The Writers’ Toolkit 2010
The Writers’ Toolkit 2010 – Writer Networking Conference
Saturday 20th November 2010
“You should be congratulated on a superb event. It was buzzing.” Jim Crace, novelist and key note speaker
Thanks to all those who attended and contributed to this excellent day.
The Writers’ Toolkit 2010 – Speakers Biographical Details
Naylah Ahmed has been writing since the late 90s, beginning with poetry and prose including two short stories published by Tindal Street Press. She has had several plays aired on BBC Radio 4, and in 2008 her stage play Butcher Boys won The Bruntwood Playwriting Competition . She was one of six writers of These Four Streets, a play staged in The Door (Birmingham Repertory Theatre) in 2009. Naylah has also written for television including 6 episodes of BBC Scotland’s prime time soap River City. She is currently working on two stage plays, one of which has been accepted for production by Birmingham Rep. Naylah has also worked for BBC Radio Drama as development producer, producing radio plays by new writers for BBC Radio 4, and was founding script editor of Silver Street, a BBC radio soap from 2004-2010.
Naomi Alsop lives and writes in the gap between Coventry and Birmingham. She runs and co-ordinates writing workshops for children and adults, organises training for writers in schools, programmes literary events and is in the final year of the MA in Writing at the University of Warwick. www.naomialsop.com
Sue Beardsmore worked for the BBC for over 20 years as a broadcast journalist for ‘Midlands Today’ – reporting, presenting, writing scripts and making films. She now works on projects in the UK and abroad sharing those skills and her experience with individuals and groups from Chief Executives to schoolchildren. She is a facilitator and regularly chairs events and debates from the deadly serious to the frankly trivial. She enjoys public speaking. She is a non-executive Director of Tindal Street Press. http://www.suebeardsmore.co.uk
Jo Bell is a writer and performer, facilitator, workshop leader, editor, live literature promoter and manager of creative projects across the UK. Her main job is to co-ordinate National Poetry Day, for which she is the Director. She is also a director of Living Derby and a trustee of the Ledbury Poetry Festival. Jo devised the online/hard copy writing project Bugged, with writer David Calcutt, and has had her first play for young people performed by Action Transport Theatre. She was one of the artists included in the Companion Stones project, to put new poetry stones in the moors of her native Peak District. Formerly a professional archaeologist, Jo retains a strong interest in historic landscapes. She is based on 67′ narrowboat Tinker which is often moored in Cheshire. www.bell-jar.co.uk www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/
Julia Bird is the Programme & Marketing Officer for the Poetry School, and also manages and produces live literature touring shows through her own freelance identity, Jaybird. Her last tour ‘You Are Here’ featured the work of poets Colette Bryce, Daljit Nagra and Jo Shapcott; and a new tour is planned for Autumn 2011. Her poetry collection ‘Hannah and the Monk’ was published by Salt in 2008. www.jaybird.org.uk www.poetryschool.com
Luke Brown is Senior Editor at Tindal Street Press, where he worked in a small team since 2002, publishing writers including Catherine O’Flynn, Anthony Cartwright, Raphael Selbourne and Gaynor Arnold. www.tindalstreet.co.uk
For the last five years, Christine Bridgwood has been director of Creative Partnerships Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire (now Partners in Creative Learning), delivering the national flagship programme for creativity in schools. She was an editor in Berlin, a literature programmer in London, and Literature Officer at Arts Council North West for seven years. She developed several innovative literature projects for Arts Council West Midlands, including Poetry On Loan. She was responsible for creative industries development at Stafford Borough Council, and was a research associate in cultural development at Staffordshire University. In her spare time she is an avid reader and occasional writer. www.picl.uk.com
Antonia Byatt is Director, Literature at Arts Council England. She has the overview of Arts Council funding (about £11m per year) across England and works to build partnerships with broadcasters, publishers, libraries and the education sector to provide more opportunities for people to produce and consume creative writing. Before joining Arts Council England, Antonia was Director of the Women’s Library at London Metropolitan University (2000 – 2007), an academic research library and cultural centre containing the largest collection of women’s history in the UK. Prior to joining the library, Antonia was Head of Literature and Talks at the South Bank Centre (1993-2000), which involved overseeing the literature programme of around 130 events a year and overall management of the poetry library. She is a governor of the Bishopsgate Institute and since 2008 has been a governor of New Buckinghamshire University. www.artscouncil.org.uk/artforms/literature/
Kate Chapman came to Birmingham in 1998 having spent three years as artistic director
We are sorry, but transcripts of sessions are not available.