Pete talks to Aimee Wilkinson, Project Co-ordinator at Writing East Midlands about exciting plans for 2012.
HM: How did WEM get started?
AW: Writing East Midlands was born from a feeling that there was a real need to support writer development and create opportunities for writers across the region. WEM was set up by the Arts Council to do just this, and to encourage more investment in writing. Writing and literature has often been seen as the ‘poor relation’ compared to the support received by other art forms, and WEM works to counteract this, to promote just how important writing actually is and make sure it is recognised and celebrated. In just three years, we’ve made a big impact on literature across the region.
HM: Tell us a bit about WEM? What do you do?
AW: We’re here to help all writers at different stages of their careers. We connect writers and create opportunities for them to develop their craft. We work with partners to develop an extensive range of projects and events. Our work is really varied, and no day is the same. We run the annual East Midlands Book Award, celebrating the best published book by a writer from the region, with a brilliant cash prize of £1000. This really highlights the talent the East Midlands has to offer, and we were delighted when the judges chose to award the first prize in 2011 to the fantastic Leicestershire poet Mark Goodwin, for his book Shod published by Nine Arches Press.
One of our big projects is Write Here, our Writers in Residence programme of excellent residencies across the region. Residencies have been at hospitals, theatres, schools, libraries, museums and art galleries, including Nottingham Contemporary. At Lakeside Arts Centre for instance, Peter Rumney and Ruth Lewis Jones worked with children from Nottingham City schools to improve their writing, while enjoying the exhibitions in the gallery. Through these residencies, writers who want to gain experience of working in different settings are given the opportunity to shadow more experienced writers, thus gaining confidence and different skills. This sort of work has been really rewarding and great for all the writers and partners involved.
WEM also runs writer development services, including our Critical Read Scheme, in partnership with The Literary Consultancy, providing writers with an in depth report on their work and where it fits within the market place. We’ve run a successful mentoring programme since the beginning, pairing writers up with a suitable mentor for a year to work on an extended piece of work, such as a novel. These services are of great importance to emerging writers developing their talent, discovering their voice and finding their way to publication.
HM: Have you got any exciting events or projects in the pipeline?
AW: There are so many! I’m delighted to say that we’re running a rolling short story competition with Lincolnshire Echo called ‘Echo Shorts’. Every fortnight the newspaper publishes a short story from a writer in the region, chosen by WEM, and the best of these will be entered into a cash prize of £300. We’re looking for stories on any topic, up to 2500 words, so if you fancy seeing your work published simply email it to echoshorts@writingeastmidlands.co.uk. We’ve had some great entries in so far and would love to hear from you! It’s wonderful work reading through all the different stories that we get sent in, it really shows the range of writing voices and strength of talent the region has to offer.
Alt.Fiction is our sci fi, horror and fantasy festival, in its sixth year now. In 2012 we’re taking the festival to Phoenix Centre in Leicester on the 13th and 14th of April. The guest of honour this year will be multi-award winning sci fi author, Ken MacLeod, and the weekend will take a fresh approach to genre writing, highlighting writing for screen and games as well as novels. It’s such a fun and friendly atmosphere for writers and genre lovers alike, with top name writers coming from all over the country. Readers can visit our new look website at altfiction.co.uk if they want to know more.
We’re also joining forces with QUAD and Five Leaves Publishing on the 25th January for Crime Espresso, an evening of short, sharp shots of crime fiction. Writers such as the captivating Niki Valentine, Stephen Booth, Carla Banks and David Belbin will be on hand for readings and discussions around the noir aesthetic and its influence on crime writing. Book your tickets through the QUAD website, and for more info on this, or on any of our other events, check out www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk.
HM: What's the best thing about being involved with Writing East Midlands?
AW: Writing is my passion. I’m a writer myself and I understand the issues that writers face in trying to promote their work, earn a living from writing and connecting to other writers, in what can be such a solitary pursuit. I adore helping writers and providing them with the advice and services to develop their skills. In my time at WEM I’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible writers, and witness the positive effect our work has on their writing.
The Lyric Lounge is another of our big projects - it’s a season of poetry and spoken word festivals that travels around the East Midlands. Writing can be so empowering, for people at all different ages and stages in their writing career, and it’s great to be able to give people the platform to perform their work to others alongside top name writers, or even just to give them the chance to meet their writing heroes at our Alt.Fiction festival.
HM: How can people get involved with WEM?
AW: There are loads of ways in which people can be involved in WEM. You can volunteer at events such as Alt.Fiction, you could apply to shadow one of our writers as part of our Writers in Residence programme, anyone can enter our Echo Shorts competition, Critical Reads are available at a highly discounted rate for talented low income writers who want to improve their writing, and we’ll be kicking off a new writer’s mentoring scheme in April - just email me on aimee@writingeastmidlands.co.uk for more info on this, or any of our projects.
If you want to get in touch with other writers and opportunities in your area, check out the homepage of our website which acts as a hub for writers to upload their writer related opportunities and events.
And don’t forget to sign up to our mailing list here so you can get the latest news, events and opportunities straight to your inbox. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.
We’re here to help all writers in the East Midlands, whatever your level, so do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!