uk.


Deadline for the next newsletter

If you have news that you would like to submit for inclusion in the newsletter please contact olivia@newwritingnorth.com. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 21 June. The next edition of The Listening Post covering July’s literature events will go out in late June. If you have events that you would like to submit for inclusion, you will need to send information by 22 June to olivia@newwritingnorth.com.

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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.