Apples & Snakes, England’s leading organisation for performance poetry requires a Programme Coordinator – North East to further develop the establishment of a national network for performance poetry – delivering a busy programme of events, educational outreach and artist development.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about the arts with an interest in literature and has the ability to work on their own initiative.

The post will be based at the ARC in Stockton-upon-Tees.

Please apply using our standard form by 5pm on Friday 24th Sept 2010.

Interview will take place on Wednesday 6th October 2010.

Application form and full job description are available to download from our website www.applesandsnakes.org or by emailing beth@applesandsnakes.org

http://www.applesandsnakes.org/

Dear students and friends of WSL

Do take a look at our lively revamped website on www.writingschoolleicester.co.uk

We have put together a strong programme for autumn 2010 and spring 2011 with Secret Scribblers modules that are ideal for new writers through to advanced industry-facing courses that offer chance to get a story or poem into our first ever Writing School Anthology, or to showcase a short play at a professional Rehearsed Reading.

We are excited that WSL is taking part in October in 2 local ‘Weeks’. You’ll find updates on how you can get involved with us in the city-wide Everybody’s Reading Festival on our website Events page.

We are also in the early stages of planning a debate for Local Democracy Week, 11th – 15th October. We are inviting suggestions from you for a really lively topic on any theme to attract a big audience. Mel Read, a Writing School Leicester board member and former Member of the European Parliament, has kindly agreed to chair this event. If you have an idea for debate or would be interested in becoming a panellist, do get in touch with me.

Keep checking our website for updates on courses and events. We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks.

Val Moore
val.moore@writingschoolleicester.co.uk

Ian Pindar (second prize, National Poetry Competition 2009), has been shortlisted for the Forward Prize 2010 for Best Single Poem. Helen Oswald (commended, National Poetry Competition 2008) is shortlisted for Best First Collection.

Who will the 2010 National Poetry Competition bring to light? With previous winners such as Carol Ann Duffy and Philip Gross winning relatively early in their careers, here at the Poetry Society we can’t wait to find out.

The judges of the 2010 competition are poets George Szirtes, Deryn Rees-Jones and Sinéad Morrissey. Prizes are £5,000 for the overall winner, £2,000 for the second, £1,000 for the third, with seven commendations of £100. The deadline is 31 October.

Entrants can submit their poems online, or download an entry form: http://poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/npc/

Are you a dramatist living or working in Leicester? Why not come along to the next meeting of Leicester Dramatists Group on Monday 4th October at 7.30 pm. We meet at Curve theatre to share our work and support each other. For more information contact Marilyn Ricci on m.ricci@btinternet.com

As part of the Everybody’s Reading festival, we will be displaying small or ‘wee’ poems in a variety of locations around the city, including buses, restaurants and on the inside door of every toilet cubicle in the council building (at which point you may now appreciate the small pun in the title of this project! Poohetry was also suggested but firmly rejected). When it comes to getting people reading poetry, there is nothing like a captive audience.

We are asking good poets from the region (you) to contribute Wee Poems that would be suitable for display in these places. Poems should fit comfortable on an A4 page in a large font, and be reasonably accessible to non-poetry readers. Please send 1 or 2 poems to:

Damien Walter – damien@charnwoodarts.com

Please pass this note on to any poets you think might be interested. Thank you!

Pomegranate Theatre is currently seeking submissions for their New Playwriting Competition. Shortlisted pieces will be performed as rehearsed readings in front of an audience and invited judges during the New Playwriting Festival in March 2011. The audience will then decide which pieces will go through to the final at the end of the week.

The prize for the winning piece will be £500 and a possible commission for a new full-length piece of work. Scripts can be in any style, be fact-based or fictional, and should be between 30 and 45 minutes in length. All pieces should be designed to be performed at The Pomegranate Theatre in a studio-style setting. Scripts should be for no more than 4 professional actors.

Closing date 30th September 2010.
There is a £5 fee for entering. Successful entrants will be notified by 30th October 2010.

For further information and an application form please contact Carole Copeland at the theatre on 01246 345215 or email carole.copeland@chesterfield.gov.uk

Closing Date Tuesday, 10th August 2010
Department School of Education

Salary £32620 to £43840 per annum, depending on qualifications and experience (salary can progress to £50,822 per annum, subject to performance)
Applications are invited for the above post in the School of Education, based at the University’s Jubilee Campus. The person appointed will provide leadership, curriculum development and quality assurance for the School’s BA creative and professional writing course. They will also write, research and publish in an area relevant to one of the School’s research centres.

Candidates should hold a good honours degree in English Language/Literature, creative writing or a related subject, a postgraduate qualification and a PhD (completed or near to completion). They should also have proven competence in teaching of creative writing.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr S Speight, Email: sarah.speight@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this Email address will not be accepted.

For full details and how to apply please see: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Jobs/CurrentVacancies/ref/SM00465E

Sony UK has announced that it will sponsor a newly created category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers.

Sony UK has announced that it will sponsor a newly created category in this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize – the Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers.

The Dylan Thomas Prize is the world’s largest literary award for young writers. The prize was established to recognise the international work of Dylan Thomas, whose first book of poetry was published when he was just 21, and it supports the work of newly published authors.

The new Sony Reader Award category has been created specifically to support unpublished British novel writers under the age of 30 using electronic book formats for the entire process, from submission of the entries through to judging and then publication. The winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000, and their book will be published in eBook format and made available for download from the Sony UK website in time for the Christmas season.

eBook entries will need to be submitted in PDF, Word or EPUB format via the Reader website at www.sony.co.uk/reader between Thursday 1 July and Tuesday 31 August, and the shortlisted writers will be notified in September. The winner of the award will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Prize Award Ceremony on Wednesday 1 December 2010.

The 25th Year International Playwriting Festival 2010 competition accepts entries from all over the world, and is judged by a panel of distinguished theatre practitioners.

The 25th Year International Playwriting Festival 2010 competition accepts entries from all over the world, and is judged by a panel of distinguished theatre practioners. The best selected plays will be showcased at the Festival weekend, held in March 2010, with a view to further production.

For further information, visit www.warehousetheatre.co.uk/ipf10.html or email Ted Craig at ted@warehousetheatre.co.uk

Details of the Mslexia women’s poetry competition 2010 have now been announced.

First prize £1,000, second £500, third £250 and 22 other finalists will receive £25 each.

All winning poems will be published in Mslexia. Judge: Vicki Feaver.

Entry fee: £5 for up to three poems.

Online entry now available. For full details visit:

www.mslexia.co.uk/whatson/msbusiness/pcomp_rules.php

Closing date: 26 July 2010

Our Corby is an exciting project that will use an extensive collection of photographs to create new artistic work. Arts and heritage organisations, and local communities, will be brought together to celebrate Corby’s history of absorbing new cultures as it grew from stone-built village of fifteen hundred souls, to steel boomtown with a population of more than fifty thousand, in less than fifty years.

As Corby adapts to a new post-industrial identity, we are looking for a professional writer, with strong history of publication or performance and skilled in working in community settings, to be our Writer in Residence.

To find out more about this exciting opportunity and to download the full brief, go to http://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/services/professional/residencies/our_corby/writers_in_residence_advert/

The Literature Network are proud to be a partner in the Everybody’s Reading festival which will run from 2nd-10th October 2010, and we want to know if you can help get Everybody Reading in Leicester?

We are looking for people and organisations who love reading to join in with the Everybody’s Reading festival between 2nd – 10th October 2010. Special reading events will be taking place all over the city in schools, libraries, community centres, theatres, shops and restaurants. If you are someone who loves reading and would like to help, or a venue that would like to host a reading event, we want to hear from you.

The deadline for small grants and to get details of your event listed in the Everybody’s Reading newspaper is Friday 23rd July 2010.

Everybody’s Reading is part of Whatever It Takes, a pioneering scheme to get every primary school child in Leicester reading, and is organised in partnership with Leicester City Council, the Literature Network and Leicester Libraries.

Small grants of around £200 will be available to help support events by voluntary and community groups and elsewhere if neccesary.

Look at the the Everybody’s Reading blog for updates about the festival: http://everybodysreading.wordpress.com

Get in touch with the festival organisers to discuss your ideas and get help planning an event: Damien Walter – damien@charnwood-arts.org.uk or Ellie Lee ellen.lee@sdsa.net

Follow us on:

Twitter : http://twitter.com/GetLestaReading
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=124923777531151&ref=ts

The Poetry & Illustration magazine, Popshot, is now looking for submissions for its fourth issue.

The theme is ‘This Is Modern Living’.

We look for poems with originality, not carbon copies of poetry classics.

Poems with a linguistic focus on rhythm, repetition and pattern are preferred but this definitely doesn’t mean obscure free verse is overlooked.

Poems must be no longer than 25 lines, previously unpublished and written to the theme.

Please also include a paragraph or two about yourself and a short explanation of the poem – why you came to write it and what it means to you.

Submit poems by email to submit@popshotpopshot.com by the 31st July 2010 at the very latest.