Since piloting the first National Art&Design Saturday Club in 2009, the network has grown and flourished, and the model has now been successfully extended to two further sectors: Science&Engineering and Fashion&Business. The first Writing&Talking Club was launched, working in partnership with Writers’ Centre Norwich and the University of East Anglia, world-renowned for its teaching of creative writing.
With a theme of The People’s City of Literature, the Club workshops were aimed at developing the technical, conceptual and critical skills necessary for Club members’ appreciation of others’ writing and the development of their own. Introducing young people to a range of different forms of writing and creative expression, from newspaper journalism to contemporary poetry, they reinforced how literature plays an active part in shaping the way we see and interact with the world around us. The programme was developed by Writers’ Centre Norwich and delivered by postgraduate students from the Creative Writing MFA at UEA. The Club members’ work was collected in an anthology.
“If there isn’t a space in the school timetable for the imagination to thrive, then we hope we can create this space at the weekend – a space that is challenging and educating, but is also inspiring, and fun.”
Andrew Cowan, Director of Creative Writing, School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia.