I Am A Creator: I Am A Writer

I Am A Writer is the first stage of our three-year I Am A Creator programme, which is funded by investment from Arts Council England, through our status as an ACE National Portfolio Organisation. 

Our target audiences for the programme are: 

• neurodivergent families  
• people living with dementia  
• older people  
• wider public audiences, including audiences that can be/feel excluded from the arts

Note: Details of family I Am A Writer workshops happening at libraries during May will be available week ending 29 March. 

This programme will see us working with libraries and their communities in: Bassetlaw, Ashfield, Mansfield and Newark & Sherwood. For information all our libraries are listed here: 

Our Libraries | Inspire - Culture, Learning, Libraries (inspireculture.org.uk) 

Inspired by some of the fascinating insights we uncovered as part of our ground-breaking, ACE funded, I Am A Reader project, I Am A Creator aims to empower audiences - who may not always recognise themselves as creative - by giving them wonderful opportunities to be creative, as they work with artists and writers. 

More information can be found here: I Am A Reader

We have recruited a group of local writers to:

• engage creatively with our target audiences to co-create original stories
• work collaboratively with Inspire, our partners, and other writers on the project 
• embrace the opportunities the programme holds for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the benefits this offers to their wider creative practice  

We are open to creative approaches to writing and storytelling, and to programme outcomes.  We will be working with a range of writers, from established and emerging, working in all corners of the industry, including fiction, poetry, screenwriting, audio and theatre. 

• To engage and inspire audiences with the concept of I Am A Writer 
• To deliver fantastic opportunities for audiences to explore their creativity
• To support the creative development of writers and artists
• To create wonderful narratives loosely on the theme of ‘place’ 

• Strong and mutually beneficial connections with our target audiences, in/with Inspire Libraries 
• Collaborative workshops in libraries and community settings
• Beautiful co-created narratives presented in any format 
• A legacy of work and learning for future co-creative experiences 

We are committed to the development of writers/artists and aim to support continuous improvement and new approaches to audience engagement in creative activity.  

Working with our partners Writing East Midlands, I Am A Writer will: 

• Draw on best practice creative collaborations with neurodiverse audiences, people living with dementia, older adults and audiences that can be/feel excluded from the arts 

• Deliver a programme of relevant Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for writers that will benefit I Am A Writer and their wider future practice during year one 

CPD and planning opportunities will take place during autumn/winter. Workshop delivery will take place between January - Summer 2024. 

This project is part of our Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation funded work.