New Writing North are thrilled to have received three years of funding from the Arts Council’s Strategic Touring Fund. The funding allows us to tour one production adapted from a picture book each year, alongside a series of workshops and family reading days at community venues across northern England. With this project we will continue to work in County Durham, where we toured My Granny is a Pirate in 2013 and The Worst Princess (pictured) in 2014, as well as to visit other areas of the North including Wakefield, Leeds and Hull.

We are now looking to commission a writer to adapt a picture book (book TBC) into a play with music for children under seven and their families. The writer should be based in the North of England and have experience in creating work for children. The writer must have had at least one play professionally produced and must be available to participate in development sessions with the cast in Newcastle between May and July 2015, and deliver the script by the end of August 2015. They will be expected to attend rehearsals and meetings in Newcastle. The production will tour in October 2015. We will pay ITC rates for the commission.

To apply, please email Anna Disley a covering letter stating your interest and experience in creating work for children, a writing CV, an example of a script you have written, and a two-page treatment of a picture book of your choice, adapted for the stage. Applications should be submitted by midnight Sunday 12 April 2015 to anna@newwritingnorth.com. Please direct any queries to Anna