Running in parallel with our Room 204 programme, we will select a small number of emerging teacher-writers from the West Midlands to work with us on a programme of creative career development.

Teachers’ 204 is intended for teachers of primary, secondary, sixth form and FE who are also writers. Over the years, we’ve found that a sizeable minority of our Room 204 writers are teachers, and that they have specific development goals, as well as more strict time constraints. Teacher-writers are also often interested in how developing their own writing can impact on how they teach creative writing to their students.

Teachers’ 204 will run from July to June each year, in parallel with the academic year.

Meetings will take place at weekends and during holidays to allow for you to attend.

Each successful candidate will receive mentoring and career development worth over £1,000, including:

• 1-1 meetings, 3 times a year, with experienced Writing West Midlands staff
• Access to a “writer buddying” scheme
• Group networking and career development sessions
• Occasional workshops on particular themes such as pitching, fundraising, time management or digital writing
• Tailored signposting and brokering via Writing West Midlands towards performance and development opportunities, potential collaborators, bursaries, courses and events that might benefit the individual writer
• Access to a private information-sharing and support group on Facebook
• A free place at the National Writing Conference (formerly The Writers’ Toolkit), run by Writing West Midlands
• Room 204 Alumni status and special opportunities as a consequence

Teachers’ 204 is a varied and relaxed scheme that gives you the chance to be part of a writing community while not demanding a lot of your time – allowing you to get on with the actual business of writing.

Teachers’ 204 is entirely free to its participants and is funded by Arts Council England as part of the work of Writing West Midlands.

In order to qualify, you must:

• Be a qualified teacher (primary or secondary)
• Be writing creatively in any genre
• Be looking to develop and broaden your writing career
• Live or work in the West Midlands region
• Have done some writing, but still feel you are not a full-time writer, or you might be working in a new genre (for instance, moving from scriptwriting to poetry). You may have had some work published (magazines, online literary journals, competitions) but writing will most likely not be your main source of income. Please note this scheme is not intended for complete beginners to creative writing.
• Be available for approximately 3 days (or 6 half-days) per year, to attend sessions mostly in Birmingham but also, occasionally, in your local area

Writers will be chosen on the basis of the following:

• The quality of their writing
• Evidence of their commitment to writing professionally
• Demonstrable need for our support.