Four writers will be selected from the East of England to represent the UK in the project. Selection will be made by a panel, comprised of the workshop leader (name to be confirmed) who will be an experienced publisher and educator, Creative Arts East, British Council Arts and British Council East of England.

The UK writers will form a writers group that will link and interact with their Bangladeshi counterparts over the course of the project. All the writers in the UK and in Bangladesh will be invited to participate in a video conference in November to meet each other and to discuss the development of the project. A 5 day creative writing workshop will be held in Bangladesh facilitated by the workshop leader in December, focusing primarily on poetry. The workshop will explore and develop the participants own individual pieces of work. Date to be confirmed. A further workshop will take place in Norwich with a facilitator to develop each individual participants work and their performance of their work. This is likely to take place in February. Participants will select one member of the group to act as group leader.

Background Information

The project is part of the Connecting Futures Initiative which is administered by the British Council. Connecting Futures aims to build mutual understanding, learning and respect between young people with different cultural backgrounds in the UK and other countries. For further information please visit www.connectingfutures.com

This project is being run in partnership with:

- Creative Arts East based in Norfolk, www.creativeartseast.co.uk,

- British Council Bangladesh www.britishcouncil.org/bangladesh

- British Council Literature www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature.htm

- British Council East of England www.britishcouncil.org/ukrn-ukregions-england-east.htm.

The project is as much about building dialogue across cultures as it is about creative writing. Through the project we hope to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and experience about the writing process and opportunities for emerging writers to gain exposure. Each participant will be of equal importance, regardless of age, background, geographical location, or level of experience in writing and all participants will be empowered to engage with the intercultural and creative process of developing the project.

Selection Criteria for the Workshop

* In the UK, the project is open to participants aged 18-25 from the East of England including Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, who are studying or have studied creative writing at degree level and above.

* Participants should be proficient in the use of internet and e-mail

* Participants must be committed and have a desire to work through the life cycle of the project and attend both the UK and the Bangladesh workshop.

* The workshop in Bangladesh will take place in December and will be for five days

* The workshop in the UK will take place in February and will be for 5 days.

* Participants must have a commitment to group working across cultures and to engaging in a dialogue with young writers in Bangladesh

Applicants must submit:

- a covering letter indicating why they would like to participate in the project

- a short biography and details of any previous publications (if applicable)

- an examples of recent creative writing work. (this can include either 3 poems or a piece of prose writing no longer than 3000 words

Font size for type scripts should be 12 point and double spaced.

Deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday 12th October 2005. Applications including covering letter and creative writing should be sent to laura.fellows@britishcouncil.org by email only. The selection panel_s decision will be final and the British Council will not entertain any individual inquiries after the judgement is announced. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by email by Friday 21st October 2005