News

Fighting Words Northern Ireland invites young writers to ‘go bananas’ at East Belfast pop up

Fighting Words Northern Ireland, has announced a month-long interactive exhibition at Banana Block in East Belfast, for children and young people.  From 5 March, children, young people and their families can drop in (Wednesday-Sunday) read a book together in The Pencil Portal writer’s studio and create a story of their own to add to the display.    

The Fighting Words exhibition will publish and display story-prompts written by Belfast youth groups and schools in recent months, to inspire other young writers.      

Director at Fighting Words Hilary Copeland, said: 

Six thousand reasons for New Year cheer- Fighting Words receives High Street Voucher donation from No Alibis

Fighting Words Northern Ireland has received an early 2022 bonus from local independent bookstore, No Alibis, following a pledge from the owner to donate 20% of the value of purchases made through the NI High Street Spend Local voucher scheme.  No Alibis, based on Botanic Avenue in Belfast, raised £6000 for the charity through the scheme which ran from October to December 2021.  Fighting Words NI, based in East Belfast, provides year-round free creative writing opportunities for children and young people aged 6-18 through its schools story making workshops, after-school Write Clubs and comm

Fighting Words NI receives grant of £9000 from the Shared History Fund to mark the Centenary of Northern Ireland  

Fighting Words NI receives grant of £9000 from the Shared History Fund to mark the Centenary of Northern Ireland  

• 39 projects have been awarded a grant through the Shared History Fund  

• The Shared History Fund is a £1million fund which The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office to mark the Centenary of Northern Ireland.   

Investing in Joy

*This piece was first published in the new quarterly Arts & Business NI magazine 'The Spark'.

Throughout the pandemic, one purely selfish loss I’ve felt has been what a colleague terms ‘happenstance’ – the unexpected bumping into someone you know, and standing around shooting the breeze for too long until you’re late for your next appointment. Belfast lends itself incredibly well to this sort of random encounter. Over the past decade that I’ve worked in the arts in NI, this has long been my favourite thing about working in a small, interconnected place, and I’ve missed it terribly.

SHC X Fighting Words

Students and staff at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University together with Kelly McCaughrain (Children's Writing Fellow and great friend of Fighting Words NI) have made these wonderful ‘tiny masterclasses’ which focus on all aspects of creative writing, to help and inspire young writers.  

Flash Fiction with Kelly McCaughrain 

Kelly McCaughrain shows us how we can tell stories in just a few words, that leave our readers wanting more. 

Job Opportunity: Fighting Words NI is recruiting a Community Engagement Officer

In response to the recent expansion of our creative writing programme on-line, reaching children and young people all across Northern Ireland, and engaging with new partners and projects, Fighting Words Northern Ireland is recruiting a Community Engagement Officer.

Supported by the Tomar Trust and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Fighting Words NI seeks a Community Engagement Officer to co-ordinate Writing the Future: an exciting creative-engagement project working with young people across the region.

Cathleen Young Announced as Inaugural Fighting Words Writing Fellow with Queen's University Belfast

Picture of Cathleen Young, Fighting Words Writing Fellow in association with The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University. Cathleen is wearing glasses and has short blonde hair. She is looking directly at the camera and smiling.Fighting Words Northern Ireland and Fighting Words are delighted to welcome Cathleen Young as our inaugural Fighting Words Writing Fellow in association with The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast. 

Cathleen comes to us by way of the HUMANITAS Prize in Hollywood, California where she was the Executive Director from 2007-2021. She is an award-winning television writer as well as a children’s author. Her debut novel, The Pumpkin War, won The Christopher Award in 2020.

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