Creepy London Teen Writing Workshops

Over the next couple of weeks, in April, Croydon Libraries will be holding creative writing workshops as part of the City Reads programme.

Check on the poster below for times in your local library. The image may be difficult to read, so the poster is also attached in PDF form – click on the link to access it!

Click to enlarge…

City read teen writing poster

You can turn up for most events but some require you to book.

Dates are:

• Coulsdon Library –  6th April – 2.30-3.30pm
• Thornton Heath Library  8th April – 2-3pm
• Croydon Central Library – 11th April – 2.30-4pm (ticketed event)
• Purley Library – 11th April – 3-4pm
• Bradmore Green Library – 12th April – 5-6pm
• Selsdon Library -13th April – 3-4pm
• Ashburton Library – 20th April – 2.30-3.30pm ( ticketed event)
• New Addington Library – 27th April – 2.30-3.30pm
• Sanderstead Library – 27th April – 3-4pm
• South Norwood Library -27th April – 3-4pm

All events are free but do book a ticket, if indicated!

MyVoice Word Fest #Croydon

On Saturday 17th November, an event will be held at the Croydon Central Library/Clocktower from 10.30-4.00pm.

There will be at least four workshops of which people will be able to choose two to do. The workshops we are considering so far are: Creative Writing Workshop (possibly on a gothic/romantic theme and including looking at different writers styles and how to write for genres), Manga Workshop, Hip Hop Shakespeare workshop and a Street Dance workshop. These are still to be decided.

The plan is that there will be stalls for people to look at while they are waiting for or between workshops. For example, some of the possibilities we are considering are publishers, authors, book shops, Croydon College, careers advice, nail art, graffiti wall, library information, join the library, book swap and a book give-away. We also hope to have an ongoing art/craft activity that people can drop in and out of.

We have already held a Word Fest meeting at Croydon Central Library to get these initial ideas together, but there is so much more to plan! This is part of the Reading Agency, MyVoice Project in Croydon and anyone aged 11-19 is welcome to get involved.

If you can think of anything else or would like to get your ideas across, come to the Word Fest planning meeting on the 8th September in Ashburton Library. The meeting will be held at 2.30pm. We will also be discussing ways we will publicise the event, and design ideas for logos, etc.

If you can’t make the meeting but have ideas to share, add them to this blog and we will take them along!

It is helpful if you can let Liz, the librarian in charge, know that you are coming to the planning meeting so that she can plan for numbers and refreshments. Email her at myvoice@croydon.gov.uk.

We hope to see you there!

Click on the link below to download the official poster. Display it and help spread the word!
word fest planning meeting poster

MyVoice – get involved!

Croydon Central Library held its first MyVoice planning meeting this past Tuesday, allowing 11-19 year olds to really get involved in their local libraries and contribute to the planning of future events. In this meeting, we discussed a few ideas for the upcoming Word Fest (though this name might be changed, as there may be some activities to do with art, etc.)

Some of the ideas people were keen on are listed below:
Manga Workshop
Creative Writing Workshop
Stalls – a number of stalls from publishers/book stores/agencies that support young people
‘What’s Croydon Reading?’ feature in Croydon Advertiser/Croydon Radio
The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company workshopStreet Dance Workshop
Football match reporting
Authors – Workshop? Reading? Debate?
Broadcasting Book Reviews
Reverse the Riots Campaign

It’s not too late to get involved!
If you would like to join us in planning these activities, you can contact Fiona Tarn at Croydon Central Library or email MyVoice@croydon.gov.uk

We will keep you updated with the plans for future MyVoice workshops and events for the Word Fest, on this blog. Feel free to suggest your ideas to us here or on Twitter and get involved.

It would be great if other MyVoice groups could share ideas and activities that were particularly successful.

Croydon Radio and author Diane Messidoro promote MyVoice event at Croydon Central Library

Yesterday, on Croydon Radio, new host Janet Smith interviewed the author Diane Messidoro about her new book, How to Keep a Boy as a Pet, as well as answering people’s questions about writing and talking about libraries in general.

We would like to say a big thank you to Janet Smith for picking up on our post and for reading out the details of Word Fest at Croydon Central Library! to Croydon on her programme.

We found the whole interview very interesting, and the interview can be relistened to here, under ‘The Croydon Arts Show – Extra, on Sat Aug 4th at 11:00 UK’. It is definitely worth a listen.

If you’d like to hear the promotion of MyVoiceUK and the thoughts of Diane Messidoro on the benefit of libraries you can listen at 28 minute in, or click on the audioboo below, made with kind permission from the team at Croydon Radio.

 

Word Fest at Croydon Central Library!

Croydon Central Library will be holding its first MyVoice planning meeting on Tuesday 7th August at 2pm. This is a great chance for young people to get more involved in their local libraries and plan future events to be held there.

MyVoice is a Reading Agency project for children aged 11-19, and welcomes new people to come along. It is already running in Ashburton and Thornton Heath libraries in Croydon.

It would be really helpful to phone in advance so the library knows how many people are coming, but this is not necessary if it is a last minute decision. You can just turn up for this initial planning session to get ideas for creating a Word Fest to be held later this year.

If you are unsure you might like to check out details of what MyVoice has been doing in other Croydon libraries here.

We hope to see lots of people on the 7th!

Ask for Liz or Fiona when you turn up, or drop them an email atMyVoice@croydon.gov.uk