Critical Writing Initiative

Do you want to write about live art and contemporary performance for journals, magazines and newspapers? Would you value the opportunity to develop your writing in a supportive environment?

If you are interested in writing about a range of innovative performance practices that are not restricted by artform boundaries, then Writing From Live Art could be what you are looking for.

Live Art UK, a national network of venues, promoters and agencies, is running a year-long scheme to develop and nurture writing talent. Writing From Live Art aims to develop writing, which can discuss complex live art and performance work in accessible terms, and on finding suitable publishing points.

Writing From Live Art is open to new writers or writers who are new to live art.
The scheme offers the opportunity to write about a broad range of live practices that address spaces, places and audiences, and that are more about process than product. The focus on accessible yet informed writing means that the scheme is not suitable for writers wishing to solely focus on academic writing or news journalism.

The facilitator for Writing From Live Art is artist and writer Joshua Sofaer.

Writing From Live Art will take the form of two weekend residential retreats, the first on 26th and 27th August 2006 and the second on 17th and 18th of February 2007. The retreats will take place at the Bretton Hall Campus of the University of Leeds, adjacent to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Participants will have to commit to both retreats and will also have some ongoing mentor support over the course of the year. The retreats will include set exercises, peer review, and an invited panel of editors to outline what they are looking for. Travel, accommodation and meals during the retreats are all covered by the scheme. A small ‘go and see’ travel and expenses budget will also be available to participants during the course of the year.

There is a limit of five places and expressions of interest are by application only. No formal qualifications are necessary but a commitment and enthusiasm for live art and contemporary performance are vital.

For more information and an application pack, visit http://www.liveartuk.org/projects/writers.htm

Joshua Sofaer is an artist and writer, and a Research Fellow at ResCen, the Centre for Research into Creation in the Performing Arts at Middlesex University in London.