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

To submit for this project, please submit:

• 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 into the arts industry 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 them know what course you studied or are studying and at which university in the UK

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 and this is an opportunity for your work to be published in addition to contributing to an important platform for female arts students and recent graduates voices to be heard as part of the current discussions around the issue of abuse, bullying and harassment in the arts.

There will be a series of writing workshops in late 2018 – 2019 to help you create your work and explore this issue.

The five initial partners being announced for the writing workshop series are Sphinx Theatre Company, one of the UK’s leading female theatre companies; Actor Awareness, which is leading the way campaigning for and supporting working class actors and writers; Kings College London in partnership with Pokfulam Rd Productions, which recently produced the anthology “Foreign Goods” of work by British East Asian playwrights published by Oberon Books, one of the UK’s leading performing arts publishers, and Papergang Theatre; the University of Cambridge via the Arts and Creativities Research Group and GenPol, the gender equality think tank based at the University of Cambridge; and Brush Stroke Order, which was developed in the North West of England via the National Theatres’ Step Change Programme. The overall project will be supported by the Creative Industries Federation.

http://universitywomeninthearts.com/new-project-submission-guidelines/