Unique opportunity for writers wanting to write for children

New Writing South -- the literary development agency - and Theatre Centre - an organisation that commissions and tours new writing in schools - are looking for 5-10 writers in the south east to be a part of the national Skylines Project. 
Skylines is an innovative programme for playwrights to develop skills for Young People’s Theatre designed to develop a writer’s ability and interest in creating work for young audiences.

The project will involve five groups of writers from across the UK, one of which will be at The Writers' Place in Brighton.  There will be an initial gathering for all writers involved, which will take place in London.  There will then be three sessions in Brighton, led by professional writers that specialise in writing for young audiences to include exercises and tasks, with some self-guided study and an online learning/interaction element. This will culminate in a sharing event, led and directed by Theatre Centre actors and directors to showcase ideas at the end of the process with a young audience.

The introductory event will be taking place in London, ideally towards the end of March/beginning of April. Sharing will ideally take place by Autumn 2012.  The timing of sessions will be negotiated with our venue partners based on individual needs and other programming.

This is a fantastic, unique and free opportunity for writers wanting to write for children and young people. If you are interested in being a part of Skylines please contact Chris Taylor by email only chris@newwritingsouth.com saying why this project would work for you.

Fiction for children - free competition

Commonword - a Manchester based organised with a mission to help new writers - has launched a competition for unpublished authors of children's fiction. (They have a very specific definition of what that means, but basically if you have already published something in another field - as long as it is not a novel for children - you should be ok. Read all the conditions thoroughly before submitting though...)

What they want

(Up to the) First 4000 words of a children's novel already written. Synopsis. Biography.

When they want it

February 29 2012

Special feature

The writing has to "embrace ethnic diversity" OR the author must "through their own ethnicity and culture."

Who can submit

Over 16

Resident in UK

Unpublished - read the terms and condititions

What you get (fingers crossed and a lot of hard work)

£500 cash prize

professional mentoring 

£100 worth of Puffin books of the winner’s choice.

Honour and Glory. (Although it won't help you at Sainsbury's check-out, it could be just what you need to interest an agent or publisher) 

A Chance to write for children's TV

BBC writersroom has teamed up with the BAFTA winning channel to launch a brand new competition, GET A SQUIGGLE ON! It will give new writers from different backgrounds and experiences an opportunity to develop their professional skills working with the CBeebies team. 

The competition aims to inspire writers to be as creative and imaginative as they like in order to write a 20-minute live action script that will captivate young minds. It can be in any contemporary genre, including Drama, Comedy, Music, Dance, Puppets, Educational (with a light touch) or a combination of more than one.

A shortlist of 20-25 writers will be invited to a masterclass, where they will hear from experienced writers and CBeebies experts, and get an invaluable opportunity to hone their writing skills. The lucky final 8-10 shortlisted writers will spend an intensive residential week developing their work, bolstering their writer’s ‘toolbox’ and craft, and working with the CBeebies team. 

A selection of tailored learning resources are available on the BBC writersroom website to help get people inspired and guide them through the competition process.  Click on the title of this post to go straight there

The closing date for entries is Thursday 14^th July

Heart Sick or Heartened?

News that the "the funniest new voice in fiction" is 21 year old debut author Ivan Brett whose children's book Casper Candlewacks in Death by Pigeon was the subject of 

fierce competition in a hotly contested auction

(don't you just love that phrase, don't those words just sing when they are put together in the same sentence?) may make your confidence wobble if you have been slaving over the first three chapters for the last three years. So young and a four book deal! But it's a reminder that there are no age limits in writing, no minimum, no maximum, no pensioning off, no under age keep out signs...in the end there is just the writing. Only the writing. So now is the time to get on with the fourth chapter, and the fifth, and the sixth...

If you're interested the deal was done with HarperCollins Children's books by Harriet and Eve White at the Eve White Literary Agency.

Irish Book of the Noughties....and the winner is....

The Irish Book of the Decade had a short list of 50 chosen by reviewers, libraries and booksellers. I've just picked a few out...

That they May Face the Rising Sun - John McGahern (Faber, 2002) I am sitting only feet away from my own treasured copy, each sentence a gentle joy. Read it. Read it.
Keane - Roy Keane and Eamon Dunphy (Penguin, 2002) The book of the decade??? Not of five minutes. I admit I'm biased: I still haven't forgiven Keane for having a row with the Irish team coach during the 2002 world cup and being sent home. And Dunphy is just so mean to people...
The Story of Lucy Gault  - William Trevor (Penguin, 2002)
A master storyteller. Every book is a lesson in how to write..
Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor (Vintage, 2002)
I know people loved this story of a ship sailing to America during the famine but I didn't. In fact, for my Masters I wrote an essay criticising its heavy handed use of historical research which won me my highest mark. Although it was accurate in every detail, I didn't believe Star of the Sea - people who have been through a trauma like the famine don't find it easy to revisit it in their thoughts or in conversation. All the facts were right and it still felt wrong.
In the Forest - Edna O'Brien (Phoenix, 2002)
A novelist who uses language like a poet and she seems to get better with age. My personal favourite is Down by the River. It contains a half page of description about a father abusing his daughter that is so painful I couldn't read it in one sitting. But it's written in simple, everyday language and is neither graphic nor prurient. It is simply so well crafted that it achieves what every writer is aiming for - that sense of being there.
PS I Love You - Cecelia Ahern (HarperCollins, 2004)  I've used it in classes because I think it shows that there is nothing more important than the story. It lacks feeling and depth. It is not well written and is a pretty immature take on grief and death (well, she was only 22 when she wrote it), but she had an idea and ran with it and the publishers and film companies and the readers followed...
Memoir - John McGahern (Faber, 2005)  ditto what I wrote above. Double ditto.
The Sea - John Banville    (Picador, 2005) Winner of the Booker  On my must read list (and I have no excuse because I actually have a copy somewhere)
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne    (David Fickling, 2006) If you can buy into the idea that he could be there and not know...then this is a heartbreak. A fairytale kind of heartbreak and I'm thinking of the Brothers Grimm and not Walt Disney...
Lots of other famous names among the rest of the 50 --
Sheila O'Flanagan, Anne Enright (another Booker winner), Jennifer Johnston, Alice Taylor, Sebastian Barry, Deirdre Madden, Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Patricia Scanlan and Colm Toibin.
The winner was announced today and it is (...extended drum roll...)
DEREK LANDY(never heard of him) for Skulduggery Pleasant (not even in the same continent as my must read list).
He is a comic fantasy author writing for children (which is 25% of the publishing market in Ireland apparently and probably similar elsewhere) and even the people who had heard of him and knew that his books are an international success didn't expect him to win.
"Astonishingly enough, I am not taking this opportunity to gloat, because apparently that isn't very classy," Landy said with a big grin on his face.
More power to him...and the thousands of young readers who voted for him...and the thousands more who are reading because of him...

The new Irish children's laureate and my own Treasure Island

This week award-winning Irish author and publisher Siobhán Parkinson was named Laureate na nÓg, Ireland's first laureate for children's literature. She is the author of more than 20 books aimed at children and teenagers. She is also publisher of a new children's imprint, Little Island, which I mentioned in this blog back in March because it was actively seeking new (Ireland based) writers.  Siobhan says that one of her main aims as laureate would be to ensure that 

every child in the country has access to a nice, bright, warm, cheerful, comfortable library, where they can go and find the books that will open their minds and bring them into wonderful imaginary places.

Amen to that.

I learned to read in that kind of library. It was a wonderful place called Treasure Island. It was part of  a small block of council flats in Islington, North London around the corner from the present day offices of The Guardian newspaper. I can still remember the chief librarian Miss Jessica Waller with her pearl perm and Miss Marple tweed skirts. She never allowed a child to take out a book that was too easy ..it was always about stretching your abilities, discovering new stories and going on new adventures. I met Mary Poppins there and knights in Ronald Welch's books and turf cutters in Patricia Lynch's...
I got to know the ballerinas in Noel Stratfield's novels and didn't like them much because I had no desire to stand on my toes (she came to Treasure Island once and I never thought it odd that this elderly woman should have a man's name...). 

Every child should have a Treasure Island

New Irish Children's Publishers

I've just heard about Little Island, a new Irish publisher of children and teenage fiction which is accepting unsolicited manuscripts from Irish authors. They are keen to see fiction aimed at 9+ age group and teenagers. An added bonus is that they are willing to accept submissions by email - full details on the website. Click on the title of this post to go there.