STRONG LANGUAGE
 Strong
Language
Creative writing is more vibrant than ever in west London. Whether as en enjoyable
pastime or a stepping stone to a career as a writer, west London is packed full
of creative writing opportunities. And Westwords, an Arts Council literature
development project, is here to help these opportunities grow.
From groups helping adults who long to become published writers to structures
courses; from workshops for children and projects for people writing in languages
other than English, west London has become a hub of creative writing activity.
With strong links to the media and television, those who wish to write for performance
or the media have also been keen to engage.
Recognising the vibrancy of and interest in all types of writing amongst west
Londoners, the Arts Council have funded a literature development project, Westwords,
to nurture and develop creative writing opportunities across the London boroughs
of Ealing, Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hammersmith and Fulham.
Westwords works with the arts and libraries departments of these local authorities
and a host of other partners including community groups (Cultural and faith
based), schools, youth organizations, old people and literary professionals
and organisations such as publishers, literary agents and booksellers.
To date, it provides and impressive spread of activities including 16 Readers
groups, 5 General Purpose Creative Writing Workshops (Beginners and Advanced)
with links to other writing groups and links to publishers and literary agents.
Westwords is also responsible for bring out a creative writing magazine, Newspeak,
that will publish works drawn from all creative writing groups.
With 2 children’s’ workshops already up and running –1 in
Harrow and 1 in Hammersmith & Fulham- and third due to open in Ealing, Westwords
is not forgetting to cater to the needs of younger writers.
Nor is it neglecting specific groups of talented writers or new ways of exploring
creative writing.
The ongoing Middle Eastern Project aims to raise the profile of new writing
form the Middle East and writers of middle eastern cultural origin whilst the
Tell Tales project
is a innovative initiative to fuse music with writing from beginning writers.
Write Now
If you’re thinking that you might like to explore your talents as a writer
or even just have a bit of fun with words, then why not consider one of the
following Westwords groups.
All groups take place from 20:00 until 22:00, are led by a skilled workshop
leader and cost £3 per session.
Harrow Group Gayton Library
- Wednesdays
Brent Group – Willesden Green
Library - Thursdays
Uxbridge Group – Central Library
- Tuesdays
Shepherds Bush Group – Shepherds
Bush Library Wednesdays
Acton Group – Acton Trade Union Club 33-36 Acton High Road Mondays
If you would like to know more about these groups or any other aspect of Westwords,
you can call 020 7736 0864 (minicom available on this number)
Of course, in addition to these groups and projects, a number of providers
also offer courses in writing. Why not have look at these if you’re interest
is in a more structured course…
In Brent – Creative
Writing
In Ealing – English
Literature – 20th Century Writers
In Harrow, a range of creative
writing courses
and a range of literature
courses
In Hammersmith & Fulham, there is both a Creative
Writing course and a range of applied
writing courses such as those in Journalism, Travel Writing and Screenwriting
that link to qualifications.
In Hillingdon, search for creative
writing courses.
Write On Line
Of course, the Internet is one of the natural homes for writing since it is a
great means of communicating text around the world. You might just be amazed at
how much great literature is out there, free for you to read at your leisure.
If you really think that you are a prolific reader, then why not try to plough
through some of the world’s great works of literature at Project
Guttenberg.
Project Guttenberg is one of the long running, heroic projects of the Internet
that aims to place all public domain great works of literature online. From
Greek and Latin classics to great 19th century novels and historical diaries,
the choice is literally overwhelming.
If you want to look at something slightly more local, why not take a look at
the BBC’s “Roots
Around London” subsite. This site of the London creative writing competition
publishes the work of many of the entrants to the competition. Go on, you know
you can do just as well!
If on the other hand, you fancy yourself as a bit of a critic or knowing what
other fellow punters thought about a book, remember that the site of the online
bookseller, www.amazon.co.uk,
allows you to publish your views on particular books and to read what other
customers have thought of it.
Alternatively, you might be interested in the BBC’s The
Big Read an attempt to find the nation’s best-loved books of all time.
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