New Writing North gears up for £14m project with new board leaders

Helen Dalby and Neil Warwick, New Writing North
-Credit: (Image: New Writing North)


The body aiming to make the North East a key player in the writing industry has announced major changes to its board of trustees in the run-up to its most significant project yet.

New Writing North has welcomed a new chair, vice chair, and three new trustees as the charity embarks on a new phase of growth. The charity leads the development of creative writing and reading in the North of England and earlier this year announced plans to set up a new centre for writing industries, based at Newcastle’s Bolbec Hall.

Its new chair is Newcastle lawyer Neil Warwick and vice-chair is Helen Dalby, editorial director for Reach’s North East, Humber and Yorkshire titles, replacing David Roche and Caroline Murphy. Another three trustees have also been announced.

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New Writing North chief executive Claire Malcolm said: “We are hugely grateful for the invaluable work of David and Caroline who both reached the end of their terms on our board this September; they’ve played formative roles in developing our work and in building New Writing North’s strengths and resilience. They have been exceptional trustees.

“Neil and Helen join us at what promises to be an exciting next phase for our organisation. Neil’s skills are invaluable in our ambition to create a new centre for writing helping us negotiate the partnerships and relationships this requires and profiling our mission within the city.

“Helen understands the importance of great writing and the power that the written word has to transform people and places. It has been fantastic to work with her and her team at The Journal on our North East Now project through which we have commissioned 12 new essays about the North East as devolution happens.”

Mr Warwick said: “I knew of the work of New Writing North as Claire and I served as trustees together at The Community Foundation for Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. The creativity and success of our writers is undeniably impressive and has reached international acclaim. However, equally impressive are the outreach programmes we run in some of the most under-privileged schools in the country and this aspect of our work is of particular interest to me.”

Helen Dalby said: "I'm really looking forward to working with Neil and New Writing North's talented and passionate board of trustees and executive team at a very exciting time for the organisation and our wider region.

“In my career at Reach I've found it incredibly rewarding to work on schemes which aspire to make careers in journalism possible for individuals from across society who may otherwise be unable to pursue them, such as the Community News Project. Working on these projects has been a joy and I hope my experience can help support New Writing North in delivering on its aim of breaking down barriers to opportunity for people in the North."

Also joining the trustee board are Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre; Liv Bird, who is currently studying for a literary PhD at Teesside University; and Maria Antoniou, an economic development specialist for Northumberland County Council.

New Writing North has made a bid for £5m of Government funding to set up the Centre for Writing at Bolbec Hall. The project - which has support from Northumbria University and some of the country’s largest publishers - aims to support writing and reading initiatives in the community as well as professional writers and publishing businesses across the North.