University Women in the Arts has announced a major new project to provide a platform for the voices and experiences of female arts students in the current discussion around abuse, bullying and harassment in the arts and a toolkit for use by teachers and students to help eradicate bullying, abuse and harassment in the arts.

Part one of the project is an opportunity for female arts students at any university in the UK or female recent arts graduates who have graduated in the last five years to contribute to this project and have their voice heard and published in a book on this subject. This work will help shape a toolkit for use by drama schools and arts departments to help equip male and female arts students to eradicate abuse in the arts as they go into the arts industry as well as providing a permanent legacy from the project.

Deadline

March 15th 2019

There will be a series of writing workshops in late 2018 – 2019 to help you create your work and explore this issue – please sign up to the mailing list at www.universitywomeninthearts.com to be kept informed of these workshops.

More details on the first workshops can be found here and here

Guidelines

• A piece of creative work (this can be a short play, film script, radio script, digital media script, script for television, fiction, poetry, or autobiography)
• Your piece should be inspired by your views on or experiences of abuse, bullying and harassment in the arts – how you wish to respond to this brief is up to you, this is an opportunity for your voice and views to be heard on this issue, pieces can be published anonymously if you prefer. You might wish to consider your fears or hopes in terms of abuse, bullying and harassment in the arts as you make your way in the arts industry as well or your experiences/experiences you’ve seen. However, how you respond to this brief is up to you.
• Your piece should be no longer than 10 minutes long and no less than 1 minute long
• In your email please let us know what course you studied or are studying and at which university in the UK

They anticipate around 50 students will be selected for publication.

Mentoring 

Students/recent graduates selected to be published will have the opportunity to be mentored by three experienced professional female dramaturgs – Jingan Young, who recently edited Foreign Goods, a book of work by British East Asian playwrights published by Oberon Books, and was on the BBC’s New Talent Hot List in 2017, Titilola Dawudu, Learning and Participation Manager at the Ovalhouse Theatre who was recently selected for the Artistic Director Leadership Programme’s “Leaders of Tomorrow” scheme, and Jennifer Tuckett, who has led the way in writing training in the UK, trained at Yale School of Drama on their MFA in Playwriting where Oscar winner Tarell McCraney was a contemporary, has been a finalist for the Women of the Future Arts and Culture Award for her work, and is Director of University Women in the Arts. Jennifer’s previous students have gone on to have their work produced at Theatre 503, Edinburgh,the Kings Theatre, Rich Mix, the Soho Theatre, the Barbican Theatre, the Abbey Theatre, and by the BBC amongst other places via work she has tutored them on.

This mentoring will be provided for free.