This interactive six-week course is designed to inspire beginners and energise more established creative writers to write about nature and environmental themes. The course will cover poetry, fiction and non-fiction and will look at blogging and other ways to find readers.

Classes take place on Tuesday evenings from 28 September 2010.

No previous experience of environmental writing is required.

The next closing date for the annual New Writer prose and poetry prizes is 30th November 2010.
One of the major, international prizes for contemporary fiction and poetry, essays and articles, this is an opportunity to bring your work to a wider audience.
What The New Writer is looking for is bold, incisive material in any genre just as long as it reflects writing today. Up to twenty prizes will be presented as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The New Writer 'Special Collection'.

FLOW – The Free Word Festival – Daily from September 15 to October 5
Returning for its second year, FLOW - The Free Word Festival - celebrates the best in literature, literacy and free expression.

Showcasing a vibrant range of artists, highlights will include performances by acclaimed international musicians Mahsa Vadat and Knut Reiersud, a traditional Urdu poetry Mushaira, discussions on the future of literary criticism and publishing in the Google age, a day-long programme of events to celebrate International Translation Day including events with Axel Scheffler, author of The Gruffalo and the inaugural Harvill Secker Young Translator’s Prize, as well as a host of other workshops, readings and performances featuring the talents of Quentin Blake, Daniel Pennac, Ismail Kadare and John Hegley.

This new programme will combine bespoke professional development support with marketing and commission opportunities for practitioners working in all art forms, including literature, music, theatre, dance and the visual arts within the county of North Yorkshire. The programme will assist the long-term sustainability of practitioners at different stages of development, including early career and the more established practitioners.

The programme will provide one-to-one mentoring support to professional practitioners over a period of twelve to eighteen months and will also provide ten commissions for North Yorkshire based practitioners working in literature, music, theatre, dance, visual and combined arts to develop new work that is inspired by an aspect of North Yorkshire’s culture, heritage or environment.

The deadline for receipt of applications will be 6 September 2010. Further details will be published on the following websites: www.creativenorthyorkshire.com and www.art-connections.org.uk
The co-ordinator for Extending Practice, Celebrating Place is Hazel Cameron. 
Contact her by email at: hazel@creativenorthyorkshire.com