Arts in Education Project Assistant: Northamptonshire Artists in Learning, Arts Development Team

Are you passionate about the arts and culture for children and young people? Are you interested in supporting the development of cultural opportunities for children, young people and the professional arts and cultural sector?

Northamptonshire County Council’s Arts Development Team is seeking an enthusiastic team player, with strong communication and administration skills, to assist in the delivery of our growing artists in learning programme. The successful candidate will be based in the Arts Development team, supporting the Arts in Education Co-ordinator on a day to day basis. Responsibilities include co-ordinating, administrating, monitoring and collating evaluation information for projects and events in the arts in education sector.

The current programme includes, training programmes for artists and creative practitioners, development of accreditation programmes in the arts, for children and young people and celebration opportunities for children and young people to share their achievements.

This position is offered on a freelance contract at 15hrs per week (flexible) on a rate of £8 per hour and is a 6 month fixed term opportunity, (Oct – end March 2010). The contract will be reviewed with a possible extension. Application details are outlined in the project brief attached. For further information on this position please contact Anna-Marie Whitaker-Johnson, Arts in Education Co-ordinator or Lisa Wyatt, Senior Administrator on 01604 233122.

Please note deadline for applications is Monday 14th September and interviews will take place on Friday 18th September.

Writer Residency and Mentoring Opportunity

POET WANTED

We are looking for an excellent poet and performer with an easy-going nature and flexible working style to work with a group of young people outside mainstream education or at risk of exclusion in Northampton and help them to produce creative work inspired by museum and library collections.

Experience and skills: You will have experience of working with children and young people in a variety of settings, particularly hard to reach groups and those with challenging social and educational needs. Your poetry can take any form but you will be flexible and adaptable in your approach.

Commitment: You will run three sessions with a group of young people in Northampton between October 2009 and February 2010 and will attend one planning meeting. You will also be required to undertake some preparatory and follow up work for these sessions.

You will also be responsible for mentoring an inexperienced workshop writer throughout the project.

Fee: £600 plus up to £150 travel expenses.

To apply: Send examples of your work along with your CV and a covering letter outlining why you would be suitable for the project by 12 noon on Friday 25th September to:

Kate Wilkinson
Literature Development Officer
Arts Development Team
Northamptonshire County Council
Music & Performing Arts Centre
125-129 Kettering Road
Northampton NN1 4AZ

Or by email: kwilkinson@northamptonshire.gov.uk

For an informal talk about the position contact Kate on the above email or call 01604 824155 (Mondays and Tuesdays).

A Writing East Midlands and Literature Network project.

MENTORING OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for a writer interested but inexperienced in running workshops to shadow an experienced poet on a project with a challenging group of young people in Northampton. You will work with a group of excluded children to help them produce creative work inspired by museum and library collections.

What we’re looking for: You will be a keen writer looking build on your creative skills and gain experience of running workshops. You will be interested in, and comfortable with, working with children and young people, particularly those with challenging social and educational needs. Your writing can take any form but you will be flexible and adaptable in your approach.

Commitment: You will take part in three sessions with a group of young people in Northampton between October 2009 and February 2010 and will attend one planning meeting. This is an unpaid mentoring opportunity but your expenses will be covered up to the value of £60.

To apply: Send examples of your work along with your CV and a covering letter outlining why you would be suitable for the project by 12 noon on Friday 25th September to:

Kate Wilkinson
Literature Development Officer
Arts Development Team
Northamptonshire County Council
Music & Performing Arts Centre
125-129 Kettering Road
Northampton NN1 4AZ

Or by email: kwilkinson@northamptonshire.gov.uk

For an informal talk about the position contact Kate on the above email or call 01604 824155 (Mondays and Tuesdays).

A Writing East Midlands and Literature Network project.

Writers in Residence

Writers in Residence will establish a series of roles for writers based at a range of cultural and community organisations across the East Midlands region. This is a partnership project between the Literature Network and Writing East Midlands.

We are looking for expressions of interest from organisations who would like to host a Writer in Residence in their local area. Host organisations may include schools, galleries, theatres, sport venues, community centres, libraries, museums, outreach projects, youth groups and others.

What Writers in Residence can do:
Writers in residence are an important and established method of engaging literature with other forms of art and culture and the broader community. The resident writers will represent the full range of disciplines within literature including poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, storytelling, spoken word and will be matched with areas and host organisations on the basis of suitability. The activity carried out by each writer can be tailored to the needs of the host organisation and may include workshops, talks, discussion groups or online activity.

We will be running a pilot programme in Northampton with the Library and Museum services and young people at risk of exclusion from October to Feb 2010 and then will be rolling out the full programme in the New Year.

Please email catherine@writingeastmidlands.co.uk for more details.

Literature Surgeries

Are you a writer looking for support with getting published or developing your career? Do you develop live literature as a producer or organiser and want to find new audiences? Is publishing a passion that you would like support with making a reality?

The Literature Network is organising a series of one-to-one surgeries to give advice and support to anyone developing a career in the literature sector. The aim of the surgeries will be to link in new people and projects to the vibrant and growing community of writers, editors and producers of literature in the East Midlands. The surgeries will be run by Damien Walter, Literature Network Coordinator.

Three surgeries will be offered in Leicester, Nottingham and Derby through September. To request a one-to-one appointment send an e-mail including your name, contact details and a 100 outline of your interest in literature to: damien@charnwood-arts.org.uk

You must be able to attend during the day or early evening on the following dates.

Leicester – 8th September

Derby – 15th September

Nottingham – 22nd September

EMPAF National Conference

Passion, Partnerships and Empowering People
EMPAF National Conference
Friday 16th October 2009 (Registration from 9am for 10am Start)
At QUAD, Market Place, Cathedral Quarter, Derby DE1 3AS

Join us in this one day event exploring and celebrating partnership working. The conference features guest speakers David Cutler (The Baring Foundation), Eugène van Erven (Utrecht University / ICAF) and participants from community arts programmes. The day offers a range of opportunities to engage in lively discussion and participate in arts activities in the QUAD Gallery. A programme of workshops will cover a variety of issues including communicating across sectors, managing inherited relationships and archiving in the digital age.

Delegates Fees:
Organisations £50
Individuals £25

Pre Conference Social Event:
We are organising a pre conference social event for delegates. Taking place in the QUAD Gallery on the evening of 15th October, it’s an ideal opportunity to network in a relaxed atmosphere and enjoy a drink and a meal. If you would like to join us, please include an additional payment of £15 (per person).

For more information please see:

www.empaf.co.uk

BBC My Story

Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

My Story is a new BBC project to gather the Nation’s true stories and publish them online. The BBC wants to hear from everyone. Next year, 15 of the best stories will be made into TV programmes for BBC One.

True stories have inspired some of the most successful books and films of all time; by offering the chance to follow in their footsteps, My Story hopes to inspire the whole Nation with reading and writing.

To help you write your story, we are holding Story Hubs across the East Midlands inviting you to submit a true story. Come and get help with creative writing and story telling, improve literacy and writing skills and find inspiration to turn your real life experience into a story to be published on the BBC My story website. Don’t worry if you are not confident with a computer, we can help you! You can write yiur story on the day or come and get some help and resources and submit your story in your own time up until December.

The My Story website will gather and show stories from members of the public and feature celebrities own real-life stories, along with inspiring famous true stories. The site will feature videos and interactive tools to help people plan and structure their stories as well as tips on writing styles and skills.

Events near you:
Monday 19th October – BBC Leicester Open Centre, 10.00 – 16.00
Wednesday 21st October – The Arts Organisation, Nottingham 10.00 – 16.00
Friday 23rd October – Quad, Derby, 10.00 – 16.00

Enquiries: Please call 0116 251 6688

In Praise of Real Books

Books can be more than just bound paper, they can be a home to our memories and emotions. Will e-books ever manage the same? Read more

Twenty Years in the Word Mines with Graham Joyce

As part of Ashby Arts Festival Graham Joyce will be giving an after dinner talk on Friday 28 August to the Ashby Writers Club. Entitled “Twenty Years In The Word Mines” the literary dinner will take place at La Zouch restaurant at 7.30.

20 years ago Graham quit an executive job to go and live in a beach shack on the Greek island of Lesbos so he could focus on writing. Since then he has published 15 novels, a collection of short stories, a non-fiction book, worked for Hollywood, written song-lyrics and taught Creative Writing. A riotous evening is promised.

Tickets are are £20 which includes a three course meal. For tickets contact Dave Bell on: 01530 413371 or the ticket office 01530 411767.

EMIT August 2009 – Literature Surgeries

Connecting the literature community
A Literature Network publication
http://literaturenetwork.org

After the excitement of the Lyric Lounge, literary life in the East Midlands returns to a more sedate pace. Short Fuse is back from its summer break to offer Pride and Prejudice, and FantasyCon returns to Nottingham. With the sad news of the death of Stanley Middleton, Ross Bradshaw looks back on the life and writing of the Booker prize winning author. James Burt offers some thoughts on big game hunting in second hand bookshops, join in with suggestions for your favourite book shops. And The Literature Network is offering open surgeries to anyone wishing to get help and support with their work…a great opportunity to meet your friendly neighbourhood Literature Network Coordinator in person.

For all this and more, read on!

Damien Walter, Literature Network Coordinator

ARTICLES and NEWS

The Lyric Lounge: a roaring success
For seven days and seven nights, from 25th –31st July, The Y Theatre was transformed into a unique performance space celebrating the power of live literature – as part of the cultural programme for the Special Olympics. Around 1500 people attended the festival, which featured workshops, performances, debate, open mic opportunities and exhibitions. The festival focused on poetry, spoken word, rap and monologue, with strong elements of visual art and music. Read more…

• First novel from Emma Lee
• Stanley Middleton
• Writing Industries Conference 2010

Read more News

BLOGGERS

Big Game Hunting in the Bookshop
I love buying things on-line. No matter how strange or obscure the item I want, there always seems to be someone selling it. The most interesting thing I’ve bought recently is a mid-nineties guide to British second hand book shops. This book, by the mysterious Driffield, is long out of date: most of the shops listed that I remember from 15 years back are no more. Read more…

• Books to read beside the sea side
• Keith Leonard

Read more blogs

EVENTS

Writer’s Summer School

This Writing School Leicester course will include short exercises, individual and shared, that will help students to understand the art of storytelling. Day by day, students will put together the ingredients required to produce successful fiction. By the end of the week, each participant should have produced the outline of a well-plotted story people with credible characters. Read more…

• Lines for the City
• FantasyCon 2009
• Short Fuse presents Pride and Prejudice

Find more events near you.

OPPORTUNITIES

Literature Surgeries
Are you a writer looking for support with getting published or developing your career? Do you develop live literature as a producer or organiser and want to find new audiences? Is publishing a passion that you would like support with making a reality? Read more…

• 2009 Graphic Short Story Prize
• Lecturers, University of Nottingham
• Reading Agency Project Manager

Many more opportunities for writers.

*****

You are receiving this mail as a subscriber to the EMIT newsletter, a publication of the Literature Network.

To UNSUBSCRIBE please send an email with Unsubscribe in the title to: emit@literaturenetwork.org

Short Fuse presents Pride and Prejudice

15th September at The Y Theatre, East Street LE1 6EY
Y Theatre Box Office: 0116 255 7066
Doors open 8pm, tickets £5.50 / £4 concessions

In association with Leicester Pride 2009, Short Fuse Fiction presents ‘Pride and Prejudice’, a night of essays and stories featuring the very finest Tales from the City of LGBT Leicester and Beyond…

Writer/Director Nick Myles presents a mini play about love and crossed wires; Lucy Robinson reads an academic treatise on gay punks in t-shirts; Leicester’s own literary light Drew Gummerson treats us to a hilarious new tale and to put the glacé cherry on top of a delectable evening, wicked wordsmith VG Lee headlines with a short story from her collection, ‘As You Step Outside’.

Cabaret vibe, great music, crisp visuals and a bar.
All in all, an unmissable night!

Next Page »