New Writing North centre for writing receives £5 million from government
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We are delighted to announce that the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport has awarded £5 million of its Cultural Development Fund to support New Writing North’s dream of creating a centre for writing in Newcastle.
The centre will be a public building which will hold events and courses for writers based in the north. It will host programmes, courses, and events for professional and aspiring writers, for those who write purely for the love of it and for those who want to try creative writing for the first time.
It will be a place for communities across the region to engage with creative writing, literature and reading. The centre will mean growing New Writing North and furthering our ambition to nurture writers from across the region. We know that whilst talent is everywhere the opportunities are not.
The centre will strengthen Newcastle’s ambitions to become a national hub for writing and publishing and contribute to its growing status as a creative industries leader. Claire Malcolm, CEO of New Writing North, who spearheaded the campaign said: “We are thrilled and excited that central government has chosen to support our vision for a centre for writing by investing in our region’s cultural economy and infrastructure.
Creative writing is the backbone of the UK’s world-leading creative industries which employ 2.4 million. It also plays a vital role in wellbeing and public health. The centre for writing will provide an opportunity to expand our work with under-served communities in the region and to work with even more brilliant Northern talent. It will also bring writers and readers together in a space which celebrates the power of storytelling.”
We will be collaborating with our brilliant partners Newcastle City Council, Northumbria University, Mayor Kim McGuiness and the North East Combined Authority and many others over the next few years to shape in greater detail the centre and its programme.
But for now, this is a huge step in creating a vibrant new cultural space in Newcastle which will nurture future generations of northern writers.