Congratulations! Foyle Young Poets 2024
A huge congratulations to 17-year-old Charlie Jolley Hive Collection Poet/Sheffield Young Writer – one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2024! Charlie was also in the top 15 in 2023 – a huge achievement. This year the competition had over 17,000 poems (!) She follows in…
Hive Young Writers Groups
If you’re a secret scribbler, vocal wordsmith, closet novelist or part-time poet, Hive runs a network of young writers groups in Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. Come build your skills and confidence, be creative and meet others with like-minded interests…
Hive Young Writers Competition 2024/25
Hive Young Writers’ Competition 2024/25 NOW OPEN!! A writing competition for 14 to 30s from or based in Yorkshire, the nearby north & midlands | Poetry | Flash Fiction | Stories | deadline: midnight 23rd Feb 2025
Writing Tight & Writing True in Poetry: Hive Writers Day
Writing Tight and Writing True in Poetry writers’ day with Rory Waterman | Sunday 20th Oct 2024 | Join prize-winning poet Rory Waterman, to explore both how to write short poems that get stuck in people’s heads, and to consider how we can approach or create the emotional ‘truth’ of a poem….
Rory Waterman & Hive New Poets Prize Winners Reading
Rory Waterman & Hive New Poets Prize Winners Reading Sun 20th Oct 7pm-8.30pm | Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield
Over the last 8 years, Hive Young Writers Network has nurtured many fine emerging South Yorkshire poets including an incredible 8 winners of the International New Poets Prize for writers aged 17 to 24. Join poets from this list, including….
May Day – Jackie Kay with support from poets Danaé Wellington & Beth Davies
May Day – Jackie Kay with support from poets Danaé Wellington & Beth Davies 8pm 24th Oct | Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield | One of our best-loved poets and former Makar of Scotland, Jackie Kay reads from new collection May Day with support from Hive poets Danaé Wellington & Beth Davies…
The Camellia House & Other Stories: Anthology Launch
The Camellia House & Other Stories: Anthology launch at Wentworth Woodhouse | Sat 26th Oct | 1.30-3pm | In celebration of the newly refurbished Camellia House tearoom situated in the gardens of Wentworth Woodhouse’s captivating Grade II* listed mansion, join emerging young writers from Hive for the launch of….
Young Writers Open Mic at Off the Shelf Festival of Words
Young Writers’ Open Mic (aged 14-30) | Fri 1st Nov | 7.30–10pm | Tickets: Register free via Eventbrite (link coming soon) If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, spit bars, or have anything to say out loud to a supportive audience, this is an evening to….
Hive at Off the Shelf Festival 2024
It’s that time of year again! Off the Shelf Festival of Words 2024 takes place Monday 7 October to Sunday 3 November with events online and in the real world. As always, Hive is honoured to be onboard across a number of fabulous events….
Charlie Jolley highly commended in the New Poets Prize 2024
A huge congratulations to Sheffield Young Writers alumnus and Hive Poetry Collective member, Charlie Jolley who has been highly commended in the New Poets Prize 2024 for her pamphlet The Dreamers…
Northern Writers Awards 2024
A huge congratulations to Mixing Roots alumnus and Sheffield Young Writer Isabella Merino Garzon, highly commended in the 15-18 category of the Young Northern Writers Award 2024!!
Poetry workshop for new & emerging young women writers of colour (aged 15-30)
To tie in with our current anthology submission window, we invite new, aspiring and emerging young women writers of colour (aged 15-30) to join poet Warda Yassin for a free Zoom poetry writing workshop on…
Call for submissions – Mixing Roots Anthology
We are open for submissions of poetry and poetic flash fiction until 10th July 2024 – from new, aspiring and emerging young women writers of colour (aged 15 to 30), for our first full-length Mixing Roots anthology…
Writing the Gallery
Writing the Gallery | A creative writing and publication project for Y10s to Y12s. We are looking for several Rotherham and Sheffield secondary schools to interested in this exciting project that will offer students the chance to work with professional writers writing pieces inspired by…
Uni slam Poetry Collectives Showcase 2024
On Sunday 17th March, members of Hive Poetry Collective – Fae Horsley, Luke Worthy & Lalla Waddington, performed at the mighty Uni Slam 2024 as part of the National Poetry Collectives Showcase in the run up to the Uni Slam finals. It was such a lovely day of workshops and networking and so great for the three to get the opportunity to perform alongside…
Kaleidoscopic Minds anthology launch
To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024, Sheffield’s Juno Books invites you to celebrate the launch of Kaleidoscopic Minds, an anthology of poetry written by neurodivergent women, with an evening of spoken word poetry. The event is hosted by Kate Jenkinson and Ashley Edge, from the Prickly Pear online open mic for disabled poets, and features Hive young poets….
Prophetic Poetry: From sci-fi to sci-fact
Prophetic Poetry: From sci-fi to sci-fact | A Hive Young Writers Poetry Day with Suzannah Evans | Sunday 24th March 2024 10.30am to 4pm (with refreshments & lunch break) | Open to young writers (aged 15 to 30) from across South Yorkshire & the nearby north
Congrats Ez & Jack: Self Portrait Challange commended
Congratulations to Sheffield Young Writer Ez Heller and Rotherham Young Writer Jack Turner, both commended in the Self Portrait Young Poets Network Challenge. Their brilliant poems can be read here…
Open Mic
Young Writers Open Mic – as part of Barnsley Book Festival | Wed 20th March 5pm | at: Library @ the Lightbox | Calling all young people aged 14 -25 from across Barnsley! In partnership with The Civic Barnsley, we are hosting an open mic featuring spoken word performances from members of Barnsley Young Writers and Next Big Thing. This event is also open to both new and experienced young writers. If you write…
After Hours: Hive anthology 2023
We are excited to say, after hours is now available to buy! This brilliantly inventive, powerful and vibrant anthology of poetry and short fiction showcases writing by the next generation of writers in the North. Many are members of Hive young writers’ groups or have attended Hive programmes and projects across the region. Some have been placed in our competitions. There’s also work from Hive award-winning writers…
Young Poets’ Summit at the Forward Prizes for Poetry 2023
On Monday 16th October, five Hive poets attended the inaugural Young Poets Summit at the Forward Prize for Poetry 2023 in Leeds. They were joined by other young poets from: Young Identity, Leeds young Authors, Barbican Young Poets & The Writing Squad, for an afternoon of poetry-related discussion, networking, and wonderful insights from a stellar panel of writers, including,..
After Hours: anthology launch
Young Writers’ Open Mic & anthology launch | Friday 17th Nov | 7.15pm – 10pm 2023 | All welcome, but the stage belongs to young people (14-30) from across South Yorkshire & beyond….
Polylingual Open Mic Night with Somali Week Express & Off the Shelf Festival
Join local Somali-British poet Warda Yassin for a poetry open mic night with a polylingual flavour. We are looking for poems written in all languages from Arabic to Zapotec, including English, Somali and every other language spoken in Sheffield…
Northern Dreaming Anthology for Children: Leeds 2023
As part of Leeds 2023, three Hive early career writers – Luke Worthy, Freya Bantiff and Safia Khan were commissioned to write new work for Northern Dreaming: a collection of poetry and stories for children from 0 to 12 years old…
Congratulations Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2023
Huge congratulations to 15-year-old Charlie Jolley of Sheffield Young Writers – one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2023! And to Isabella Pollard (Rotherham Young Writers) and Merila Gramy (Sheffield Young Writers) who were both highly commended in the competition…
Off the Shelf Festival of Words 2023
From 13th October it’s… the Off the Shelf Festival of Words and we’re very excited to have Hive-related happenings at the festival again this year! Hive related happenings include…
Spit Out the Myth Launch
Many congratulations to Hive poets Silé Sibanda, Warda Yassin and current Sheffield Poet Laureate Danae Wellington, who will be launching their join pamphlet: Spit Out the Myth at Off the Shelf Festival of Words 2023. The poems in this collection bring to life stories of migration and change, explored through family roots, mythical tales and life in the north of England…
Ear to the Streets: 24hrs in the life of South Yorkshire
Ear to the Streets: 24hrs in the life of South Yorkshire – is an audio-visual love letter to the urban and rural life of South Yorkshire, featuring the words and voices of over 40 young writers from across the region’s cities, towns and villages, working with poet Vicky Morris in collaboration with digital content producer and musician Kitty Turner…
Congratulations Charlotte Murray: Creative Future Award 2023
Congratulations to Hive Poet Charlotte Murray who has won the Silver Poetry Award for her pamphlet “Cross Stitch House”, as part of the Creative Future Writers’ Award 2023…
Freya Bantiff & Luke Worthy winners of the New Poets Prize 2023
A huge congratulations to Hive young poets Freya Baniff and Luke Worthy. Freya is a winner of the international New Poets Prize 2023 for her pamphlet All Appears Ordinary, and Luke Worthy is one of two runners-up for the prize with his pamphlet On What Could Sting debut pamphlet…
Hexham Poetry Competition
Congratulations to Charlie Jolley of Sheffield Young Writers who is the 1st Prize Winner in the 14-18 age category for the Hexham Poetry Competition 2023 with her poem Sunday Layla. Charlie received £100 as her prize. All winners are listed here…
Dominic is awarded a Churchill Fellowship
We are absolutely buzzing with pride that Dominic Heslop (Slambarz/The1Devotion) has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship 2023. From 965 applications, 230 individuals were interviewed and 141 were awarded fellowships so this is an incredible achievement….
Charles Causley Trust Young People’s Poetry Competition 2023
Congratulations to Charlie Jolley of Sheffield Young Writers who is the 2nd prize winner of the aged 12 to 15 age category of the Charles Causley Trust Young People’s Poetry Competition 2023 with her poem Sunday Roast….
E.H.P Barnard Poetry Prize
Many congratulations to Hive Poets Charlotte Murray (2nd Prize) and Luke Worthy (highly-commended) in the E.H.P Barnard Poetry Competition 2023. The judge of this year’s competition…
Hattie Norman-Bird wins Live Canon’s Children’s Poetry Competition 2023
Congratulations to Hattie Norman-Bird of Barnsley Young Writers who is the winner of the Y10 to Y13 category of the Live Canon’s Children’s Poetry Competition 2023 with her poem Us Park Street Kids. The 12 winning poems…
Young Writers Open Mic & Publication Launch at Barnsley Civic
Open to all across the region! Young Writers’ Open Mic & Barnsley Young Writers Publication Launch | Wed 12 July | 7pm – 9.30pm 2023 | Where: The Civic Theatre, Barnsley | FREE
Hive Online Poetry Summer School
Hive Online Summer Poetry Programme – Sunday in July 2023 | A set of inspiring online poetry workshops for new, aspiring or emerging young poets to develop or refresh your poetry writing skills. Open to young people aged 17-30 in the north of England & Midlands…
The Pretense of Understanding
Beth Davies’ debut New Poets Prize-winning pamphlet The Presence of Understanding is now available to preorder from the Smith|Doorstop bookshop. One of four winning collections it will launch on Sunday 28th May at Sheaf Poetry Festival in Sheffield…
Hive at Sheaf Poetry Festvial 2023
From 21st to 28th May 2023 it’s… the Sheaf Poetry Festival 2023 and we’re very excited to be part of the action! It’s such a joy to see so many Hive young poets at the festival this year. Here’s a rundown of where you can catch them, and you can find the full programme here…
Our Young Writers Groups (14-19s)
If you’re a secret scribbler, vocal wordsmith, closet novelist or part-time poet, Hive runs a network of young writers groups in Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. We’re looking for new members to start autumn 2022…
Hive Competition Results 2022/23
We are delighted to announce the results of our 2021/22 Young Writers’ Competition! Congratulations to winning and commended young writers aged 14 to 30 from across Yorkshire and the nearby north who submitted wonderful work spanning short story, flash fiction and poetry. If you entered the competition and weren’t placed in the list below, don’t be disheartened. Keep writing! We’re….
Shaping Great Stories: from take-off to landing, with Dan Powell
Shaping Great Stories: from take-off to landing, a Hive Short Story Day with Dan Powell | All experience levels welcome | For young people aged 15-25 | How do we find the right beginning for a story? Or the right ending? And how do we navigate the space between beginning and ending to craft a story that carries a reader meaningfully from first line to last?
Freya Bantiff wins 3rd in National Poetry Competition!
A huge congratulations to Freya Bantiff, who came 3rd in the National Poetry Competition announced at a live awards event at the Southbank Centre, London on 29 March 2023, for her brilliant poem God the Whale.
To be placed in the National Poetry competition is such an achievement, and even more so for someone in their early twenties! The NPC is the biggest of its kind in the UK with…
Poetry with intention: with Yomi Sode
Poetry with intention: a workshop with Yomi Sode | In partnership with Sheaf Poetry Festival 2023 | Hive have teamed up again with the brilliant Sheaf Poetry Festival this May to offer an exciting workshop with award-winning Nigerian British writer and performer, Yomi Ṣode. The workshop will explore…
News: BYW at Barnsley Civic
Lots of great things have been happening via Barnsley Young Writers recently so we wanted to blow a trumpet for them! In March, current and former Barnsley Young Writers members Becca Green, Ben Whiston, Brooke Lees, Chloe Pearson, Elliot Blades, Kes, Izzy Whiston and Sofie Stothers, had…
Hive Online Fiction Programme with Rachel Bower (aged 17-30)
If you’re a new or emerging short story writer, or novelist, keen to refresh or develop skills, Hive is running an online fiction programme on Thursday evenings from 13th April, offering a supportive & immersive set of workshops & individual feedback to help, inspire and guide you to getting where you want to go with your writing. Join award-winning fiction writer Rachel Bower, for all things furthering your fiction, and…
Learning to sing in a new key: a Hive Poetry Day with Kathryn Bevis
Learning to sing in a new key: a Hive Young Writers Poetry Day with Kathryn Bevis for 15 to 30s | How do poets find their own voice and then learn to escape it? How do we shapeshift to inhabit other voices, transform ourselves by using the poem as a space to dress up, borrowing the voices of other people, creatures, and objects? And how do we use poetic voice to create intimacy with our readers?
Congratulations Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2022
Huge congratulations are in order to 15-year-old Isabelle Pollard of Rotherham Young Writers – one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2022! Also, Lola Forbes-Egan (Mixing Roots run by Warda Yassin) who was in the top 100 highly commended. The winners follow in the footsteps of previous winners from our South Yorkshire groups including….
Freya Bantiff wins the Bridport Prize Young Writers Award
A huge congratulations to Freya Bantiff, joint winner of the Bridport Prize Young Writers Award 2022, along with co-winner Nicole Adabunu. The award is presented to the highest placed writer/s aged 16 to 25 in the competition each year…
Spit out your Script! With Stacey Sampson
Got a great idea for a script, but aren’t sure how to get it onto the page? Or are you seeking inspiration to get started? Perhaps you want tips and tricks for sending your scripts out into the world? Join inspirational Sheffield actor and theatre/screen-writer Stacey Sampson to explore the myriad ways IN to getting your script ideas OUT…
Danae Wellington announced as Sheffield Poet Laureate
We are absolutely thrilled for Hive poet, storyteller, teacher, activist and all-round creative star, Danae Wellington, who was announced as the new Sheffield Poet Laureate on Saturday 22nd Oct 2022 in the introduction for her performance with the legendary Linton Kwesi Johnson at October’s Off the Shelf Festival of Words. Previous poet laureate, our very own Warda Yassin, gave a lovely introduction to her ‘poetry sister’ and…
Look How Alive Book Launch
Look How Alive by Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith | Book launch | Dina Sheffield | 1st Oct 2022 | FREE – We’re delighted, Hive young poet, and Rotherham Young Writers alumnus, Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith is launching her first full-length collection Look How Alive (Write Bloody UK) on Saturday 1st Oct at Dina Sheffield…
Elena Barham wins the BBC Young Writers’ Award 2022
A huge congratulations to Barnsley Young Writers alumnus Elena Barham who has won the BBC Young Writers’ Award 2022 at the age of 19. Her winning story, ‘Little Acorns’, set in the 1940s, explores gender, familial relationships, loss and abuse…
Spit out your Script!
Got a great idea for a script, but aren’t sure how to get it onto the page? Or are you seeking inspiration to get started? Perhaps you want tips and tricks for sending your scripts out into the world? Join inspirational Sheffield actor and theatre/screen-writer Stacey Sampson to explore the myriad ways IN to getting your script ideas OUT….
Dream Big Book Launch
Hosted by Hive’s The1Devotion, this event launches the latest print anthology of spoken word by Sheffield’s creative voice and influence groups for care-experienced young people aged 7-25 years: Sheffield Children in Care Council (CiCC) and Sheffield Care Leaver’s Union (SCLU). This second anthology…
Interview with Young Adult Fiction Writer Paula Rawsthorne
Sheffield Hallan University Creative Writing student, Lauren Wright, recently interviewed multi-award-winning young adult fiction writer Paula Rawsthorne about all things fiction. Paula chatted with Lauren about everything from how she found her way into becoming a writer, and what it’s been like working with publishers, to how she…
My Name is Adebiyi by Najma Ahmed
My Name is Adebiyi by Najma Ahmed | Read by Kenneth Omole | The following monologue started life in a workshop working with actor and writer John Rwoth-Omack. Hear from Adebiyi a street vendor in the city of Lagos. He’s had enough.
We Are Everything Chapbook from Mixing Roots
Recently we launched two amazing anthologies at an open mic event at the iconic Leadmill Sheffield. One of those anthologies was the chapbook We Are Everything, from our Mixing Roots project run by Warda Yasin & Danae Wellington…
If Buildings Could Speak
A summer creative writing workshop for ages 14-19 in Barnsley Thurs 18 Aug | 1:30pm – 4pm | Free | What would buildings or streets tell us if they could speak? What have they seen and what have they heard? What tales would they tell us, and what do they observe about us strange humans who move through them?
Dear Life: Hive anthology 2022
We are excited to say, Dear Life is now available to buy! This brilliantly inventive, powerful and vibrant anthology of poetry and short fiction showcases writing by the next generation of writers in the North. Many are members of Hive young writers’ groups or have attended Hive programmes and projects across the region. Some have been placed in our competitions. There’s also work from Hive award-winning writers: Beth Davies, Safia Khan, Lauren Hollingsworth Smith, Naomi Thomas, Georgie Woodhead, Lacey Williamson and Warda Yassin….
Thank you! Leadmill open mic & launch…
Last Thursday evening, we filled the iconic Leadmill Sheffield with an epic 60 young performers scanning poetry, monologues, rap, music and words, words words, for an epic open mic and the launch of two Hive anthologies…
Winners of the Northern Writers Awards 2022
A huge congratulations to Hala Mukhair, Nefeli Frida and Isabelle Pollard who were all awarded Northern Writers Awards this year in 2022! Hala Mukhair, a grad of Hive’s Mixing Roots programme, was highly commended in the 15-18 Young Northern Writer Award. Judge, author Liz Flanagan, said of Hala’s work….
The World as a Trampoline: Poetry & the Surreal with Jonathan Edwards
The World as a Trampoline: Poetry & the Surreal with Jonathan Edwards | Sat 23rd July | One of the most exciting things about poetry is the way it allows us to unleash the full power of the imagination, bringing to life fantastical, impossible and magical scenarios. On this writing day, we will explore…
Beth Davies is a winner of the international New Poets Prize 2022!
We are delighted for Hive young poet Beth Davies who is a winner of the international New Poets Prize 2022 – for her debut pamphlet collection ‘The Pretense of Understand’. Beth started out in the network as a member of Sheffield Young Writers where she began to develop her love for poetry. It’s been so lovely to see Beth grow over the years and we know this is the beginning of a long, rich adventure as a talented published poet….
Young Voices Open Mic 14th July
Young Writers’ Open Mic (aged 14-30) The Leadmill, Thursday 14 July – All welcome, but the stage belongs to young people (14-30) from across South Yorkshire. Open and supportive of all, both new & experienced performers. If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, sing, play an instrument, spit bars, or have anything to say out loud to an encouraging audience…
Our Streets Unmasked Podcast Stories
Streets Unmasked commissioned seven stories in three parts, asking young and emerging writers to write pieces that reflected the changing faces, real and imagined, of the places we live as they took off their masks and woke from their lockdown slumber…
Division Street by Morgan Westwood Cooke
Streets Unmasked: Morgan Westwood-Cook takes us on a gorgeous poetic meander through the beauty of a city waking from lockdown. As it stretches out of its quiet corners, it realises it is somewhat changed – but are its people?
Ghost Town by Rebecca Payne
Streets Unmasked: Things must be bad when even York’s ghosts are noticing! Rebecca Payne explores the relationships and the brilliantly comic dynamics of the dead who are struggling to live without the living…
Merchantgate Bus Stop by Cristina Rizzo
Streets Unmasked: A poetic dance through York: located around Merchantgate bus stop on three different dates showing us three very different faces. We’ve all been changed, in some ways, by lockdown – Cristina Rizzo magnificently shows us we’re not the only ones to take our masks off and find ourselves… different.
Inner Pieces by Eve Naden
Streets Unmasked: Let us take you by the hand and walk you through a York trying to wake up and find its feet. Delighting in the small details that show us so much, this York finds itself something different, something… new.
Bench Guy by Eliana Grundy
Streets Unmasked: Ever wondered just who that person you see every day is? Why they take that particular train or… sat on that particular bench through lockdown? Eliana Grundy dives into discovering who one of these strangers is, showing us that really, none of us are ever quite as alone as we think….
The Time Travel Log by Lucy-Jo Finnighan
Streets Unmasked: A rip-roaring yarn from Yarm, where an intrepid Victorian explorer falls into a curious time-slip – finding himself in a future he could never imagined. Where have all the people gone? And why all the masks…?
The Silent Disease by Ilona Galloway-Dutton
Streets Unmasked: A stunning piece of realism, examining the effects of lockdown on family – each generation with their own sets of problems.
Rotherham poem street art!
Exciting news! Yorkshire Day commissioned poem: ‘Our Rotherham’ (by poet Vicky Morris working with Rotherham Young Writers) will be displayed as part of the design for the Women’s Euros in Rotherham this July! We cannot wait to see sections of the large-scale poem winding their way through the streets, parks and hidden corners of Rotherham town. What better way than poetry…
Beth Davies Wins Magdalena 2022 Second Prize
Congratulations to Beth Davies who’s won second prize in the Magdalena Young Poets’ Prize 2022 for her poem ‘The Garden at William Street’, selected by poet Gboyega Odubanjo, who said “with sure-footed confidence [the poet] is able to skip from one world into the next.”
We’re All in it Together Grist Books anthology
Congratulations to Charlotte Murray and Safia Khan who both have superb poems in the new Grist Books anthology We’re All in it Together: Poems for a DisUnited Kingdom. We’re All in it Together explores the fault lines of national and regional identity…
Fiction writers get in touch…
We have recently come to an end of our fabulous fiction programme with the wonderful Rachel Bower! By all accounts, and the selection of lovely feedback below, it’s been a really enriching and supportive programme for all, and we know that people are itching for more! We wanted to take this opportunity to put out the feelers ahead of anything planned…
Ten Poems about… Candlestick Press
We’re thrilled that a third poem from our Wild Poetry anthology has recently been published in the delightful Ten Poems About series from Candlestick Press…
Digital Residencies with The Poetry Business
We’re very excited to announce, Hive have teamed up again with northern nurturers and purveyors of fine contemporary poetry, The Poetry Business, as part of their Digital Poetry Residences programme. ..
Hive Competition Results 2021/22
Congratulations to winning and commended young writers aged 14 to 30 from across the nearby north who submitted wonderful work spanning short story, flash fiction and poetry. If you entered the competition and weren’t placed in the list below, don’t be disheartened. Keep writing! We’re looking forward to hearing from you again next time.
Mixing Roots Poetry Programme
Mixing Roots poetry programme for young women of colour age 15-25 in the north of England. If you’re an aspiring or emerging young poet keen to take your craft further, Mixing Roots is back and running an online poetry programme starting on Sundays 13th March offering…
Hive Online Fiction Programme with Rachel Bower
If you’re a new or emerging short story writer, or novelist, keen to refresh or develop skills, Hive is running an online fiction programme on Thursday evenings from 10th February, offering a supportive and immersive set of six workshops and individual feedback to help, inspire and guide you to getting where you want to go with your writing. Join award-winning fiction writer Rachel Bower, for all things furthering your fiction, and…
Easter writing workshops for 14-19s in Barnsley
Aged 14-19 in the Barnsley area? Like creative writing? Hive have teamed up with The Civic Barnsley again and we’re looking for aspiring young writers to join us this Easter for creative writing workshops to tie in with an exciting new exhibition coming to The Civic Barnsley – Teenage Wildlife: a project exploring 70 years of Barnsley youth culture and teenage experience….
Barnsley Young Writers at The Civic
Calling young people aged 14-19 in the Barnsley area… Like creative writing? Like photography too? (Not essential!) Want to join something fun and creative with others who share the same interests? If so, join us at the new Barnsley Young Writers! (FREE!) We’re looking for aspiring young writers to join our new monthly group….
A Poetry Week at Lumb Bank by Freya Bantiff
As someone with very little concept of time, my week at Arvon unfolded in a blur of exciting happenings – one second, I was hopping onto a train from Sheffield (I hadn’t been on a train since pre-Covid times so even that seemed moderately exciting!), the next I was entering a secreted world, hidden amongst the woods, of people who shared the same passion for writing as me…
Reclaiming Robin Hood
I’m Ashely Gregory, an emerging young scriptwriter, and I had the honour of writing a chapter in a new book entitled, Reclaiming Robin Hood, celebrating folklore and South Yorkshire’s legendary outlaw. The project was part of the Sensoria Film and Music Festival and my involvement in the project came about through an internship with them through Sheffield Hallam University in 2019…
Trials of the Realm by Lauren Stabler
I wrote my first novel during the second lockdown of 2020 but the idea was born as I was writing my dissertation for the MA. I loved books like The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) and The Testing (Joelle Charnonneau) but I wanted something a little bit older as I myself got older. And so, I wrote Trials of the Realm…
All Reytons
Songwriting competition coming soon for tickets to see The Reytons at Magna in May! We just want to say a massive, yes lads! to The (mighty) Reytons for their absolutely stellar debut album – Kids Off the Estate. This is true musical craft, DIY in-it-for-the-long-haul graft, northern songwriting at its finest…
Poetry free reads & mentoring support
Hive is offering a number of free reads, feedback & mentorship support to young poets [aged 17 to 30 years] who are at a stage where they are getting ready to send their work out into the world for a pamphlet submission…
Hive poets at Rotherham Civic for Off the Shelf Festival
Such a lovely evening on Friday at Off the Shelf Festival of Words at the beautiful Rotherham Civic. Hive poets Safia Khan & Freya Bantiff performed wonderful sets alongside the brilliant Caroline Bird and Otis Mensah. If you haven’t been to Rotherham Civic, you really need to go. It’s such a gorgeous theatre with great staff and so welcoming…
Thank You Youth Word Up 10th birthday!!
We just want to say a massive, heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in the 10th birthday of the Youth Word Up last night and every young person who took to the stage bravely and brilliantly. We all found it an emotional evening with many returning from over the years to show how the Youth Word Up has impacted their lives for the better including….
Hive at Off the Shelf Festvial
It’s that time of year again! Off the Shelf Festival of Words is underway from Friday 15th to 31st October with events online and in the real world. As always, Hive is honoured to be onboard across a number of fabulous events. Below is a taster of what to expect, events with Hive or hive writers, but there are many more events and happenings all things words to feast on here in the Off the Shelf Programme…
Hive Young Writers’ Competition 2021/22
A writing competition for 14 to 30s from or based in Yorkshire & the nearby north. Poetry | Flash Fiction | Stories Age Categories: 14 – 16 | 17 – 19 | 20 – 30 Deadline: midnight 30th December 2021 (Individual & group/classes entries welcome)
Poetry & performance workshop for young people in Rotherham
Calling young people aged 14 to 21 in Rotherham, like creative writing or want to build confidence to read your work to an audience? Then come along to the wonderful Rotherham Civic Theatre for a workshop all things poetry writing & spoken word (and maybe performing, but you decide!) Through the workshop, you’ll build your writing confidence while…
The Perks of Young Adult Fiction – Young Writers Day with YA writer Paula Rawsthorne
Hive Young Writers’ Day: Writing young adult fiction that flies off the page – with award-winning Young Adult fiction writer Paula Rawsthorne. 30th Oct 10.30am – 4pm, Sheffield | Drawing on the strengths and driving elements of this genre, join multi-award-winning writer, Paula Rawsthorne, for a day of writing and exploring all things Young Adult fiction. From finding inspiration for stories to pitches and plotting.
But Mummy Doesn’t Have a Broken Arm by Sam Davis
We’re delighted to tell you about Doncaster young poet, Sam Davis’ debut children’s book – But Mummy Doesn’t Have a Broken Arm, out now on Amazon. Sam, who attends Hive Poetry Collective and recently took part in the Brave New Words Doncaster project (in partnership with Doncaster Creates) wrote the book in the absence of finding anything suitable for children to read around understanding why a parent, or adult in their lives, might be in a mental health hospital…
Brave New Words Podcast
Brave New Words was a programme of free creative writing workshops for young people in Doncaster exploring a new way of looking at the world, post-pandemic, and ourselves in it. This is a podcast of a selection of the work produced…
Lacey wins the Matthew Hale Award
We are delighted that Lacey Williamson of Barnsley Young Writers has won the Matthew Hale Northern Writers Award 2021. Lacey has had a difficult few years and this is such a boost to her confidence and growth as a young writer. She will receive a package of support from New Writing North to help develop her writing…
Children’s Books North interview
We were delighted to do an interview recently for Children’s Books North (co-founded by Tilda Johnson, Emma Layfield and Liz Scott in 2020). CBN aims to connect published children’s authors, illustrators and publishing professionals living in the NW, NE, Yorkshire and Scotland….
Happiness & Other Poems
It was lovely to be part of the open mic launch of Happiness & Other Poems yesterday with St Leger Homes of Doncaster, a publication of fine work written during Hive workshops with young people and adults as part of Keeping Safe Week Doncaster run by St Leger Homes of Doncaster and the mighty Stacey Lynn…
The Snow Grows Whiter
The Snow Grows Whiter: Painting the World Anew through Poetry with Vanessa Lampert – In the words of poet, Charles Simic ‘The snow grows whiter after a crow has flown over it’. How can the poet paint our world anew and turn up the brightness or amplify the dark? How can we write the crow, or be the crow?
New Poets Pamphlets 2020
We are so excited that the New Poets Prize 2020 winners’ pamphlets are now available to purchase from Smith|Doorstop bookshop and other outlets…
Creative writing at Harrison College Doncaster
It’s been so much fun and so insightful holding the huge majority of our workshops and groups online over this past year – we’ve opened the door to loads of new writers and we’ve loved finding new ways of working – both for us at Hive, and for the writers taking part…
The Wales Young Poets Award 20/21
Congratulations to Anni Hodgkinson of Doncaster Young Writers, winner of the inaugural Wales Young Poets Award 2020 in the 14 to 17 age category…
The Canalworks Project with Mixing Roots
What a wonderful weekend of poetry on the canal! On Saturday, young writers from the Mixing Roots project joined Warda Yassin for an exciting poetry workshop on a canal boat in Swinton. Warda is currently collecting inspiration for a poem she’s writing to be displayed along the canal later this year…
Safia Khan wins New Poets Prize 2021
We are so thrilled for Hive young poet Safia Kahn who is a winner of the international New Poets Prize 2021 – for her debut pamphlet collection ‘Too Much Mirch’. Safia started out in the network as a member of Doncaster Young Writers when…
Michael Smith by Morgan Westwood-Cooke
PODCAST: A chance feature on the local news connects the dots a lonely schoolteacher has left out of place for years. A brilliant and illuminating study of how family trauma burrows deep and the ways we find to cope…
Congratulations to Beth Davies – The Dead Cat Poetry Prize
Congratulations to Beth Davies of Hive Poetry Collective, and Sheffield Young Writers alumnus, whose poem We Met You as a Dead Thing came second in The Dead Cat Poetry Prize…
Longley Park Workshops
If you’re a Longley Park Sixth Form student, you can sign up for one of three creative writing workshop through the day on Wednesday 16th June working with our current Sheffield poet laureate Warda Yassin and Vicky Morris from Hive Young Writers network.
Young Poet Network Challenges
Congratulations to Hive’s Erik Ruder commended in the August Young Poet’s Network Challenge Re-mixing History, Fiction and the Unexpected, and Dillon Butt longlisted in the Human Cell Atlas Challenge!
Thanks to the Poetry Society|Young Poet’s Network for your thoughtful and inspiring challenges!
Canalworks Project
Calling people of Sheffield and nearby with an interest in the stretch of canal between Sheffield and Tinsley – whether you live nearby, like to walk there, love wildlife and water, or are interested in its history – join Sheffield Poet Laureate, Warda Yassin, for a jaunt along the canal and a bit of creative writing and thinking along the way!
Write for TV Opportunity for 18-30s
Calling young creatives 18 to 30 in Rotherham and nearby South Yorkshire… Do you want to try WRITING FOR TV? Sky Writes is a partnership between Sky Studios and New Writing North to support under-represented writers from Rotherham, and the nearby areas, to develop their ideas and skills in Writing for Television. Taster workshop 26th April 6pm
Writing One-page Wonders
Writing One-page Wonders: Stories in the blink of an eye… (Sunday 18th April) Imagine writing a story as tiny as a sparrow. A story that lands on your hand for a few seconds before taking off again — but leaves your skin tingling for ages afterwards. That’s what flash fiction is all about. Flashes are very short stories that often fit only a page, but stay in your head for years.
Our Streets: Unmasked
Commission Opportunity… Calling budding fiction writers! We’re excited to offer a fiction writing commission to a small number of young writers (aged 17 to 30) inspired by documenting and exploring the changing faces of the places we live as they take off their masks and wake from their lockdown slumber.
WordHatch Doncaster
Aged 14 to 19 in Doncaster with a creative itch to scratch!? WordHatch is a taster programme of relaxed, fun and free creative writing workshops for young people in Doncaster. You don’t have to think you’re a great writer to attend. Everyone is welcome from….
Lauren at Kendal Poetry Festival
We’re delighted that Hive young poet, Lauren Hollingsworth Smith, is reading from her debut upcoming poetry pamphlet, Ugly Bird (The Poetry Business) at the Kendal Poetry Festival on Saturday 28th February alongside fellow New Poet Prize winners Lucy Holt and Gboyega Odubanjo….
Hive Online Fiction programme
Hive Fiction programme for writers (17-30s) – take your writing to the next level. Writing can be a lonely and a tricky business to navigate, whether you’re starting out or have been at it a while. It’s difficult to know where to get feedback, or if what you’re writing makes the grade. And then there’s what to do with a story once you’ve finished…
Hive & Sheffield Year of Reading 2020
One of things we love to do the most at Hive is reach out and work with great partners. In 2020 Hive’s own Nik Perring has been enjoying the role of Writer-in-Residence for Sheffield Libraries’ Year of Reading…
Using Philosophical Enquiry to Spark Creative Writing
How can philosophical inquiry lead to creativity, and particularly, new writing ideas and approaches? Join us for a practical workshop with writer and facilitator, Rosie Cornall, who will encourage you to try out philosophical techniques, sparked by creative writing, to open up new channels for your own writing…
Putting together a poetry pamphlet masterclass
Are you a young poet in Yorkshire or the nearby north between the ages of 17 and 30? Do you have a number of strong poems that you’d like to shape into a pamphlet submission for the New Poets Prize, the Poetry Business pamphlet competition or another submission, but feel unsure how to go about it?
Dear 2021…
We’re delighted to be holding a copy of… Dear 2021! – The Start of It, a Sheffield Year of Reading Project (Sheffield Library Service) in association with the BBC’s Novels That Shaped Our World and Hive South Yorkshire. We’ve so enjoyed being part of this wonderful project and are proud to…
Warda wins Women Poets’ Prize
A huge congratulations to a long-time member of the South Yorkshire young writers network and a Hive young poet – Warda Yassin, who has just been announced as one of three winners of the Women Poets’ Prize 2020, alongside Alisha Dietzman and Natalie Linh Bolderston – congratulations to all!
Dear 2021, The Start of It…
Many of us will be haunted by the ghosts of 2020 – the strangest of years. We’re giving you the opportunity, the voice, and the audience to put them to bed. Letters to 2021 takes the spirit of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and challenges you to exorcise the ghosts of 2020 by writing a letter to Donald Trump, the universe, Santa, the future – to someone or everyone, telling us what you want to change and the whys and hows…
Youth Word Up Podcast
This year the Youth Word Up is a little different! Our normal live event at Off the Shelf Festival of Words with its accompanying publication has turned into… a podcast! This time around we’re working with the Young People in Care Council, Sheffield Young Carers, and Chilypep. They’ll be joined by emerging young writers from the HIVE network…
Young, Gifted & Black: A celebration of voices of African heritage
Young, Gifted & Black: A celebration of local young poets of African heritage. In collaboration with REMA, to celebrate Black History Month, we’ve a real treat for you! The Young, Gifted & Black podcast showcases the voices of up and coming local young poets of African heritage: Taina Maneus, Verta Lune, Warda Yassin, Danae Wellington and Sile Sibanda.
Brave New Words Doncaster
Aged 14-18? Or 19 to 30? Brave New Words is a series of free creative writing workshops for young people in Doncaster exploring Roy’s idea of stepping into a new way of looking at the world, and ourselves in it, through writing….
The Hatch Podcast
We’re excited to launch our all new Hive Podcast Channel! We’ve migrated to a new platform and have been busy uploading all sorts of fab archive content from the last few years of Hive. From interviews with inspiring writers, to projects, reading and performances, check out the Hatch Podcast – a place for the hatching of new voices, new…
Birdlife – a poetry podcast project
We’re flapping our wings with excitement right now, to bring you….Birdlife – a truly captivating poetry podcast project that saw a flock of talented young poets explore the boundless life of birds in a set of commissioned poems…
Hive at Sheaf Poetry Festival 2020
From 19th to 23rd Nov it’s… the Sheaf Poetry Festival 2020! And we’re very excited to be part of the action! It was such a brilliant festival last year, we…
Louisa Rhodes – Streetcake Prize Winner
Hive young writer Louisa Rhodes has been chosen by Jarred Mcginnis as 4th place winner in Streetcake’s Experimental Writing Prize (18-23 category) for her story heaven.exe_/run/. The announcement was made at Streetcake’s Awards ceremony…
Hive Young Writers’ Competition Results 2020
We are delighted to announce the results of our 2020 Young Writers’ Competition! Open to young writers aged 14 to 30 across the Yorkshire region, the competition spanned short story, flash fiction and poetry. We were amazed to receive…
Mixing Roots – for young voices of colour
Are you a young person of colour in South Yorkshire & nearby, aged 14 to 21? Interested in power of words? In August and September, award-winning Sheffield writer and poet, Warda Yassin (and guest writers & creatives Danae Wellington & Sile Sibanda) will be running a new Mixing Roots programme of free creative writing workshops for young people of colour and dual heritage from across South Yorkshire.
Naomi Thomas BBC Short Story Award Congratulations!
A massive congratulations to Sheffield Young Writer’s Naomi Thomas, one of five shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Short Story Award 2020 with First Story and Cambridge University. ‘The Battle of Trafalgar Square’ by Naomi Thomas: Described by judges as ‘a punch in the face of a story, in the best possible way,’ an ordinary commute on a crowded tube train is transformed into a surreal and darkly…
Hive at Off the Shelf Festival of Words
It’s that time of year again – it can only be… the Off the Shelf Festival of Word! With both live and online readings, performances, workshops and talks, there’s an amazing line-up for this year’s festival (9th – 31th October). As always, Hive and Hive writers are honoured to be part of the action…
Warda Yassin at Off the Shelf Festival of Words in October
We’re so proud of Warda for all she gets up to and this autumn she’s very busy doing various events at Off the Shelf Festival of Words including reading with UK Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage on 11 Oct. What’s more it’s a drive-in event – yes, book by the car! She’s also….
Mastering Monologues – for young writers & actors
Join acclaimed actor, John Rwoth-Omack (Far Gone), in a jam-packed two-part masterclass for young writers and actors, from hobby to career interest. Over two 90-minute sessions, you’ll explore acting and writing tips and advice, from one-man-shows to nailing affecting monologues. You’ll go to contribute your ideas and writing to a real monologue…
Hive poets support Roger Robinson at Off the Shelf Festival
We’re thrilled to have two emerging young poets from the Hive network – Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith and Georgie Woodhead – will be giving support readings for the mighty Roger Robinson at Off the Shelf Festival of Words…
She Will Soar Anthology
We’re delighted that New Poets Prize 2020 winner, Lauren Hollingsworth Smith, at just 18 years old, will be published in a new anthology of female poets, alongside poems such as Carol Ann Duffy, Grace Nichols and Mary Jean Chan. She Will Soar (Pan MacMillan) edited and compiled by Ana Sampson is described as ‘A stunning book featuring 130 poems about wanderlust, freedom and escape written by women’. Due out on 17th September 2020.
Creative Writing for bi-lingual tongues
Join award-winning British-Somali poet, Warda Yassin, for a writing workshop exploring all things language. Warda will encourage you to use the words you love from the tongues you speak (or maybe know a little of) and write in the dialects, and even the slang, that matters to you…
The World as a Trampoline: Poetry & the Surreal with Jonathan Edwards
The World as a Trampoline: Poetry & the Surreal with Jonathan Edwards | Sat 23rd July | One of the most exciting things about poetry is the way it allows us to unleash the full power of the imagination, bringing to life fantastical, impossible and magical scenarios. On this writing day, we will explore…
Writing poetry about people with Jonathan Edwards
Join us for a special Sheaf Poetry Festival Hive masterclass 22nd Nov with award-winning Welsh poet, Jonathan Edwards, and be inspired by a wide range of great people-populated poems – exploring what gives them the pulse, the nub, the heart that captures the weird, sad, tender and wonderful aspects of being humans…
Brick by Brick
Brick by Brick – How Covid Changed My Perspective – As an almost 18-year-old suffering from chronic and mental illnesses, this lockdown was never going to be easy – throw in a mum and sister who are also health-compromised, a dog, two cats, a guinea pig, and a hedgehog, and you have one heck of a household – but what I didn’t see coming was how Covid could change my life for the better.
Hot Day in a Tesco Queue by Melanie Hopkins
Over the last few months, most of us have found ourselves at some point (perhaps even weekly) standing in a supermarket queue, possibly stretching around a car park, likely bored, and definitely itchy in a mask!
Que – our first audio monologue by Melanie Hopkins ‘Hot day in a Tesco Queue’ written as a lockdown commission. We’re planning to do more dramatic audio productions, and Melanie wanted to try her hand at a bit of comedy, so the stars were aligned to see what was possible!
Our Rotherham Film Poem
Hive is so immensely proud of the unveiling of: Our Rotherham, a film poem written by Vicky Morris and Rotherham Young Writers to celebrate YORKSHIRE DAY, commissioned by the Rotherham Council Events Team…
Orwell Youth Prize 2020 – congratulations!
We are delighted that Molly Hammerton from Rotherham Young Writers & Naomi Thomas of Sheffield Young Writers are both senior runners-up in the ORWELL YOUTH PRIZE 2020…
Congratulations to Naomi Thomas Northern Writers Award 2020
We are delighted that Naomi Thomas of Sheffield Young Writers has been Highly Commended in the Young Northern Writers Award 2020 for short fiction….
100 Days of Lockdown: A Disabled Writer’s Experience
At the time of writing, I have now been in the house for one hundred days (except for a hospital admission). These have been horror-filled weeks for many. The deaths of learning and physically disabled people have more than doubled since this time last year. As a disabled writer, how am I supposed to…
Writing Picture Books
Curious to see what it takes to write a children’s picture book manuscript? Or wondered what an editor will be looking for?
Join Emma Layfield, Hachette’s Picture Book Development Director, North, to explore the exciting world of picture book writing.
Me, Arvon & Claudia Jones
When I heard about the Arvon Writing for Performance with Communities retreat, I was so excited. It sounded like just what I was looking for – new ways to develop as a writer but also as a practitioner and facilitator of others…
School’s Out – Ada Urbaniak
In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ada Urbaniak reflects on the pressures and strains of secondary school academia and life… Speculation rose through the classroom days before the official announcement: that schools would soon close all across England in an effort to slow the transmission of COVID-19.
New Poets Prize Winners 2020
We are utterly delighted that 17-year-old Georgie Woodhead of Sheffield Young Writers, and 18-year-old Lauren Hollingsworth Smith of Rotherham Young Writers, are both winners of the international New Poets Prize 2020 – for their pamphlets ‘Takeaway’ and Ugly Bird’. Both have been part of the Hive network for several years and also attend Hive’s Poetry Collective.
Every Little Helps – Isabel Hawksworth
Since the panic buying of early March has relaxed – when Britons spent a whopping 60 million extra in supermarkets – shelves are back to being stocked and you can even get pasta and tinned tomatoes again. But what’s the current reality of supermarket essential services?
How Far Is Too Far? Isabelle Osborne
Track & Trace in the Time of Pandemics…Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, countries across the world have reacted to reducing its spread and devastation in dramatically different ways…
Spring News…
Greetings from Hive HQ! Just a little update celebrating a few bits of good news (and let’s face it we need all the good news we can get right now!) and a few reminders… Firstly, the last bit of amazing goodness to happen before lockdown – Sheffield Young Writer Niamh Brownhill is the 2020 BBC Young Reporter National Gold Winner!
FREE online interactive creative writing workshop for 14-19s in Sheffield
14 to 19 from in or around Sheffield? Interested in creative writing and entering competitions but don’t know where to start? If this sounds like you (and you don’t already participate in Hive network groups) then we’d LOVE to hear from you to get…
Minding How You Go
For many of us struggling with our mental wellbeing, the worst thing we can be is isolated with our own thoughts for too long – under any circumstances. So, while we’re socially distancing, now is the time to get some space from the demons in our heads too…
Home Front non-fiction commission
Calling budding young writers, thinkers and fledgling journalists… We’re excited to introduce Home Front, a micro-commission writing opportunity for young people aged 15 to 30 in South Yorkshire. Home Front seeks interesting non-fiction articles and opinion pieces on any topic responding, directly or indirectly, to the current world we find….
Hive Young Writers Competition 2020
Hive Young Writers’ Competition is open to young people, aged 14-30, from across the whole of Yorkshire and nearby…In these days of uncertainly for us all, with unexpected time on our hands, we’ve brought back our Yorkshire-wide young and emerging writers competition as an outlet to channel creative energy…
Our groups are online!
Hello! Just a quick note to say… we are running our regular group creative writing sessions online for the time being. If you’re a young person, 14 to 30 in South Yorkshire, we have a number of sessions happening for different ages and areas. Just get in touch with your name, age, where you’re based and your writing interests…
A message of support
Hello to all of our members, to everyone who’s been involved with us over the years, and to new people who might have found us after looking for something to do. We want to wish everyone wellness, calmness, and safety right now. Although our usual Hive activities are on hold, we are…
The Hive New Writers Prize
Hive have teamed up with Sheffield Year of Reading on this fab competition offering writers and non-writers of all ages a creative outlet over the next few months….
Exploring Fiction
Open to all 18-30s interested in writing or publishing any forms of fiction | All levels and experience welcome | FREE | Wednesday 4th March
Sheffield’s Year of Reading writer in residence, Nik Perring, shares tips, tricks, and industry hints, covering all aspects of writing fiction (short story, novella, novel). There’ll be exercises to generate ideas, ways to expand and improve what you already have, and how to….
New Writing North’s: Hachette Writing for Children Roadshow
As a young aspiring novelist, when Hive told me about New Writing North’s Hachette Writing for Children Roadshow event in Sheffield, I was very keen to go along. I’m currently working on my second novel and all the information I’ve previously learned about publishing has come from…
Poetry Edit Surgery
Crafting a great poem isn’t just in the writing, it’s often in the editing (and sometimes even more so!) Part workshop, edit tips and tricks session, part working on editing your own work, join poet, Vicky Morris, for a session open to all young and emerging writers who want to polish their poems for gleaming arrival into the world!
Hive Young Creatives Barnsley Half term sessions
Are you aged 14 –21 and interested in creative writing, contemporary art or design? If so, this series of free workshops is for you! Work with professional writers and artists and have a go at producing creative writing (and maybe even drawing) inspired by current exhibitions at Barnsley Civic exploring mental health, portraiture and domestic rebellion through….
Young Poets Writers’ Day: Putting together a pamphlet
Are you a young poet in Yorkshire or Derbyshire between the ages of 17 and 30? Do you have a number of strong poems that you’d like to shape into a pamphlet submission for the New Poets Prize, or the Poetry Business pamphlet competition, but feel unsure how to go about it?
Hive Poetry Collective
Hive Poetry Collective is a poetry workshop for young people 17 to 30 yrs from across South Yorkshire & nearby…Write poems, read poems, get ideas, build skills, learn from feedback, hear about opportunities and be inspired by others with an interest in poetry. Be it hobby interest, serious career or portfolio focus, join us to stay in your creative groove!
surfing the twilight Hive anthology is here!
Our new young wrier’s anthology, surfing the twilight is here and available to buy! This wonderfully moving and diverse anthology showcases 79 works of poetry, short story and flash — the work of a whopping 73 young and emerging writers in the region including award winners Warda Yassin, Lauren Hollingsworth Smith, Ciah White and Georgie Woodhead. It also celebrates the winners of…
Congratulations Lauren Hollingsworth Smith winner of the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award!
Huge congratulations are in order to 17-year-old Lauren Hollingsworth Smith of Rotherham Young Writers – one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2019! The top 15 poets and 85 commended poets who are winners of this year’s Foyle Young Poets Award were announced at…
Young Writers’ Open Mic & Anthology Launch 30th Oct
We’re calling you … young people (14-30s) from across South Yorkshire! If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, spit bars, or have anything else to say out loud to a supportive audience, this is an evening to celebrate your words, ideas and talents in a warm atmosphere.
Georgie Woodhead BBC Short Story Award Congratulations!
A massive congratulations to Sheffield Young Writer’s Georgie Woodhead, one of five shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Short Story Award with First Story and Cambridge University. Georgie’s story Jelly-headed, described as ‘a comic, quirky and ultimately tragic story of two friends, a night out and a lightning strike that brings devastation. A story about..
Mixing Roots showcase – with Warda Yassin and Guests
Mixing Roots showcase… A poetry performance celebrating young women, their creativity and cultures. Join local Somali Poet and winner of the New Poets Prize 2018, Warda Yassin, guest poets, and young women from the Mixing Roots writing project.
Poetry in Unexpected Places with Andrew McMillan
Join Barnsley bred award-winning poet, Andrew McMillan, 26th Oct, to write poems in new and exciting ways where content and form are pushed. Some of the best writing comes when we leave our usual zone and take ourselves to places we might not have been before. A fun, stimulating day of writing, reading and thinking for young writers of any experience.
The Youth Word Up 2019 with Vanessa Kisuule
It’s that time of year again for the Youth Word Up – working with young people’s services in Sheffield & South Yorkshire. Local young people will perform pieces written during workshops with Hive, sharing their experiences and hopes. Sharing the stage with the young performers are young writers from Hive and headline poet and slam champion, Vanessa Kisuule…
My Lumb Bank Arvon Week
I arrived by taxi down the single file road that lead to the Arvon, Lumb Bank writers residence. It was beautiful and remote and I felt so lucky; I never thought that I would be able to go on an Arvon course, but thanks to the amazing people at Hive I was there, and I was determined to…
My Week at The Hurst Arvon
My Week at The Hurst – Arvon Poetry Writing Course… My Arvon experience started with a breath-taking drive through Shropshire countryside among towering rhododendrons – a fitting start to a trip that just kept getting better.
Congrats to Ciah White & Lauren Hollingsworth Smith: Northern Writers Award 2019
We are delighted that Ciah White of Doncaster Young Writers has won the prestigious Young Northern Writers Award 2019, and Lauren Hollingsworth-Smith, who attends Rotherham Young Writers, has been highly commended…
timehop summer sessions – Barnsley
Calling young creatives aged 14-19 in the Barnsley area… Like creative writing or photography? Interested in people or fashion? Want to work with professional writers & artists? If the answer is yes to any of these questions… come and check out the timehop summer sessions at the new LIGHTBOX central library in Barnsley town centre.
Mixing Roots Project
Mixing Roots is a summer project bringing together girls & young women from different backgrounds & cultures in a supportive space to talk, share & write about everything from the roots we come from & what has been passed down to us, to who we are today…
An interview with Dan Powell
After working with short story writer, Dan Powell, when he came to Hive Young Writers’ Festival in 2018, I decided he would be the perfect person to interview for my Arts Award. Dan was great to work with and gave me loads of ideas and fresh ways to look at things. Here he talks to me about all things writing including…
Louise Rennison Funny Award 2020
Do you enjoy reading funny books? Maybe acting funny stuff out? Come and chat with the organisers of the Louise Rennison National Funny Award 2020 for young writers and get inspired! Saturday 6th July 11am-12pm
Sheaf Poetry Festival Hivelights :)
Thank you to Sheaf Poetry Festival and listen to the Hive showcase at Sheaf poetry festival… We want to say a big thank you to Sheaf Poetry Festival for a great festival this year and so many great…
Ear to the City Podcast Project
The city offers the writer a feast of sights and sounds, of passing lives and often overlooked details. What do we encounter when we’re not rushing from A to B, when we loiter or chat to a strange? Join poets Arji Manuelpillai and Vicky Morris for writing and recording a soundscape podcast ode to city life…
Sheaf Poetry Festival
Starting Friday 17th May until Sunday 26th May it’s the Sheaf Poetry Festival – a new poetry festival for Sheffield and nearby – and Hive is delighted to be part of it! Well, in so much as some of the young poets in our network and groups are going to be reading (and watching!)
Pop Up Portraits
Recently, at Hive Young Writers’ Festival, Warren Draper, with help from assistant Cameron, photographed writers of all ages, backgrounds and interested asking one single question – give me a word you’re into right now and why? Here’s the result!
Scribble, Doodle, and Draw
FREE workshop dates: 13th & 27th June & 11th July [Thursdays] 10.30 to 12.30pm [Refeshments provided] | All welcome 18+ Scribble, Doodle, and Draw has been open for just over a month. When I visited the first thing that hit me was the bright and welcoming atmosphere (not unusual for DARTS!) and the sense of fun…
Thank You! Hive Young Writers’ Festival 2019
Hive Young Writers Festival 2019 saw an impressive 160 young writers, 25+ industry professionals and a heroic team of front of house staff and volunteers come together at Sheffield Hallam University on 13th April for a transformative and memorable day of all things words….
Georgie Woodhead – Young Poet in Residence at Sheaf Poetry Festival
We are delighted to announce Georgie Woodhead as Young Poet in Residence during the forthcoming Sheaf Poetry Festival! Georgie, of Sheffield Young Writers, is just 16-years-old and has already accomplished so much as a young poet since joining our network at the tender age of 13, including winning a Foyle Young Poet of the Year 2018. Georgie will work…
Hive Young Writers’ Competition Results
We are delighted to announce the results of our 2019 Young Writers’ Competition! Open to young writers aged 14 to 25 across Yorkshire region, the competition spanned short story, flash fiction and poetry. We were amazed to receive a whopping 500+ entries – that saw young writers scribbling from the near and far reaches of the county…
About Hive Young Writers Fest 2019
Hive Young Writers Festival is a jam-packed day of word-based happenings for young & emerging writers from across the north [all are welcome!] on Saturday 13th April 2019. The festival is a chance to network, work with and get advice from professional writers, meet like-minded young writers, perform yourself & of course… write!
Hive Arvon retreat bursaries
Are you an emerging young writer aged (18 to 30 in South Yorkshire) keen to transform your writing practice? Hive have teamed up with leading creative writing charity Arvon to support passionate young and emerging writers to further their writing goals via a number of bursary awards for Arvon residential courses…
Hatching a Cinema For All…
The wonderful Cinema For All have chosen young writers from Hive to become cultural film programmers, setting up inclusive film screenings for young people in Burngreave, Sheffield to inspire them to write. The project, led by young writer and singer, Danaë Wellington, will see Burngreave Library transformed into a cinema showing seminal…
Penistone Grammar Anthology
We’re delighted to launch Penistone Grammar School’s wonderful student anthology – Everything that ever happened. Students worked with author and Hive facilitator Nik Perring over four after-school sessions. Although this wasn’t long, it proved to be a wonderfully fertile time as the anthology proves…
Hive young writer Sile wins BBC Radio presenting contract!
We are beyond excited to congratulate young writer, performer, presenter and all-round creative talent, Sile Sibanda, who, at just 21 years old, has WON BBC Radio Sheffield’s THIS IS ME presenting job!! This couldn’t have happened to a more humble, nurturing, positive and hard working young woman. Sile is a joy to work with. When we saw the job we knew it was made for her. Sile has hosted various events for Hive and…
Stacey Sampson at Hall Cross Doncaster
On behalf of Hive, actress, writer and creative facilitator, Stacey Sampson worked with students at Hall Cross School in Doncaster recently. As well as delivering exercises using drama and writing, Stacey spoke about her journeys in acting and writing, from joining a local theatre group as a child that led to…
Ideas of Britishness
Emerging young writers from Hive are currently working with writer Desiree Reynolds on a set of commissioned poems for filmmaker Eelyn Lee, exploring their idea of Britishness and identity. A selection of the work with be featured in a film Eelyn is making for FURD (Football Unites Racism Divides), exploring these ideas through poetry and interviews…
From Chorus to Verse: Reimagining Quirkus
From Chorus to Verse: Reimagining Quirkus | By Lydia Allison – Young Poet in Residence at Darts – Doncaster Community Arts | Before visiting the exhibition I had an idea of the values of the Quirky Choir, but entering the space brought everything very much to life. Three walls covered in bright photographs, interspersed with ornate metal ‘Q’s which each made a different sound, layered with beautiful recordings of the choir singing as well…
Quirkus Exhibition – Soundscapes & New Found Words
Quirkus Exhibition & Workshop: Soundscapes & New Found Words | By Lydia Allison – Young Poet in Residence at Darts – Doncaster Community Arts | On 7th February I had the pleasure of running the first of three writing workshops based around The Point’s first exhibition of 2019 – a celebration of the Quirky choir’s 20th anniversary, with a lively group of adult writers at The Point…
Bill Viola exhibition & workshop (Young Poet in Residence, Darts)
The Point, home to Darts (Doncaster Community Arts) was host to a Bill Viola exhibition in late 2018. After exploiting the exhibition and starting drafts of my own creative responses, I led my first Young Poet in Residence workshop at The Point with members of the Creative Directions adult group who enjoy a wide range of creative activities in the building…
Culture Cinema
Free Culture Cinema at Burngreave Library | Come and get creatively inspired! | Calling young people 12-19 in the Burngreave, Fire Vale, Firth Park & nearby areas of Sheffield – this half term, come to Burngreave Library for FREE cinema showings (& popcorn!) and to hear more and sign up for creative workshops happening through Nyara Collective at the library.
Young Poet in Residence at Darts
Hive, in partnership with Doncaster Arts, is delighted to announce Lydia Alison as the first Young Poet in Residence at The Point (home of Doncaster Arts). As part of the Hatch programme, Lydia will be running creative writing workshops and writing poems in response to the exhibitions programme. She will work with adult groups who use the building regularly and open sessions up to the general public…
Hatch Reads Scheme
Free Reads & Feedback to young writers (17 to 30 years) Hive is offering a number of Free Reads & Feedback to young writers (17 to 30 years) for fiction, script and poetry manuscripts/portfolios who are at a stage where they have a specific goal for sending out their work (such as particular submissions, awards, or competitions)….
Building Brave New Worlds
Building Brave New Worlds – with novelist & historical fiction writer Tim Leach | Sat 9th Feb 2019 – 10.30am – 4 pm |Open to 14 – 25yr. Building a world in fiction is only the beginning – the next challenge is making that world live, breathe, and move. In this day of workshops and exercises, you’ll look at how to go beyond a basic idea for a world, how to plan, structure, and draft larger projects through pacing, flow, and an understanding of the shape of stories.
Spoken word & poetry workshop Burngreave
Free spoken word & poetry workshops – for young people 12-15yrs in Burngreave and nearby areas of Sheffield | 10.30-12.30pm Monthly Saturdays start 2nd Feb 2019 at Burngreave Library. All welcome. Relaxed and fun. Poetry, beats, rhythm, lyrics whatever you’re into! Run by writer & singer, Danae Wellington (Nyara Collective) for young people (12-15yrs) in the Burngreave and surrounding areas of Sheffield.
Gun Clap – discussions needed- by Danae Wellington & Warda Yassin
Whilst watching Dude, spotlit, afraid and under siege, I was taken back to memories of myself as a teenager, angry, displaced and ready to inflict the pain I had carried for so long on someone else. I was frustrated and tired of the abuse I was facing at home and in school. Insecurity and vulnerability led me to arming myself with a knife, aged 15, in the misguided hope that…
Hive young writers at So Africa Festival 2018
We were delighted that the lovely folks at the So Africa Festival 2018 invited four talented and emerging Hive young writers of African heritage to perform at the Crucible Theatre on the Friday and Saturday of their weekend-long festival in October…
Off the Shelf Festival workshops for young women
During the Off the Shelf Festival of Words 2018, writers Stacey Sampson and Warda Yassin led Hive community workshops with young women aged, 14 to 24, around empowerment and voice….
Hive young writers at Ted Hughes Festival 2018
In September Hive young poets were lucky enough to perform on the opening night of the Ted Hughes Festival 2018 alongside the amazing Afro-futurist musician and poet, Moor Mother, all the way from Philadelphia USA. Ten emerging young writers aged 15 and upwards performed in Mexborough with young rapper and spoken word artist Dominic Heslop hosting…
Georgie Woodhead wins Foyle Young Poet of the Year
Huge congratulations are in order to 15-year-old Georgie Woodhead, one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2018, and to Maya Williams-Hamm, 16, highly-commended in the competition…
Hive Fiction programme
Hive Fiction programme for writers (18-30s) – take your writing to the next level If you’re an aspiring short story writer, or novelist, keen to take your craft to the next level, Hive is running a monthly fiction programme offering a year-long set of workshops providing the help and guidance to get to where you want to be… deadline 31st Oct 2018
Ian McMillan interviewed by Eloise Unerman
Eloise Unerman sits down for chat with Barnsley’s first Poet Laureate, the magnificent Ian McMillian. Ian was kind enough to answer all sorts of burning questions and give some of the best advice for young poets starting out. He was warm and funny and told some very odd stories about men in capes and said blimey a lot…
Introducing the Hatch programme
From September 2018, we are so pleased to have been granted funding from Arts Council England to pilot a new programme – Hatch – offering a number of next step opportunities for young and emerging writers from 18 to 30, including training and development opportunities and an enabling fund allowing emerging younger writers to progress their…
Moor Mother & Hive young writers
What better way to kick off the autumn than with the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival in Mexborough!? And we’re very excited that 10 young writers from Hive will be performing alongside the amazing Afro-futurist, Moor Mother, all the way from Philly USA for this Friday’s opening event…
Poetic narratives for performance with Andy Craven-Griffiths
Poetic narratives for performance – Sat 6th Oct – with poet & playwright Andy Craven Griffiths | Hive Young Writers’ Day in partnership with Off the Shelf. Write poetic narratives for performance with poet & playwright Andy Craven-Griffiths. Learn how to write work to be spoken as a satisfying story, and how to deliver with rhythm and (optional) rhyme. This is a workshop for writers of any form, at any….
halfway smile – young writers anthology
We are excited to say, halfway smile is here and available to buy! This wonderfully moving and diverse anthology showcases 73 works of poetry, short story and flash, the work of a whopping 69 young and emerging writers in the region including award winners Warda Yassin, Eloise Unerman and Georgie Woodhead. It also celebrates the winners of our inaugural Hive Young Writers’ Competition…
Readings – Eloise Unerman Ledbury Festival 2018
At the end of June, Barnsley young poet, Eloise Unerman, who attends Rotherham Young Writers, had the exciting opportunity to be young poet in residence at the Ledbury Poetry Festival. As the winner of the young person’s category of the Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition 2017, Eloise was asked to…
Young Writers’ Open Mic & anthology launch
Calling young people (14-25s) from across South Yorkshire! If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, spit bars, or have anything else to say out loud to a supportive audience, this is an evening to celebrate your words, ideas and talents in a warm atmosphere. We’ll also be launching a bumper Hive anthology including the winners of our recent competition.
Alternative Theatre with Andy Cook
Alterative Theatre – knocking down the 4th wall & other creative vandalism | Does a play have to start with a huge script, or can one be written on the spot in less than 20 minutes? What happens if your actors don’t pretend they can’t see the audience? And how do you set a play in a staircase? Or down a phone? Or, what if your audience are the ones that have to do the acting!?
Congrats Georgie!
We are delighted that Georgie Woodhead of Sheffield Young Writers is one of two highly commended young writers in the prestigious Northern Writers – Cuckoo Award 2018! Georgie from had just turned 15 when she applied for the award, which is open to young writers from 14 to 18 from across the North of England.
Warda Yassin wins New Poets Prize
We are so delighted that Warda Yassin is a winner for the New Poets Award 2018! Along with three other young poets – Joe Carrick-Varty Tristram, Fane Saunders & Emma Jeremy, (congratulations to all!), Warda flies the flag for the North of England, and for both her Somali and English cultures which she combines so beautifully in her work.
Interview with author Richard Chizmar
Despite its many negatives, social media can be very useful. I found this out the day I sent Richard Chizmar a tweet asking to interview him. I was skeptical of receiving a response from the popular American author of Gwendy’s Button Box who has co-written with Stephen King. Imagine my surprise when he replied only two minutes later!
Hive festival coverage from Write Radio!
The wonderful crew at Sheffield Live Fm’s Write Radio – Sez Thomasin, Wilson and Spleeny – have produced a wonderful show around Hive Young Writers Festival that took place on 14th April 2018 with lots of great interviews and performances from young writers they found milling around on the day…
Festival thank you!
We just want to say a massive thank you to all the wonderful writers, partners, volunteers, creative professionals, and young writers that made Hive Young Writers festival a truly wonderful day on Saturday 14th April 2018. This may take some time because there were so many wonderful people in the mix…
Find out about festival happenings!
With less than 2 weeks to go, Hive’s Vicky Morris talks to Sleeny at Sheffield Live Fm’s Write Radio about all things festival!
Festival links: About the festival | Festival writers & who’s who | Festival Programme | Get tickets | Getting there
Interview with Lowkey
Hive writers, Warda Yassin and Dominic Heslop, were recently lucky enough to bagged a brilliant food-for-thought interviewed with English-Iraqi hip-hop artist, Lowkey, on his fleeting ‘In conversation’ visit to the uny recently.
Young Writers’ Competition Results 2017/18
We are delighted to announce the results of our inaugural Young Writer’s Competition! Open to young writers aged 14 to 25 across the South Yorkshire region, the competition spanned short story, flash fiction and poetry. We were amazed to receive a whopping 250+ entries, for this our first ever competition, which…
Annabelle Pitcher Advice for Novelists
The lovely English Department staff at Sheffield Hallam University welcome Hive young writers to appropriate writing masterclasses at the uni, and what could be more appropriate than a talk by young adult novelist, Annabel Pitcher!?
My week at Arvon Lumb Bank
In December 2017, I was lucky enough to go on a writing retreat in the far reaches of West Yorkshire. A place unfamiliar to me that would be my home for the next week. Arvon was like another world. Here’s a little about my experience and why other young writers might consider an Arvon course in the future.
Young Poets Writers’ Day: Putting together a pamphlet
Are you a young poet in South Yorkshire, between the ages of 17 and 24? Do you have a number of strong poems that you’d like to shape into a pamphlet submission for the New Poets Prize, but feel unsure how to go about it?
An interview with poet, Peter Sansom
To my left sits Peter Sansom, veteran poet, editor and Co-director of The Poetry Business, sipping a mug of tea. It feels surreal. Having been taught by him for 4 days now, I have so many questions I want to ask. Luckily, he’s all ears, smiles and some great insights and advice about poetry.
Interview with novelist Tiffany Murray
What could be a more ideal opportunity to interview a writer you admire than during a week away at the amazing Arvon Lumb Bank Writing Centre, when said writer is one of your teachers for the week? I was lucky enough to do just that with the wonderful Novelist, Tiffany Murray… Interview: Georgie Woodhead, 14
Wild Poetry Anthology
We are excited to say, our first young poet’s anthology is here and available to buy! Wild poetry brings together poetry written by young people, aged from 14 to 25, in celebration of the beauty, mystery and importance of native UK wild plants, flowers, trees and fungi. The poems have been written in…
Off the Shelf Festival of Words 2017!
The amazing Off the Shelf Festival of Words starts soon in Sheffield! Running from 7th to 28th Oct, the festival covers a wide range of events for all ages and interests including: talks, workshops, conversations with writers, arts projects and open mics to name but a tiny…
Arvon bursary opportunity for performance writers interested in facilitating creative writing
Calling young writers of poetry, theatre, or performance, 18-28 living in South Yorkshire & interested in develop skills in facilitation &the teaching of creative writing. Hive has teamed up with national creative writing charity, Arvon to offer two 90% bursaries for…
Young People’s Open Mic 30th Oct
All welcome, but the stage belongs to young people (14-25) from across South Yorkshire. If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, spit bars, or have anything to say out loud to a supportive audience, this is an evening to celebrate your words and talents in a warm atmosphere.
The Youth Word Up 2017
Working in partnership with Off the Shelf Festival of Words | Performance: Young people and poet Toria Garbutt | Events: 26th Oct 2017 -The Hubs, Sheffield | Free event. To book here click
When Aliens Write Poetry with Gavin Hudson
Drawing on the work and ideas of American poet Jack Spicer, and WB Yeats, you are invited to contact your inner ‘alien’ and write through ‘transmissions’ from the outside as Spicer saw it.You, might even meet…
Performance Theatre with Khadijah Ibrahiim 28th Oct
Write for performance and improve your confidence, stage presence, and delivery with poet and playwright Khadijah Ibrahiim. Khadijah combines art forms to re-imagine poetry as performance theatre. “One of Yorkshire’s most prolific poets.” (BBC).
Summer Reads on BBC Radio Sheffield
As part of BBC Radio Sheffield’s Summer Reads, four young writers from South Yorkshire wide Hive young writers groups went on air this summer on the ever-brilliant Rony Robinson’s show, to review, recommend and talk all things books…
Interview with Hannah Lowe
We were lucky enough to have Hannah Lowe as our visiting writer during an amazing week at Arvon Lumb Bank in April 2017. Hannah’s first poetry collection in Chick (Bloodaxe, 2013), which focuses on her father a Chinese-black Jamaican migrant who disappeared at night to play cards or dice in London’s East End to support his family.
Congratulations to Eloise Unerman – Winner of the Cuckoo Northern Writers Award 2017
We are delighted that Eloise Unerman of Rotherham Young Writers has won the prestigious Northern Writers – Cuckoo Award 2017! Eloise from Goldthorpe in Barnsley, had just turned 17 when she applied for the award which is open to young writers from 14 to 18 from across the North…
South Asian mehfil, Doncaster
In March, Cast Theatre in Doncaster approached Hive to see if we’d like to collaborate on an open mic ‘mehfil’ (the name for an Indian gathering of entertainment), during the Alchemy South Asian Arts Festival taking place at the theatre in June. The focus would be South Asian young voices…
Poetry workshop & talk with James Giddings
Hive Young Writers’ Afternoon with poet James Giddings | Finding poetry in unexpected places – Talk, reading & workshop Saturday 24th June | James Giddings is a 26 year old poet based in…
My Arvon Experience – Louisa Rhodes
For the first week of the Easter holiday, I was lucky enough to go off on a Hive adventure with a big band of South Yorkshire young writers, not quite knowing what to expect, to the wonderful Arvon Lumb Bank centre near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. I can still feel myself stepping off…
Young writer performances May-June
There are 3 opportunities to catch young writers reading and performing, (or to perform as a young writer yourself!) during May and June, plus some great talents you can catch alongside them. We thought we’d round them up as we’re good like that!
These poets, our kin / These poems, our stories
Doncaster is currently hosting the first ever poetry exhibition in a commercial shopping space in the UK, possibly even the world (Google has yet to provide a final answer on this one so let’s go with it…WORLD!)
In February this year I was contacted by the Frenchgate Centre about a ‘dead space’ in the shopping centre. Rather than fill it with adverts…
Wild Poetry – call for submissions
Hive is thrilled to announce Wild Poetry, a fabulous spring-into-summer poetry project open for submissions until 22nd May. The project, funded by Grow Wild UK, encourages young writers in South Yorkshire to write a wide range of poems inspired by UK native wild flowers, plants, & fungi. Work selected will be made into a book accompanied by interesting and relevant facts.
Open Mic Mehfil at the Alchemy Festival at Cast in Doncaster
Calling young writers and word-lovers from across South Yorkshire, (particularly of South Asian heritage), bring your words and join us at the Alchemy on Tour Festival at Cast in Doncaster on 3rd June as part of a daylong celebration of South Asian culture.
Poetry workshop for young people of South Asian heritage in Doncaster (16-25)
Calling young people of South Asian heritage (16 to 25yrs) in Doncaster who’d like to try something new and empowering in the form of poetry & spoken word! Workshop: Saturday 29th April at Cast in Doncaster, 2 to 4pm.
Interview with horror writer, Simon Bestwick
So, you’re a horror writer, how did your journey take shape? I think the horror was always there. I always liked those kind of stories. There’s a lot of overlap with horror and other areas of literature. And I grew up watching Doctor Who and a lot of science fiction and horror too. My granddad had this fantastically huge book called…
Interview with Anthony Anaxagorou
It’s not every day you get to interview one of your writing heroes, let alone someone you’ve watched, (or should I say listened to), obsessively on YouTube in the months leading up to meeting them. I have to confess, I binge watch spoken word (in breaks from homework, of course!), and British born Cypriot heritage poet, Anthony Anaxagorou, is a favourite of mine. Anthony’s work and voice…
Congratulations – Hear My Voice
A huge congratulations to 16 year old Eloise Unerman from Goldthorpe who attends Hive’s Rotherham Young Writers, winner of 1st place in the Hear My Voice Poetry Competition on the theme of home judged by poet, Ian McMillian. And to Ellie Kilkenny, also 16, from Barnsley Young Writers who was commended. Nice work, great poems!
Arvon Hive Young Writers residential
Hive is excited to announce a week-long Arvon rural writing residential at the beautiful Arvon Lumb Bank Writing Centre, West Yorkshire, taking place this Easter (10th-15th April), and open to young writers who attend a Hive young writers group in Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster…
The Arvon Tate Word Exchange
As a young writer of poetry, fiction and script based in Doncaster, I was thrilled at the opportunity to take part in the Arvon Word Exchange, a three-day writing residential at the innovative and arresting Tate Modern in London. The Exchange, led by Arvon in conjunction with Tate Exchange, and in partnership with Hive South Yorkshire and the Writing Squad, was…
Horror & Fantasy Writers’ Day – with Simon Bestwick & KT Davies
Love writing that makes the hairs on your arms stand on end? Or do you like to get lost in other fantasy worlds? Perhaps you’re just curious about genre fiction in general. If so, our February Writers’ Day is set to be a real treat with, not one, but, two brilliant genre writers…
Interview with poet, Helen Mort
As a young poet who is tentatively starting to get my work out there, I was delighted when Sheffield born poet, Helen Mort, agreed to do an interview with me recently for my Arts Award in Writing. I love Helen’s work, and I’m also inspired by how she has accomplished so much with it so young. Helen started taking her writing seriously in her early teens winning a…
Arvon Word Exchange at Tate Modern
Aged 18 to 25 and living in South Yorkshire? Do you like to write or express yourself with words?
Apply now to take part in The Word Exchange – a three-day intensive writing residency at London’s Tate Modern Switch House for emerging young writers, taking place 15-17 February 2017. The Word Exchange is programmed by Arvon, in conjunction with the Writing Squad and Hive South Yorkshire
Thanks from Hive in 2016….
Wow, what a start to Hive activity! We’ve had a very busy, buzzy autumn and are about to take stock and evaluate before we start planning activity for the new year! If you’re been involved in Hive this year, a big thank you for your support…
Voices from Hive Young Writers’ Groups…
It can be scary going to a creative writing group for the first time, especially as a young person. You might wonder things like…
Hive’s first workshop with Saju Ahmed
“It inspired me to write more about my own culture.” Wow, what a great afternoon on Tuesday! Hive’s first workshop delivered by spoken word poet, Saju Ahmed, and kindly hosted by Sheffield Hallam University. We had a huge diversity of young people rocking 16 languages between…
Spoken word poetry workshop with Saju Ahmed in Sheffield (FREE)
Calling young people, (14 to 21) from anywhere in South Yorkshire, come and write some spoken word poetry with spoken word poet, Saju Ahmed, who will tell you about his own journey with spoken word and help you build the confidence to speak your words to a live audience. No experience needed…
Letters to the Future Workshop (FREE)
For Teens, 14-19 yrs | Sat 15 Oct | Workshops at 1pm, or 3pm
Where: Grimm & Co, 2 Doncaster Gate, Rotherham
Calling 14 to 19s from across South Yorkshire – What would you say to your older self? To your…
Young Writers’ Open Mic
Where: Thurs 27 Oct | 7.30pm – 10pm Where: Theatre Delicatessen, the Moor, Sheffield, S1 4PF | FREE Calling young people (14-25s) from across South Yorkshire! If you write poems, tell stories, compose lyrics, spit bars, or have anything else to say…
Poetry, page & stage with Clare Shaw
Poetry, page and stage with Clare Shaw | When: Saturday 22nd October 2016 – from 10.30 to 4.30pm | We launch our regional Young Writers’ Day programme at this year’s Off the Shelf Festival of Words with poet and performer, Clare Shaw, described as…