I Am A Creator: Podcast

In Episode 1 of I Am A Writer, host Annie Warren is in conversation with Anna O’Steele – a fellow writer on the project. 

Anna O’Steele is the bestselling author of seven novels, a playwright and an emerging screenwriter. She is a BBC Writersroom and New Perspectives Associate Alumnus and is currently writing her eighth novel. 

For I Am A Writer, as well as delivering workshops for adults and children in libraries, Anna was commissioned to work with the Harworth and Bircotes Tenants and Residents Association - a voluntary community group that works all year round for the benefit of residents – to co-create new pieces of writing.

In Episode 2 of I Am A Writer, host Annie Warren is in conversation with Clare Harvey and Lucy Grace who both worked with groups of people living with dementia as part of the project. 

Clare Harvey is an award-winning fiction author, published by Simon and Schuster. She has a background in journalism, charity PR, and teaching English learners, and has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Nottingham. Clare is currently working towards a PhD entitled ‘Co-Authoring With Forgotten Voices’, which looks at the legal, ethical and creative implications of remixing memoirs into new fiction. Alongside her postgraduate research, Clare also runs writing workshops and mentors emerging authors. 

For I Am A Writer, Clare was commissioned to work with residents of Bowbridge Court Care Home in Newark, which offers 24 hour residential and dementia care.  

Lucy Grace is a writer, tutor, editor and workshop leader in a variety of community settings. Her short stories and flash fiction are published in over twenty print and online anthologies. Her debut novel was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award and the Mslexia Novel Award. She is currently working on a novel set in a Midlands colliery village after the pits closed down which has been longlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize. In 2022, Lucy was awarded a funded PhD scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and is studying at Nottingham Trent University as part of the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. 

For I Am A Writer, Lucy was commissioned to work with Blidworth Memory Group. Based in Blidworth Library, Blidworth Memory Group provides a social setting for people living with dementia, their carers or anyone interested in meeting and chatting over a warm drink.

In Episode 3 of I Am A Writer, host Annie Warren is in conversation with Jack Burrows and Pippa Hennessy, who both worked with groups of neurodiverse families as part of the project. 

Jack Burrows has been writing, acting and directing theatre for 20 years.  His first play Four Uncertain Kings (2004) launched his theatre company Behind Bars Theatre. Since then, he has gone on to write plays for Mansfield Palace Theatre, and for the last 12 years he has written and directed the community pantomime for Sutton Centre Stage Group and Academy Transformation Trust. Jack was a 2022-23 Associate Artist with New Perspectives. Jack worked with Spectrum Wasps. 

Pippa is a Nottingham-based writer. Her poetry, graphic fiction, short fiction and creative non-fiction have been published in a range of anthologies and magazines and she is now writing digital poetry – experimenting with what words can do when they’re not tied to the printed page. She has been facilitating writing workshops in a range of settings – including schools, prisons, universities, libraries, museums and art galleries – for over ten years. Since January 2021 she has been a lead writer on Writing East Midlands’ Beyond the Spectrum project, which provides free online writing workshops and a range of other activities for autistic adults and young people. In the last four years she has been diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. Pippa worked with families from the Nottinghamshire Home Education Network.

In Episode 4 of I Am A Writer, host Annie Warren is in conversation with Andy Graves – a fellow writer on the project. 

Andrew Graves is a poet, performer and cinephile. He has been featured on Radio 6 Music’s Cerys Matthews Show and on BBC Radio 4. His latest titles include Not Dancing with Ingrid Pitt, published by Burning Eye Books in 2020, and Welcome to the Cheap Seats published in 2019 which is a history of working-class cinema. Andrew runs film courses and pre-screen introductions at arthouse independent cinemas such as the Broadway in Nottingham and the Phoenix in Leicester. 

For I Am A Writer, Andrew worked with Men at the Edge at the Oasis Centre in Worksop - a place where men can come for help, support, guidance, training, teaching and friendship. He also delivered intergenerational workshops at libraries in some of the government’s Levelling Up for Culture Places. 

In Episode 5 of I Am A Writer, host Annie Warren is in conversation with Michelle Dunstan and Ellie Gilbert – members of Inspire’s Libraries’ and Culture Team who worked on the project.  

Michelle is Libraries and Cultures Officer and Ellie is one of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio Organisation or NPO Librarians.