Creative Writing for Teachers
Supporting teachers to develop their own creative writing practice, giving educational leaders the confidence to inspire and bring creative skills back into the classroom.
The Creative Writing for Teachers programme brings together like-minded peers from across the teaching profession, allowing participants to take the time to develop their own creative writing practice, share ideas, and reflect on their creative writing teaching.
We provide a relaxed and informal environment for teachers to explore their individual creativity, building confidence and inspiring imagination for you to take back to the classroom.
For £150 you’ll receive:
- 90-minute Zoom workshops once a month (November – May)
- Feedback on your creative work from the Lead Writer
- Curriculum linked resources to take back into the classroom
- Copies of all texts used on the course
If cost is prohibitive to you taking part, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
New Writing North has run Creative Writing for Teachers since 2017. It started when we collaborated with Northumbria University to support a PhD by Dr. Caroline Murphy called Practice, Pedagogy and Policy: the influence of teachers’ creative writing practice on pedagogy in schools. This piece of research evidenced what we have demonstrated throughout over 20 years of work in schools: that teachers who practice their own creative writing are more confident when teaching it.
From 2024, Creative Writing for Teachers will be delivered online, with two courses aimed specifically at teachers working in secondary schools and colleges or in primary school settings.
“I’m more free with my writing and less self-conscious when sharing it. The course was inspiring and confidence building” – 2017-2018 participant
Creative Writing for Teachers (Secondary Educators)
Through these workshops you will look at different forms of creative writing including fiction, non-fiction, life writing and poetry. You will work with the Lead Writer to increase your confidence as a writer and share your draft writing with fellow group members in a safe and supportive atmosphere. You will explore how best to use your newly acquired skills in the classroom and you will receive at least one masterclass from a guest tutor.
Dates and times
- Tuesday 5 November, 7pm-8.30pm
- Tuesday 3 December, 7pm-8.30pm
- Tuesday 7 January, 7pm-8.30pm
- Tuesday 4 February, 7pm-8.30pm
- Tuesday 4 March, 7pm-8.30pm
- Tuesday 1 April, 7pm-8.30pm
- Final session in May (date to be confirmed)
This course is now fully booked. Please email [email protected] to be added to the waitlist.
Katy Massey, Lead Writer (Secondary Educators)
Katy Massey was a journalist for many years before studying for an MA and PhD in Creative Writing. Her memoir, Are We Home Yet? was published in 2020 and praised by Bernardine Evaristo as ‘a gem’. It was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Portico Prize. In addition, her fiction and nonfiction work has been widely anthologised. All Us Sinners (2024) is her first novel, an unusual take on the crime genre featuring Maureen, a tough but tender-hearted brothel-keeper in 1970s Leeds.
100% of participants of Creative Writing for Teachers participants said they would recommend this course to a colleague – 2017-2018 Survey
Creative Writing for Teachers (Primary Educators)
Through these workshops we will explore ways to inspire, energise and hone your writing practice and learn effective tools for teaching creative writing at primary level. You will give and receive feedback on draft writing in a safe, supportive and encouraging space. We will cover key aspects of the writing craft including voice, character, description, world-building, editing and various prose and poetic fictions.
Dates and times
- Thursday 21 November, 4.30pm-6pm
- Thursday 19 December, 4.30pm-6pm
- Thursday 16 January, 4.30pm-6pm
- Thursday 20 February, 4.30pm-6pm
- Thursday 20 March, 4.30pm-6pm
- Thursday 1 May, 4.30pm-6pm
- Final session in June (date to be confirmed)
Karina Lickorish Quinn, Lead Writer (Primary Educators)
Karina Lickorish Quinn is a Peruvian-British writer and a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway University of London. Her debut novel The Dust Never Settles (Oneworld, 2021) explored Peru’s hauntedness by its colonial past. Her second book, a novella called The House of Skin (Stanchion, 2023) is a work of literary horror. Her second novel, The River Dies Quietly, will be published by Oneworld in 2025. Her short prose has been published widely including in Wasafiri, The White Review, The Offing, Palabritas, and the Journal of Latina Critical Feminism. She was featured in Un Nuevo Sol, the first major anthology of British-Latinx writers. She is working on her third novel. Karina also researches how to teach writing in ways that welcome children and young people’s many home languages and dialects into the classroom.
Course alumni
Naomi Kelsey, teacher and author of The Burnings (2023)
Inspired by the incredible true story that set 16th-century Scotland and Denmark alight, The Burnings is 2023’s most bewitching debut novel, by a multi-awardwinning new star of historical fiction.
‘This gripping, vividly evoked novel takes the reader to the dark heart of the 16th century … unforgettable’ Tracy Borman, author of The King’s Witch
H. F. Askwith, author of A Dark Inheritance (2023) and A Cruel Twist of Fate (2024)
H.F. Askwith is a British writer of dark fantastical fiction, and A Dark Inheritance is her first novel. She gained a Distinction in her Masters in Creative Writing, and in addition to her writing, H.F. Askwith has a love of puzzles, escape rooms and cyphers, which in turn has influenced her work.
‘A powerful, heart-racing story of family, fate, and writing your own destiny. Intricately plotted and luminously written – I loved it.’ Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls
If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email [email protected].
