Durham Writes

Date: Multiple dates

Durham Writes offers a new fiction writing course to County Durham residents of all abilities who are interested in developing their creative writing skills. Programmed in partnership with Durham County Council, this programme consists of six taster sessions, leading to a six-week masterclass course for select participants.

Durham Writes Taster Sessions

Throughout April and May, we’re bringing taster sessions to five areas across County Durham, with one session online, to open access to people at all stages in their writing career, from complete beginners who want to have a go, to people who want to make writing a career.

Attendees will later be able to apply to the targeted masterclass course running from June to July.

These sessions are free to attend and open to all.

Taster Session Booking details:

Please ensure you book one taster session only, as content will be repeated.

Targeted Masterclass Course

All taster sessions attendees will later be able to apply to a six-week course led by Amy Lord to build on their existing writing experience and focus on specific writing skills. Eight writers will be selected, and the course will run from Wednesday 4 June to Wednesday 23 July 2025.

Submissions will be open from Monday 28 April – Wednesday 21 May. Applicants will be able to apply through Submittable and can submit up to 1500 words (Approx. 4 pages) of any form of writing they choose.

Participants for the course will also have the opportunity to take part in a mentoring session with novelist David Mark, and to meet with publishing professionals in an industry insight session.

All writers will be invited to take part in a Scratch Night at Durham Book Festival 2025.

Durham Writes will be delivered by Producer Katharine Goda, Writer in Residence Amy Lord, and Creative Writing Mentor David Mark

Katharine Goda

Katharine Goda is an award-winning poet, socially engaged creative practitioner and producer based in the North East. Her work has appeared widely in the UK and beyond and received an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice and a Northern Writers Award. Her first collection, Safety Measures Against the Sea, was published in 2023 by Vane Women Press. Katharine believes passionately in creating safe and supportive spaces where everyone can find their voice through the arts. She develops creative writing projects, often combined with film, photography, animation, printing, podcasts or music, with a diverse range of people from schools, charities and community groups to passersby. She relishes creating alongside people, especially those who haven’t had many opportunities to play in, experiment with and explore the arts, believing wholeheartedly in the power of words and ideas to challenge, include and inspire.
Amy Lord

Amy Lord is a novelist and short story writer from Middlesbrough. She is the author of dystopian novel, The Disappeared, which won a Northern Writers Award and was longlisted in The Bath Novel Award.

She also writes short speculative fiction inspired by the changing post-industrial landscapes of North East England. She was a recent finalist in the Mslexia Short Story Competition and the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction. Her stories have appeared in various magazines and anthologies. She is currently writer-in-residence for the Crossing the Tees Festival and is part of the judging panel for the Curae Prize for writer-carers.
David Mark

David Mark spent seven years as crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post and now writes full-time. The first novel in his DS McAvoy series, Dark Winter, was selected for the Harrogate New Blood panel (where he was Reader in Residence) and was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. Dead Pretty was longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger in 2016. He is also the author of the Sal Delaney police procedurals and a number of standalone thrillers. He teaches creative writing at all levels and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. His McAvoy series is currently in development for TV. He lives in Northumberland with his daughter.