|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Looking ahead to the 2007 festival...
The 2006 Orange Young Writers' Festival was a massive success, with over 100
young writers from across the North East of England coming together to get creative
with their writing in the summer holidays. The events were hosted at 6 venues
(Alnwick Garden, Queen's Hall Hexham, Sunderland Library, Gala Theatre in Durham,
Darlington Arts Centre and the Arc in Stockton) and involved 14 professional writers,
2 actors and 2 artists.
Not only that, but in October 2006 we published Monkey Business, a collection of work by the 10-18 year olds who took part in the festival.
The book turned out to be a real smash, not just with the young contributors and
their families, but with local libraries and press. Newcastle's Crack magazine
reviewed Monkey Business as their book of the month in November - result!
We love working with young writers because they're the future of the writing,
and they come up with the best and most exciting work. There are some big changes
planned for our 2007 festival. For one, the festival will no longer be sponsored
by Orange. We've worked with Orange for 4 years now, and they've provided us with
brilliant support and the cash to make sure that the festival is free to everyone
who takes part. It's still early days, and although the summer activity may be
a bit different from the old festival, we're determined to do something cool that
will really get you writing!
Watch this space for how you can get involved in summer 2007!
Orange is sponsoring this unique festival. For more information about them, please
see their webssite
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
|
What was the Orange Young Writers' Festival?
Between 2003 and 2006 New Writing North worked with phone company Orange to hold
a festival of free creative writing courses for young people in the North East
in their summer holidays. The festival was open to any teenager between 11 and
18, and offered workshops on story writing, poetry, scriptwriting, comic art,
website editing and magazine journalism. The festival was run by professional
writers, who were sometimes joined by artists, actors and film-makers.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Where did the festival take place?
Over the years that the festival ran the number of venues expanded, so that in
2006 we had 6 courses taking place throughout the region - in Alnwick, Hexham,
Darlington, Durham, Stockton and Sunderland.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Why isn't the Orange Young Writers' Festival happening this year?
The festival will no longer be sponsored by Orange, but that doesn't mean it
all has to come to an end. New Writing North will be working with new festival
sponsors, and there will be a festival in 2007 - it won't be exactly the same,
but we hope that it will encourage young writers to come back, and attract new
participants too! |
| |
|
|
|
|
So what will be happening instead?
We're still in the planning stages of the event, so watch this space... |
| |
|
|
|
|
How do I find out more?
If you took part in the 2006 Orange Young Writers' Festival, the chances are
that you are already on our special young writers' mailing list. If you're worried
that you may not be - or definitely aren't and want to sign up - send an email
to holly@newwritingnorth.com. We'll be mailing or emailing everyone when we've
got information about what's going on and how to sign up. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
 |
What do young writers think of it? |
| |
We've waded through all the comments made by this year's festival participants, and here are some of the things they had to say: |
| |
I especially enjoyed developing a scene for theatre and constructing a Renga poem, which I had never done before. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“It was a really useful experience for all budding writers.”
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“It was brilliant and really made me enjoy writing again.” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“It was incredible to meet new people, try new things and meet real poets.” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“This festival gave me new confidence in my talents and got me writing again after a period of writer’s block!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“I made friends, learnt cool stuff and had an amazing time.” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“This is the third one I’ve been to, and I’ll be going next year as well!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“The best part was when the actors read out our scripts. It sounded really professional!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“Not what I expected – in a nice way!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“My experience has been fantastic, and working with and getting feedback from published writers and poets was the best!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“I enjoyed every minute of the festival and would love to come back next year.” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“This week was brilliant. We did all sorts and it wasn’t embarrassing to perform your work because everyone else was doing it. I’m definitely coming back next year.” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a week of the holidays!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
“Completely astonishing and very fulfilling. A worthwhile experience!” |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
