Professional Writing launches two competitions to showcase best of South-West's new writing talent

MA Professional Writing is hunting for the best new writers from Cornwall and the South West to join in an action-packed programme of writerly activities at the Port Eliot Literary Festival next month.

This will include Write Out of the West, an exciting collaboration between leading South West arts practitioners and groups such as Heads & Tails, Miracle Theatre and The Source FM who will work together to showcase writing talent from the South-West region. As part of the build-up to this project, two competitions are being launched.

The theme for both competitions is ‘The West' and there are two ways to enter:

Write 1,000 words in any genre or form, interpreting the brief in any way you like. These will be judged by lecturers from MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth. Winners will be invited to perform work and go on site prior to the festival to collaborate with Bristol based writing company Heads and Tales in creating story trails, interactive literature and word installations to fill our tent, inspired by the Port Eliot estate.

Or, submit a play for two people, up to ten minutes in duration. Scripts entries will be shortlisted and directed by Miracle's Theatre's Artistic Director, Bill Scott. The most popular of these will then be developed for a performance by professional actors on the final day of the festival. Miracle Theatre has been touring innovative comic theatre - new writing and fresh adaptations - across the UK for over 30 years, and is one of Cornwall's most distinctive voices.

To be eligible for the writing competitions, you must be a resident in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset or Bristol areas. Closing date for submissions is 30 June for performance at Port Eliot Festival 23 to 25 July, and all winners will receive:

• Free weekend ticket for the festival.
• The opportunity to read or perform their work on our new writing stage.
• Commissions to interview authors and publishers for Profwriting and opportunity to broadcast on Source FM.

To find out more about the projects and how to enter visit: www.bloc-online.com

Professional Writing's Susannah Marriott believes the collaboration is a fantastic way to highlight the wealth of diverse writing talent within the South-West: "It is so important that we give local writers a chance to show off their work, and a large international festival such as Port Eliot is one of the best places to do this. The competitions offer a genuine opportunity for unknown writers in our region to get discovered, and gain some recognition as a result."

Port Eliot Festival is described as "an annual celebration of words, music, imagination, laughter, exploration, and - above all - fun". Some of the world's finest authors, musicians and artists are due to descend on the stately home's grounds in July.

UCF's MA in Professional Writing offers people who want to start making a living from writing an intensely practical, commercially focused experience. The course can be undertaken in two ways: as a full-time, campus-based student over one year, or as a part-time home-based student over two years.

In addition, aspiring writers can gain insight into many different aspects of the profession in Cornwall this summer, when an impressive array of novelists, scriptwriters, journalists and copywriters gather to teach on a series of short courses at UCF during July.  For full details, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/shortcourses

For further information about MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/professionalwriting, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214374.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

The University College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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