Show Up and Write- Winter 2024

SHOW UP & WRITE.

MENA Arts UK is collaborating with Hyphen Artist Collective and Theatro Technis @26 Crowndale to run in-person & online sessions for writers called SHOW UP & WRITE as featured in THE STAGE and BROADWAY WORLD UK.

A series of sessions where writers attend in-person or Zoom/online sessions and simply write for three hours and then come together for one hour to connect and discuss all things writing. Often our busy schedules distract us from finding time to commit to writing what we want to write. SHOW UP & WRITE gives us the chance to commit and stick to that commitment.

Writing can be a lonely pursuit; this opportunity gives us a chance to write in a community.

IN PERSON: Attend a 3-hour free-writing session at Theatro Technis (26 Crowndale Rd, NW1 1TT). Then come together for an additional hour to discuss all things writing: challenges & successes. We are capping the in-person sessions to 12 writers based on the space provided.

ZOOM: Check in at the top of the session with a wave at 1pm. Microphones off for the 3-hour writing period, but we encourage you to keep your camera on to stay on task. Then stay after for the hour discussion. Zoom sessions will be capped at 15 writers.

COST: No cost! Free to join!

WHEN: Sunday, January 21 & 28, February 4 & 25, March 3 & 17 

1pm to 4pm: Writing - 4pm to 5pm: Community session/discussion

*The session on January 28 will be from 11am-3pm (11am to 2pm: Writing - 2pm to 3pm: Community session/discussion)

Discussions will be facilitated by MENA Arts UK Steering Group & Hyphen Artist Collective members.

If you can make it to all the sessions, that would be great, but we understand if you need to miss a session or two.

HOW TO APPLY: We welcome writers with a “hyphenated” artist skill set or cultural background OR MENA+ writers to apply. We encourage Global Majority, Migrant and/or Underrepresented hyphenated artists to apply. Writers of all levels and experience are welcome. Please email HyphenArtistCollective@gmail.com sharing a bit about yourself with your contact information and whether you wish to attend in-person or Zoom sessions. We’d love to hear about what you’re working on or the challenges/successes you’re facing in the UK Arts Industry.

MENA Arts UK is a UK-based not-for-profit Arts organisation for professionals who work in Live & Recorded Arts and are connected to the Middle East, North Africa or the surrounding area. The organisation was founded just over a year ago and seeks to support MENA+ professionals to thrive in the arts by increasing access to opportunities, platforming and commissioning their work, lobbying for representation and advocating for change. The free online directory has over 250 profiles and the inaugural Heroes Project films have been viewed more than 14,000 times. www.menaarts.uk

Hyphen Artist Collective celebrates hyphenated artists who have more than one skill set or passion or culture. In an industry that often pushes us to choose or be categorised as one career or identity over another, we encourage and applaud those artists from all over who work all over the industry. Are you a polycultural performer/writer/carpenter? BRAVA! Are you a migrant singer/stage manager/designer? BRAVO! We are not one, but many.