Swimmer out of water
General | Georgina Lock | 14.04.08
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The Nottingham Writers’ Studio
Everybody knows that writers are miserable misanthropes who never speak to anybody. All they ever do is sit stooped over a typewriter, squeezing out their words like tiny drops of blood - completely out of touch with the real world. True? Well maybe, but one Nottingham author set out to prove otherwise.
Jon McGregor, acclaimed author of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things came up with the rather bizarre notion that maybe - just maybe - all these wretched scribes might be a friendly bunch after all, and (shock horror) might even want to meet up with each occasionally.
A room of one’s own
Jon’s original idea was of establishing a writing workspace where - away from the kitchen table - a writer could go to work like a proper(?) person does. He dreamed of a building that could be filled with Nottingham’s authors; a building inside which several writers could start dripping their own blood of words together. Going to the office seemed like a good way of avoiding the obvious distractions of home life to - a way of achieving the classic “room of one’s own” (and of avoiding having to load the dishwasher as well). Other artists such as painters and sculptors often work together in a shared workspace – so why not writers too?
A group of offices with an associated resource and meeting space
A mission statement for the project was formulated: “To establish a group of offices with an associated resource and meeting space”. This was good – Jon’s dream looked like it would come true – all he had to do was find the building and find the cash. Easy!
Of course, things are never that simple. What had seemed like a straightforward plan at first - setting up a place to work, a place to meet, a place to read - would turn out to have more complications than the rules of Humphrey Littleton’s Mornington Crescent on Radio Four.
In January 2006 Jon met with representatives from local bodies to enquire whether arts funding for the project might be available but - although there was a lot of enthusiasm - there wasn’t much in the way of hard cash to be found, but eventually the Arts Council said it was prepared to put its ink on a cheque. And so, armed with a relatively small amount of money, it now became possible to convert this crazy dream into physical bricks and mortar. And so, occupying just a couple of floors of office space above a small, slightly dusty Balti House in Heathcoat Street (conveniently close to the Broadway), the Nottingham Writers’ Studio was born.
Open for business
After slapping on a bit of paint and buying some furniture, the Studio finally opened for business in July of 2006, and it now functions precisely as Jon’s vision predicted - as both a physical space and as a community. As the former, it provides affordable workspaces for local writers and also offers a comfortable common room where talks and social gatherings can happen. As the latter, it offers all Nottingham-based writers a network in which they can swap ideas, learn new skills, open up business opportunities, pool initiatives for new projects, and generally feel that there is a support structure for writers out there. What the Studio definitely is not is a cosy “writers’ club” where people sit around discussing Patience Strong or writing stories about their niece’s cat. However in a similar vein, an article appearing in the Nottingham Evening Post - whilst being generally laudatory - commented: “The main dining room at the Algonquin, it isn’t”.
Woah! New York we ain’t, that’s true, and our meeting table is square not round – but the studio has such illustrious members as Jon McGregor, Michael Eaton, Nicola Monaghan, David Belbin and Paul Fraser, so who’s to say that these luminaries won’t end up as the new Dorothy Parkers or Robert Benchleys of that famous round table”? And anyway, we’re a nicer bunch of people – no chance of us being dubbed (as Dorothy and her cohorts were) the “Vicious Circle”.
Let’s shake this thing up
Initially, activity at the studio was slow. Yes, there was a place to work but apart from a few writers avoiding their lonely garrets and week-old beards (and that’s just the women), there needed to be more. So in 2007 a new management committee was formed, with a brief to “shake things up and get things moving”. Since then there has been a steady increase in membership and a planned programme of events and social evenings (bring your own wine!). The list of current members includes recognized writers from every conceivable genre, but just as importantly there’s a folio of non-established writers for whom belonging to the studio is propitious to building their self-confidence and to furthering their writing careers.
Moving on – creative Nottingham
Nobody craves a rejection slip, so there is now a regular programme of talks where established writers can share their expertise with other members who might be trying to break into a new genre. Topics as diverse as Writing for Television; Writing for Radio; Marketing Yourself; Writing for Young Adults – a whole spectrum of subjects emerging from the talent pool that the studio has attracted.
In just a year the NWS has become an established part of the Nottingham arts scene. This puts us firmly on the map of “creative Nottingham”. The opportunities are tremendous. If you are a writer living or working in the Nottingham area, or even if you have only just begun your writing career but have a serious intention to become published, then you should consider joining this talent pool yourself.
Bloomsbury? Algonquin? Ha! Think Nottingham. You know it could happen, in a studio near you.
For more information about NWS, go to the website http://www.nottinghamwriters.wordpress.com or contact the studio by emailing
