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How do you feel your school will benefit from holding a mini BWA competition?
"It will raise the profile of writing outside the curriculum; we can use it with our partnership with parents (workshops)"
Joanne Weir Project Manager Marlborough Junior School  "It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end" - Ursula K. LeGuin |
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It's judgement time! Well, you did it! The closing date for the Brit Writers' Awards Unpublished 2010 came and went on Friday 26 February and you successfully submitted your story, poem or song for consideration by our judges. (You did, didn't you?! If you missed the deadline, you'd better join our Facebook group so you get a reminder next year.) We received thousands upon thousands of entries, from new and seasoned writers all across the UK. All of whom can sit back now and wait for the shortlists to be announced. Meanwhile, the hard work has only just started here at Brit Writers HQ. As we're busy organising the glittering awards ceremony for Saturday 26 June, our judges are gearing up to receive days' worth of reading materials. They will spend April giving careful consideration to each story, poem or song, before we announce and contact the finalists at the beginning of May. The great thing about the Brit Writers' Awards is that our judges span not only the upper echelons of literary society (of course they do that too!), but they also represent a wide range of interests, genres and media. As well as being talented authors, journalists, broadcasters, lecturers, academics and poets, they are real people who enjoy reading real, exciting, creative work. With the children's stories by adults category, for example, we're going to ask children from our member schools to 'road test' the shortlisted pieces: they're the target audience, after all, and they're best placed to tell us which characters, plots and tales most capture their interests and imagination. Similarly, writing groups and book-club members are being invited to comment on the finalist entries in the 'published' category. Our aim with BWA has always been to open up the seemingly inaccessible world of publishing to everyone in the UK with a creative inclination - and it's our democratic judging process that will ensure this happens. We can't wait to read the entries our judges deem worthy of making the shortlists, as we know there will be some writing stars of tomorrow among them. If you entered the Brit Writers' Awards Unpublished 2010, we wish you the very best of luck! Grace Academy in Coventry is taking its BWA engagement to new levels: the Midlands school is going to break a Guinness World Record! Between 13 January and 26 February 2010, a group of students from the school, alongside Brit Writers, will attempt to attract the greatest number of people entering one writing competition – earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
In December, the Brit Writers team got together with Years 8, 9 and 10 students from Grace Academy, plus their teachers, to plan and gather ideas for the ambitious project. Over a six-week period, members of the Make Your Wish... World Record Attempt 2010, will try to gather thousands of wishes from people all over the UK – possibly the world (to be confirmed!). “It’s fantastic that Grace Academy is engaging so creatively with our programme and that the students have come up with a new and innovative way to inspire people in following their dreams,” said Zareen Roohi Ahmed, head of operations for BWA. “This particular record attempt was chosen as the winning idea among several devised by the students – and we’re very impressed by the way teachers and students alike have entered into it with great enthusiasm as well as thought and care. We can’t wait to see what happens!” The competition is being supported by When You Wish Upon A Star, a UK charity set up to grant the wishes of terminally ill children. You can read the charity's statement here. At the moment the Grace Academy students are very busy working on the marketing and logistics side of their world record attempt. We’ll bring you more information – and details of how you can support Make Your Wish – very soon... Is your school doing something special to inspire its students and the community? Tell us! Visit your exclusive schools pages on our website today. That's why we were delighted to organise several author visits for primary schools in and around Birmingham, as part of a pilot scheme with the Arts Council and the Write Now! Project, and in partnership with the Muslim Hands Charity and the Muslim Writers' Awards. Kieron Dann, author of children's fantasy novel The Spear of Odin and a lecturer at the University of Worcester, visited Montgomery Primary School in Sparkbrook and engaged with 90 pupils in Year 3. He aimed to encourage not only pupils but also their parents to do more creative writing. Kieron's second visit was to Waverley Secondary School in Small Heath, where he spoke to a high-attainment group of 30 students from Year 9. "At Waverley, Kieron educated students about the importance of the opening paragraph in a story and then allowed students to attempt their own," said Nathan Williams of the Brit Writers team. "The session gave teachers and pupils the opportunity to carry on and further the work that they started during the session." Further visits are scheduled for the coming weeks as part of our continuing efforts to raise awareness of the Write Now! project - and to promote creative writing in schools. What is your school doing to promote a love of creative writing among students, teachers and parents? Tell us! Visit your exclusive schools pages on our website today. ----------------------- Congratulations to Lawns Park Primary School, which was the first school to complete its BWA mini competition and hold an awards ceremony. Situated in a leafy and pleasant area on the southwest edge of Leeds, Lawns Park beat every other school in the UK in getting pupils’, teachers’ and parents’ creative writing entries ready and judged in time to stage a special awards ceremony for the winners. To celebrate this BWA ‘first’, Nathan from the Brit Writers team went along to the ceremony at Lawns Park towards the end of 2009. He presented certificates to the winners and one to the competition coordinator, Rachel Webster. "Rachel wasn’t expecting a certificate,” said Nathan. “It was just our way of thanking the first teacher in the UK to complete her school’s internal BWA competition – and recognising the hard work that went into it." So who were the winners in Lawns Park’s mini competition? Caitlin Parkinson – Foundation Stage 1 / Key Stage 1 And the runners-up were: Harvey Sheard Well done, everyone! The stories from each of the individual winners and runners-up were brought together into a glossy magazine-style publication, of which everyone involved could be proud. The winning entries have now gone forward for consideration by the BWA judges. Faber Music, the world famous publisher of contemporary and classical sheet music, has promised to publish the winning song in the BWA competition! The composer of our winning entry will be printed alongside the rest of Faber’s portfolio, which includes repertory and concert pieces from greats such as Vaughan Williams and Paul McCartney. “Creativity and partnerships lie at the heart of our business and we’re delighted to be involved with the Brit Writers Awards, an initiative which sets out to inspire and encourage creativity in young people,” said Richard King, the Chief Executive of Faber Music Ltd, in his supportive statement. “At a time when mass entertainment increasingly revolves around virtual, technology-based activities, songwriting stands out as a pure, timeless art, where a special combination of music and lyrics has the potential to touch thousands, sometimes millions of people. “Through our work as an educational music publisher, we are constantly impressed by the talent which exists amongst school-aged musicians, and particularly look forward to seeing what emerges from this sector. It is our hope that, through publishing the winners, we will help to nurture and encourage the best talent emerging from the next generation of songwriters. We offer our whole-hearted support to the Brit Writers’ Awards.” Have you submitted your songwriting entry yet? Find out how!
The prolific writer has produced dozens of books, including poetry, plays and novels. But she's probably best known for catchy rhyming bedtime story The Gruffalo. Published in more than 30 languages and still the UK's best-selling picture book, The Gruffalo, like many of her stories, is often used by schools as a learning tool, encouraging young children to read and even come up with their own rhymes. Coming from a musical family, there's no doubt Donaldson's modest beginnings as a busker - which led to writing songs for children's TV programmes such as Playschool - helped kick-start her literary career. In fact, one of her ditties, A Squash and a Squeeze, has been made into a popular book. "Everyone's got their own way into writing," she says, "and it's interesting that when you talk to published writers, it's often been through a kind a side-step into it. For me, it was writing songs." Her love of verse was enthused from an early age after receiving a poetry anthology from her father. "As a child, I was quite exposed to poetry and songs. My father gave me that book when I was five and I used to learn all the poems by heart and go off and recite them. That's probably what started me loving poetry," she recalls. Poetry is a big part of the imaginative author's work, but inspiration doesn't always come easy - although when it does, it takes a lot to prise her away from her wacky world of snails and whales and duckbill dinosaurs. "I don't have a writing routine; I have routines to stop me writing! But you can only do so much sitting at a desk. To get the ideas flowing, I either do some physical activity like a long walk or something quite self-indulgent like have a bath. I do a lot of thinking in the bath," she muses. Donaldson's work has influenced children all over the world to get into reading. Which authors compel her to pick up a book? "My favourite genre is modern realistic fiction. For an easy read, I actually love Ruth Rendell and David Lodge, who write about the world as it is, but usually with an interesting angle," she says. "And I love the classics - when I was pregnant, my husband and I read the whole of Jane Austen' novels aloud to each other. You're never too old to have a book read to you."
"It might be my classic piece of work, but sometimes I want to wring the Gruffalo's neck!" she laughs. "At the moment, I'm most proud of my teenage novel, Running on the Cracks, because that was a challenge for me - a departure and something so different to what I've done before." The burning question for any budding scribe: what's the secret to a best-selling author's success? A cracking good story, of course. "People talk about style and character, but forget how important a good plot is. Take Jane Austen, people always praise her for the minutiae of her canvas, her characters and her dry style. But if you examine her books, Pride and Prejudice, for example, has got a cracking good plot, but because it's really well written you're not aware of that - the plot doesn't 'creak'. "What new writers need to remember is that the things which read as effortless might have had a lot of effort put into them. That's certainly true of verse: if it trips off the tongue, it's probably been sweated over."
If you've got talent and perseverance, then the luck should come... I also think you need an awareness of what makes a good plot. To find out more about Julia Donaldson and her work, visit www.juliadonaldson.co.uk Words: Kelly Smith -----------------------
Proving that good things can emerge from bad, the album has also been a much-needed emotional outlet for Debelle, whose songs lay bare her own experiences of pain, rejection and even homelessness. "I don't write happy songs, generally. That's why I called the album Speech Therapy. Writing it has been therapeutic and it's enabled me to get some things off my chest," she says. In the track Daddy's Little Girl, Debelle unabashedly addresses her absent father, who missed her birthdays and was never there to hold her hand. It strikes a painful note - "One day in the year and you couldn't come check me to busy to come check me/The way you affect me I'm constantly fighting to not affect me" - before reflecting on an image of an old man, alone with no-one to hold his hand. In displaying such vulnerability, her words exude strength. And for that reason it's one of the songs, alongside her title track, that she's most proud of. "It's not easy to be that honest," she admits. Speech Therapy is abundant with tales of pain, self-discovery and love - human themes we can all connect with. After falling out with her mother at the age of 19, and despite a comfortable upbringing, Debelle found herself on the streets and embarking on a period of sleeping in hostels and struggling to scrape together enough money for food. Yet you get the impression from her music that however dark life got for Debelle, her defiant spirit pushed her through - and that there was a positive to each negative. While her disruptiveness at school earned her multiple suspensions, she cultivated a passion for poetry and her eagerness to be heard resulted in her performing raps to her classmates. "The first thing I remember writing was a poem at primary school, about Father Christmas, and then from that I began writing stories - English lesson was my favourite. When I was 13, I came up with my first rap," recalls Debelle, who cites Me'Shell Ndegéocello, Tupac Shakur and Tracy Chapman among her musical influences. "Me'Shell Ndegéocello's album Bitter is probably the reason my album sounds the way it does. It's a beautiful example of hate." She says that her words being listened to and related to by potentially millions of people "feels great". Though doesn't she feel a little exposed having shared her innermost feelings with the world? "If I committed a crime and went to court, I'd be worried; I'm not worried about telling the truth." The artist's self-belief is perhaps partly thanks to the women who have been a driving force in her life: her mum, who she did reconcile with and apologises to in the track Speech Therapy, and her gran, whose fashion label Madame De Belle inspired her rap name. "I was always taught that the world's my oyster and I could get anything I want. And that's the reason I am the way I am, because I always had the opportunity." Debelle supports the Brit Writers' Awards scheme for doing just that: giving people from all backgrounds, cultures and ages the chance to shine. Her advice to entrants - and indeed to any aspiring songwriter - is be confident and don't dither: "Whatever you're working on, get it finished - don't give up. It's important to just get it all down." It's certainly worked for this young star. Words: Kelly Smith -----------------------
Click here to view Nick Clegg's letter
"I am delighted to send my best wishes to everyone participating in these Awards. Writing is a great way to display creativity and express thoughts and feelings, and there are few better ways to broaden horizons than to read other people's work. These awards will encourage people to do both. In particular they present a real opportunity for every potential writer to show what he or she can achieve. So I am sure they will unlock hidden talent from people of all ages and from every part of the country, as well as helping to achieve the vital goal of promoting literacy. So I would like to send best wishes – and good luck – to everyone taking part." Rt Hon David Cameron MP Click here to view David Cameron's letter
Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, is passionate about the cause to get everyone from every community writing creatively and wrote to the BWA pledging his support. -----------------------
BWA team member Rohail Aslam was interviewed by radio presenter Arshia Riaz during her Midlands Masala radio show on BBC WM at 10.30pm on Sunday 26 July. During the 20-minute interview, Rohail discussed how the BWA is being launched and explained how the inaugural Brit Writers' Awards 2010 will be the first high-profile stage for unpublished writers of all ages and backgrounds throughout the UK. Rohail used the interview to share with listeners our vision of creating a cultural shift in the way British people from all walks of life view creative writing. He explained how we are already engaging with over 150,000 schoolchildren UK-wide through our schools initiative alone, and that we are also working with businesses, community organisations and individuals to promote the power of creative writing in enabling self-expression, raising literacy levels among people of all ages and boosting British achievement overall. Pushed to reveal the names of some of the high-profile individuals and celebrities who are lending their support and endorsing the Brit Writers' Awards 2010, Rohail chose to play his cards close to his chest and invited listeners to 'watch this space' for big announcements over the coming weeks...
The team behind the Brit Writers' Awards was pleased to sponsor this year's prestigious Go4it Awards, which honoured 22 innovative UK schools.
Members of the Brit Writers' Awards team have given a presentation at a Literacy
Literacy co-ordinators play a vital role in UK schools. It is their job to ensure the right guidance and teaching is provided to all pupils in reading and writing, across all areas of the curriculum.
To show support for these important teachers and promote the BWA's aim of boosting the UK's writing skills, senior members of the BWA team presented at a Literacy Co-ordinators' Conference in the West Midlands on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 July 2009. The event, which took place at Saltwells Education Development Centre (EDC) near Dudley, was attended by around 80 literacy coordinators from the West Midlands. In a short speech delivered on both days of the event, Zareen Roohi Ahmed of the BWA told delegates how the BWA was helping schools to promote a sense of excitement around writing – and creating a Britain's Got Talent-style platform for unpublished writers.
Zareen was keen to highlight the potential the BWA offers for inspiring a new generation of confident and talented writers, while boosting the UK's levels of literacy.
"Schools across the country are signing up to the Brit Writers' Awards," she said. "Not only are children getting excited about creative writing; but so are their parents. The idea is to get the whole school community engaged."
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Countdown to
submissions deadline: From the team
Message from our CEO We've received thousands of entries! The deadline has now passed, and we're over the moon about the popularity of the first ever Brit Writers' Awards. Read the BWA team blog... Latest
Local Leaders
Become a BWA local literacy leader and raise literacy levels in your ward. Sign up to be a BWA local literacy leader |
The entries for the competition will take the form of ‘life wishes’ – non-material dreams or aspirations that people would like to achieve or see fulfilled. They must be between 100 and 150 words and can be submitted online in a variety of ways. We'll bring you more details about the format of the record attempt very soon.
Julia Donaldson knows a thing or two about the power of words. Her suspenseful stories and riotous rhymes
The Gruffalo has quickly become a classic itself, although Donaldson is wary of how the character's mass-appeal might overshadow her other achievements. Like Mary Shelley with her Frankenstein, she has created a monster - in all senses of the word.
Bursting with self-expression, the south Londoner's debut album, aptly named Speech Therapy, casts aside clichéd, over-produced pop in favour of individuality and realism, its smooth jazz tones woven in with strikingly unidealised lyrics. It stood out enough to win the critics' vote and beat the likes of Friendly Fires, Florence + the Machine, Glasvegas and La Roux to win this year's prestigious Mercury Prize.
"It is with great pleasure that I lend my full support to Brit Writers’ Awards. Creative writing is a great way for young people to express their thoughts and ideas, give a voice to their opinions and make those opinions known to a wider audience. Reading other writers’ work will help to broaden their understanding and acceptance of one another in today’s diverse society. These awards are a great initiative and will bring together writers from different cultural backgrounds and inspire people from all over the country to pick up a pen and get creative. Congratulations to those involved – and I wish the best of luck to all the aspiring writers taking part!"
The Brit Writers' Awards team is celebrating the fact that world-renowned Scottish entrepreneur Azeem Ibrahim has joined our team as Director of Strategy. 
On Tuesday 7 July 2009, the team behind the Brit Writers' Awards was proud to attend the annual Go4it Awards ceremony, held on board the Symphony river boat on the Thames in central London.
"The relationship between Go4it and the BWA is very important, as we're also keen to remove the barriers that hold children back from pursuing their interests and ambitions in life. While BWA is all about writing creatively and inspiring new talent, our main principle is the same as Go4it's: imparting a culture of creativity, innovation and adventure for learning in the UK."
She introduced the various poetry, story and songwriting categories included in the awards and spoke of the BWA's success to date, with more than 150,000 schoolchildren already signed up: "The benefits of signing up your school include increased attainment for pupils; greater pupil engagement; an enhanced interest in creative writing; improved literacy skills; public recognition and ongoing exposure for your school, plus cash prizes."