Deadline 31st Jan

MBD is looking for three writers to create two short five-minute virtual reality experiences each, responding to the theme of ‘THE BIG LIE’.

Whether you are a songwriter, podcaster, poet, playwright, screenwriter, or novelist, your application is welcome. The writing task must include character ideas, settings, actions, and practical considerations for the space in which the audience will move.

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We want to read work that challenges and excites us, whether it’s a piece of reportage, a personal essay, a short story, a poem, or something that blurs generic boundaries.

All submissions should be previously unpublished (this includes websites, personal blogs etc.). Submissions should be in English, but may be translations (copyright permission is the responsibility of the translator).

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We are employing three part time, freelance community outreach officers on 12-month fixed term contracts as part of our Outreach for Recovery project. This project, funded by The National Lottery and Arts Council, aims to bring World Jam’s activities to local marginalised communities and expand these activities into different areas of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

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Join us for Ludlow Fringe 2022 - register your interest now!

It’s happening and it’s decided... this coming year's dates are from Saturday 19th June to Sunday 18th July!

We know it's been a rough couple of years so, we want to do our utmost to support and promote all our artists and performers as best we can, and our fully hybrid programme will accommodate Live, Live-streamed, Pre-recorded and Visual Arts events.

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This call for papers is centered on the theme of “The Beautiful Struggle: Black Writers Lighting the Way” in the works of Tracy K. Smith, Jacqueline Woodson, Herb Boyd, and Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (who are all NBWC2022 Honorees), as well as on the works of Haki R. Madhubuti and/or John Oliver Killens. The selected papers will be presented at the 16th National Black Writers Conference (NBWC2022).

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BBC Children’s Commissioning and Acquisitions requires an experienced script editor to perform script editing duties on independent drama and comedy productions commissioned for the 7+ audience, and to co-ordinate and contribute to development of independent children’s scripted content.

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Writing Off Hate has been an incredible project connecting young people with local professional writers (playwright Kevin Fegan and shadow writer Ty’rone Haughton) and heritage resources from the National Holocaust Centre and Museum to forge a deeper understanding of the causes and effects of hate crime.

They looked at the way hate crime escalates from simple aspects of human behaviour, like falling out, and how groups of like-minded people form tribes, and then how conflicts can occur between tribes. They discussed how conflict can lead to war and, worse still, genocide, as seen during the Holocaust. They created work which forms a manifesto against hate crime. Their work was collated into a short film, launched to commemorate National Holocaust Memorial Day 2021.

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Every February four intrepid poets set off on adventure into sonnet territory. Twenty-eight* days, twenty-eight* sonnets. Let's go! Your poets are: Andy Bennett, Leanne Moden, Russel J Turner, and Fay Roberts.

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Felicity Finch reports on a pioneering project that sees members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra working alongside inmates in HMP Norwich. The aim is to workshop, draft and perform personal songs that will help establish a bond between offenders and their children.

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There is a lively curiosity springing from this collection, full of vibrant language and a wealth of colourful images. Vron is a poet who really knows how to draw us into her 'adventures without a plan'. There is a thirst for learning throughout, for patterns, for finding where science ends and magic begins, for discovering the root of things.

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These markets pay $50 to $600 for fiction. A few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. They’re open now, or will open soon.

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This January there are more than five dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.

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Joelle Taylor has won the TS Eliot poetry prize for her look at butch lesbian counterculture in the 1990s, C+nto & Othered Poems, praised by judges as “a blazing book of rage and light”.

A mix of memoir and conjecture, the collection, Taylor’s fourth, reveals the underground communities forged by women where they could reclaim their bodies as their own.

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We are looking for complex stories, poems, and essays with a strong female point of view. Our focus is on literary work. We love unexpected poetic language and a bit of magic realism. We welcome all authors and their words with one caveat in mind — if you can sum up your female character in one line (or worse yet: one word), our publication is probably not for you.

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WHAT
Ljubljana, a UNESCO City of Literature since 2015, offers two one-month residencies for writers at the Švicarija/Swisshouse Creative Centre, which is part of the International Centre of Graphic Arts.

WHEN
May and November 2022 (one month per residency/applicant).

WHO
The residency is aimed at foreign published writers with a palpable, factual relation with any of the other UNESCO Cities of Literature that has to be apparent and described as part of the application.

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We are pleased to announce the 10th poetry competition run by Poets & Players, one of Manchester’s leading organisers of poetry and music events.

Our judge for 2022 is Kim Moore

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The UK’s first specialist black bookshop is weighing up a move to new premises after a crowdfunding campaign to save it from closure raised £50,000 in just a few days.

New Beacon Books was founded in 1966 and has been based in Stroud Green Road, north London, for all but one year of its existence.

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Here are 45 themed submission calls and contests for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some of the submission calls are: on the frontier; Christmas Gothic; active shooter; lesbian historic fiction; forbidden magic; solstice; Samhain sorceries; paradoxical pets; medical mysteries (with Dr Watson and his friend); 2022 Annus Horribilis; and furry Halloween.

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Would you like to be a support act for Nottingham Poetry Festival?

Simply fill out the form below to be considered for our future events.

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So what do we publish? Put simply: great poetry. There is no other theme. We read your work completely anonymously and publish established authors alongside previously unpublished and emerging voices. It's our ethos to publish accomplished poems by the most exciting poets.

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Facebook groups are a great way to connect with readers and writers. In addition, they provide a venue for announcing your new release, promoting your free days on Amazon, discussing topics related to publishing, and marketing and writing tips, and anything else related to books.

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We are an online literary magazine by and about contemporary women writers from around the world. Women Writers, Women’s Books was launched in 2011 to be another platform for contemporary women writers and authors around the world writing in English. Our mission is to encourage and promote the visibility of women writers. We are particularly interested in the edges, the intersections between genres, nationalities, languages, arts, cultures.

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The pandemic has not been good for my fiction. It’s been too easy, since March 2020, to knock out articles and essays for a paycheck and forgo the pleasures of novel writing in favor of making the family yet another meal or suggesting mother-daughter activities that don’t involve my teen’s smartphone. Colleagues around the world tell a similar tale, admitting to profound anxiety in this changed world, along with a lack of motivation and focus.

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This January there are more than four dozen writing contests for short fiction, novels, poetry, CNF, nonfiction, and short plays. Prizes range from $60,000 to publication. None charge entry fees.

Some of these contests have age and geographical restrictions, so read the instructions carefully.

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A group to share poetry events which can be accessed online. Tell us about upcoming events and how to access them. Recommend recordings of events which are still available to watch online.

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Notts TV Book Club December: People Like Her

A time and place to talk about books. Join Becky Cullen, Sandeep Mahal

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Join Travel Writing World host Jeremy Bassetti as he talks with the world’s most celebrated travel writers about their work and about the business and craft of travel writing in this award-winning podcast.

New Travel Writing World episodes are published every other week (fortnightly) on Mondays.

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Legendary author, Professor Von Learning Pool needs your help!

On a quest to find the world’s most magnificent mythical creatures for upcoming book, ‘Tall Tales’, the Professor is running out of time. This is where you come in! With the publishing deadline fast approaching, enter into the Professor’s magical world of myths and legends and let your imagination take you on a fantastical adventure of tall tales.

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Send your submission of no more and no less than 4-6 pieces of work and include YOUR NAME in the subject line. [please cut and paste email address and add it to your address book – it’s a spam avoidance technique] We ONLY accept submissions by email.

While nothing is sacred – and we will consider ‘political/current affairs’ contributions – we do reserve the right to reject any submission we feel is deliberately offensive or actionable.

Sorry, we do not pay for submissions – we have no money.

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Established in 2000 by New Writing North, the Northern Writers’ Awards supports work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England. The Awards support writers creatively as they develop their work towards publication, as well as helping them to progress professionally and navigate their way through the publishing industry.

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Deadline to register: January 28, 2022

Back for its eighth year, 28 Plays Later is a writing opportunity from The Literal Challenge - a social enterprise that brings together a community of writers, wannabe writers and newbies through creative challenges.

Every day, you’ll get a writing brief, then you’ll have 36 hours to write a play in response. Plays can be of any length, genre and language.

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We’re international and ANYONE can enter a poem written in the English language (no prior credits necessary). This year will be judged by author and poet Camille T. Dungy, poet and naturalist Anna Selby, and activist and writer Sara Hudston. First prize: £5,000, second prize: £2,000, third prize: £1,000. With an additional £500 prize for the ‘Best Poem of Landscape’ sponsored by the AONB family. In addition the winner will receive a residency (location to be confirmed).

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Global warming is the big issue of the day, disproportionately affecting developing nations. As the world heats up, the changing climate will likely be the greatest challenge future generations face; whether this be environmental, or socio-political (though the two seem to walk hand in hand…) We can’t think of a worthier topic for writers to explore.

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The Cheshire Prize for Literature 2021 is now open with a theme of sustainability, open to all genres (short stories, children's literature, scriptwriting and poetry), and for the first time ever they are encouraging children to enter as well. They are delighted to be in partnership with Storyhouse again.

This year they are introducing a children’s competition and want to encourage all ages from four to 100 to be creative. Please see below for age groups and which category is open to each age group.

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The Manchester Writing Competition offers the UK’s biggest literary awards for unpublished work, offered by the country’s most successful writing school. The Competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (UK Poet Laureate 2009-19) and has awarded more than £200,000 to writers.

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online
20th Jan

As an introduction to experimental poetry writing, this one-off two-hour workshop will provide an overview of different experimental poetry practices, including: visual and concrete poetry, sound poetry, pangrammatic poetry, palindromes and anagram poetry, conceptual poetry and various other experiments championed by the Oulipians.

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Grays Coffee Shop & Kitchen 31 Rutland Street Leicester
21st Jan

Come see the 2021 slam winners compete for the title of Some-Antics Slam Champion 2021! The winner takes home a cash prize, trophy and paid feature slots at Some-Antics and other events throughout the East Midlands.

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online
22nd Jan

In this friendly and supportive online workshop, comedian and author ROSIE WILBY will discuss typical joke structures, comedy writing prompts and techniques, and explore how writing for stage and page can differ.

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online
24th Jan

A warm welcome in a creative and supportive environment..... one evening every month for an hour and a half. It's FREE - but you will need to REGISTER so that we can send you the Zoom link. (EVEN IF YOU HAVE ATTENDED BEFORE) Please CONTACT CATH if you wish TO TELL A STORY

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online
24th and 31st Jan

Kick-off your 2022 writing goals with Alex, where you’ll explore the popular medium of short stories, looking at the history of the form and how the short story is defined.

You’ll look at the hook, at characterisation in short stories, the specifics of pacing and structure in the form and much more.

This 2-part course serves as an ideal introduction for anyone new to the form, or a helpful reminder for anyone returning to short fiction!

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online
25th Jan

A live show & community of poets ~ global locals from everywhere... Spoken World Online re-Zooms the amazing weekly open mic, SpokenWord Paris, since the quarantine began.

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online
26th Jan

We are starting 2022 off with a bang with our guest poet Caroline Bird. She is the author of six collections from Carcanet including the Forward Prize winning The Air Year, published in 2020. Caroline’s work is surreal, funny, playful and above all, surprising. Whilst Wordsworth isn’t best known for his playfulness, the revolutionary nature of Lyrical Ballads caused both surprise and consternation at the time of publication.

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online
27th Jan

Drawing on comic theory, this fun, hands-on, two-hour workshop will give learners techniques for creating material far funnier than this workshop description, which, frankly, Hugh admits to phoning in a bit.

A workshop for all levels of experience and writers of all genres. Whether aspiring or established writers of any medium: novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, filmmakers, poets, storytellers – anybody interested in exploring the line between comedy and drama.

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The Maypole Inn Derby
28th Jan

The first Wise Wise of the new year, they'll be an open mic and we'll have a lovely performance from our Bristol headliner Sam J Grudgings. 25 tickets available, find them on presale via the link.

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online
2nd Feb

It's 2022! Let's hang out, write some poetry, do a quiz and have a laugh! Zoom link will be in the event on the night

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online
2nd Feb

In November 2021 Leanne Moden The F Project's Virtual Writer in Residence asked community members to take part in a short,fun questionaire about The F Project. Inspired by the answers received Leanne has created a crowd sourced poem about The F Project which she will share with us in this zoom meet. Thank you Leanne and the Melbourne City of Literature for a wonderful Residency.

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online
2nd Feb

This six week course is a perfect introduction to sketch comedy, whether you have ever tried writing comedy before or not. As part of a fun supportive group of writers you will explore classic comedy sketches, discover what makes them work and create your own, brand new, scripts. You will get the chance to share your work with other class members and learn from each other. You will also get private feedback from the course leader to help you continue to develop. By the end of this course you will have a collection of scripts you've written, that you can take out and share at comedy and theatre events as you choose.

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Firebug, Leicester
2nd Feb

The “Proper Funny Launch Party” returns to kick the Leicester Comedy Festival off with a bang! As always the show includes sets from a wide-variety of acts, ranging from previous Festival Award Winners/Nominees to some of the very finest emerging acts. All of which is held together seamlessly by Leicester’s own Jason Neale (MC)

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Various Venues
2nd - 20th Feb

LEICESTER COMEDY FESTIVAL – Europe’s biggest and longest running comedy festival

Leicester Comedy Festival is BACK and we will be celebrating British comedy again in February 2022, celebrating our 29th anniversary with a fantastic line up of hundreds of shows! The line up features over 560 shows, over 800 performances and 64 venues.

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online
5th Feb

Lenguas Diversity is a monthly performance space for your voices, a community hungry for different lenguas where we gather and celebrate diversidad through any kind of art. Let’s keep it abierto! Performers will have up to FIVE minutes each, helpful for those who decide to read a piece in a different language than English and then translate it.

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online
8th Feb

What a wonderful way to spend an evening! We'll be swapping stories from many lands with our "visiting" troupe of professional storytellers. Come and enjoy fun and fellowship of friends while we share our intriguing, entertaining and engaging tales.

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The Playwright
9th Feb

SMUT! is a new night of poetry and storytelling in Nottingham celebrating human sexuality. A verbal burlesque that can feature anything from a deeply moving love letter, to an erotic limerick. Whether it's heartfelt, cheeky or downright indecent, we'd love to see you at this Open Mic Night. SMUT! is an inclusive safe-space to enjoy all kinds of love and the writing it inspires. So book your tickets now!

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City Arts, Hockley, Nottingham
10th Feb

DIY Poets are delighted to bring their first showcase of 2022 as a hybrid event from City Arts, Nottingham.

We’ll have featured sets from Gail Webb and Pete Clavin, music from Richard Banker, plus performances by 10 DIY Poets.

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Main Street,Cotesbach,Lutterworth
12th Feb

Some-Antics is Leicester's third best poetry night and will be bringing some of the East Midlands' finest comedy acts to Cotesbach Educational Trust as part of Leicester Comedy Festival.

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Nottingham Contemporary
12th Feb

Nottingham Poetry Festival invites you to a creative wander around the inspiring Nottingham Contemporary.

The Nottingham Poetry Festival team will greet you at Reception with clipboards, paper and pens, inviting you to respond to the building, its surroundings, and exhibition 'Our Silver City, 2094’ by writing, doodling and chatting, all guided by Lead Writer Caroline Stancer.

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online
12th Feb

Story Structure 101 A half-day online masterclass to help you get your head around narrative structure. Learn to shape your stories so you can craft fantastic fiction without losing the plot.

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GRAYS Coffee Shop & Kitchen, Leicester
17th Feb

t's Some-Antics' 50th show! How better to spend it than at the Leicester Comedy Festival!

We will have spoken word and comedy open mic, a poetry slam, Ninja Bob playing tunes and the hilarious Jacob Nussey featuring!

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online
20th Feb

One of the wonderful things about poetry is the freedom it gives us to write whatever we like, and free verse is more popular than ever before. But, what can traditional poetic forms teach us about our writing, and about ourselves? Sometimes, constraints allow us to break free of our usual writing ruts, and push our writing into new places, making us better, more versatile writers, and giving us the space to articulate ourselves even more clearly.

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online
22nd February 1st March 8th March 15th March 22nd March

Join Writing East Midlands and University of Nottingham who are hosting this third series of FREE workshops, helping you to positively explore your mental health through creative writing and poetry

Writer and Assistant Professor of Mental Health, Dr Mark Pearson from University of Nottingham, and Dr Helen Foster, Research Associate from the University of Leicester will be on hand for 5 workshops, to assist you to write about your thoughts, feelings, and experiences around your own mental health.

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The Maypole Cafe Bar and Theatre 42 Brook Street Derby
25th Feb

Word Wise is the concept of poet and performer Jamie Thrasivoulou, now compered and by Sophie Sparham. A spoken word and poetry night uniting the best talent from around the UK and beyond, with Derby's finest performers. Word Wise won the 2019 Saboteur award for Best Regular Spoken Word Event in the UK.

This month sees the wonderful Thom Seddon take to the stage:

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Bulwell Riverside Library Main Street Bulwell, Nottingham
28th Feb

Nottingham Poetry Festival invites you to a creative wander around the historical Bulwell. Beginning at Bulwell Riverside Library, we will explore our surroundings to write observations, thoughts and memories with guidance from local poet Sonia Burns.

The Nottingham Poetry Festival team will greet you at Reception with clipboards, paper and pens, inviting you to respond to the library and its surroundings by writing, doodling and chatting, all guided by Sonia.

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