Are you a poet, spoken word artist or writer aged 18-25 and living in London? Are you interested in connecting with other young creatives and being part of a new free South East London writers’ collective who’ll be creating work for the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival? We want to hear from you! Spread the Word is looking for young people to become part of our Young Writers Collective.
If you’re new to writing / poetry or spoken word, or if you already have a bit of experience under your belt, Young Writers Collective is for you! Sign up to take part by 7pm on Wednesday 9 October 2024: https://forms.gle/EwX7F9E5XCNqsTLT9
Information on the Young Writers Collective and applying is available in audio and BSL video formats through this link: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/young-writers-collective-application-pack-in-bsl/
What will you gain by taking part
- Meet other young people interested in writing.
- Learn new techniques to improve your poetry, writing and performance skills.
- Become more confident in your voice as a poet, writer or spoken word artist.
- Become part of a supportive creative community.
- Work with professional writers and get an insight into having a creative career.
- Get your work published.
- Have the opportunity to perform at the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival.
Who is it for?
The Young Writers Collective is for young people who:
- Are interested in creating poetry, spoken word or stories
- Are just starting out, or are already being creative with words and performance
- You’ll need to be aged 18-25 and live in London.
- As we’re based in Deptford in Lewisham, we’re especially interested in young creatives living in Lewisham, Bromley, Greenwich or Southwark becoming involved in the Collective.
Who’s involved and what will you be doing?
You’ll be working with our lead facilitator Tolu Agbelusi to develop your creative work; you will be working towards putting together a Young Writers Collective Anthology with the some of the pieces developed during the programme and will have the opportunity to perform those pieces at the Young Writers Collective event at the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival.
Get to know Tolu!
Tolu Agbelusi is a poet and artist working across theatre, film and photography. Author of Locating Strongwoman, her work is published widely, and she has performed internationally including at Medellin International Poetry Festival, Pa Gya Ghana, Cheltenham Lit Fest, etc. Tolu supports the development of emerging writers through mentoring, editing and has designed and facilitated several creative writing courses including Home Sessions, a development initiative for Black poets. She has also taught for Arvon, Poetry School, BBC Words First, etc. Her work is concerned with the unperformed self and deconstructing received narratives, particularly on womanhood, race and social justice.
You’ll get to work with four special award-winning guest tutors, including Rachael Allen, Anthony Anaxagorou and Malika Booker and a surprise guest international award winning poet.
When does it take place?
The Young Writers Collective sessions will run every Wednesday from 16 October 2024 to 02 April 2025, 6pm – 8pm. All sessions will be in-person at The Albany (pizzas and refreshments will be provided!). The Festival event will take place on Saturday 29 March 2025 in the afternoon at Deptford Lounge.
Bursary and access funds?
The Collective is free to take part in. If you need financial support to take part, for example, your travel costs covering, or you need reasonable adjustments to be made, please let us know in the sign up form (link below).
How do I get involved?
If you’d like to become part of the Young Writers Collective, please sign up using this Google Form link by 7pm on Wednesday 9 October 2024: https://forms.gle/EwX7F9E5XCNqsTLT9
To listen to the audio or watch the BSL video of the Google Form questions, please check out this link: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/young-writers-collective-application-pack-in-bsl/
Young people who applied for or were part of the pilot 2024 Young Writers Collective are welcome to apply.
We’ll let you know by Friday 11 October if you have a place on the Collective.
Got some questions?
If you have any questions, including anything related to accessibility, please contact: [email protected]