We’ve always believed in helping the next generation of writers find a way into our industry. That’s why we approached UWE with the idea of the New Writers Programme. It’s a course designed to help up-and-coming writers find their feet, and get some teaching, mentoring, and work for their portfolio.
As a warm-up to the programme, we visited Bristol to give a few seminars as part of the university’s Creative and Professional Writing BA. We then invited students to join us in a pop-up Writing Club office in Bristol for a taste of life in a modern writing agency. They would tackle real briefs, take part in brainstorms and presentations and get real feedback.
The programme started fully at the end of the academic year. We set the students real writing tasks every week, giving them the chance to present their work and get feedback as you would in a real agency setting. We also offered our first full time paid internship, which counted towards academic credits, and which will see us hosting a student every summer.
We love getting involved with the next generation of writers and have been blown away by the level of talent coming through. The New Writers programme is run by Dan Nixon. If you’d like to find out more about it, give him a shout here.
“I don't know where to begin in saying thank you for coming up with the New Writers Programme - it's the kind of experience that will be a massive springboard for them all. It's such a generous undertaking and I'm really grateful to everyone at Writing Club for sharing opportunity and expertise with our students in this way.”
Katy Mahood
Senior Lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing, University of West England
