Proud Words begins in Newcastle schools

Proud Words, our new LGBT+ reading and writing project, has launched in two Newcastle schools as part of Young Writers’ City.

Students from across year groups at Heaton Manor School and Benfield School will be taking part in creative reading and writing project, working this term with the award-winning writer Laura Lindow and group leader Claire Henly.

The two groups attended Durham Book Festival in October 2016 for ‘What is Normal?’, an event with YA authors Juno Dawson and Lisa Williamson. Following the event, the groups chose The Art of Being Normal as the first book for discussion, with creative writing exercises being drawn from the themes in the book.

Lizzie Nixon, Participation Manager at New Writing North said:

“I’m very excited to launch Proud Words at Heaton Manor and Benfield School. The project was set up in response to young people telling us they would like to create a space within schools for young people to discuss issues of gender and sexuality, and we’ve approached this through reading and discussion of YA with LGBT+ themes and through creative writing. The first session was a huge success and I’m really excited to see more of the work the groups produce over the coming weeks.”