New Writing North

Based in Newcastle, New Writing North was the first regional writing development agency in the UK. It remains both the largest and the only one to work with writers across all literary forms, from drama and screen to poetry and fiction. The initiative funded by the Trust, Proud Words, enables young people to explore issues of gender and sexuality through literature, and to express their feelings and perspectives through writing. LGBTQ+ writers will run 15 sessions per school in the most disadvantaged areas of Sunderland, Newcastle, Gateshead, South Shields, Cramlington and Amble. Proud Words’ success will rely on New Writing North’s experience and expertise in meaningfully engaging young people, in using literature as a tool for discovery, and in supporting talent at a distance from the UK’s traditional centres of cultural production.