Teesvalley Creative Writing Movement 1960 to Present

Part Two - The Story of the Teesvalley Creative Writing Movement (s) 1960 - to present.

 

In this part we look at rise of the Creative Writing Movement in the Tees Valley between 1960 and the Present.

In 1992 Leeds University researcher Rebecca O Rourke wrote in Written on the Margins (Creative writing and adult Education in Cleveland) - (Part of the final result of a two year University Funding Council research project into the the develpment of Creative Writing Adult Education in Cleveland)

"In the early 1980's I lived in Cleveland unaware that anyone else shared my interest in writing, yet within days of starting work on the project in 1992 I was spoiled for choice as the Write Around Festival set out it;s stall in Hartlepool, Whitby, Guisborough, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Skelton and Loftus. A few weeks later I swapped bus timetables for a different sort of map when Trevor Teasdel kindly compiled an impressive thirty page outline history of the writing movement in Cleveland"

Although I didn't know Rebecca in 1980 (having freshly arrived at Teesside Poly as an undergraduate, from Coventry. Rebecca left Middlesbrough shortly after my arrival anyway, to work with Centreprise in London, returning in 1992 to under take the research into a writing movement that I had largely initiated alongs side a handfull other literary activists.

Rebecca wrote -

"Individuals such as Trevor Teasdel, who came to the area as students but had previous experience of Community Arts played a central role in developing opportunities for writing..and because Trevor was heavily involved with WEA and Outlet and other forms of activism, these connections became mutually supportive and developmental" Rebecca O'Rourke - Written in the Margins

In 1980 however there were a small range of pre-existing writers groups spread around the Cleveland area which will be written about. 

My own early pioneering work began from the base of Teesside Poly and the Dovecot Arts centre from 1980 and developed outwards as time went on. My early information of the pre-esisting literary scene was provided by a free door to door leisure newspaer - The Cleveland Scene (put out by Cleveland County Council Leisure dept.). Later replaced by a free folded leaflet distributed thorugh the leaflets until the demise of the County Cleveland.

Our story begins with a look at some of the early writers groups that formed from 1960 onwards before looking at the new developments emanating from Teesside Poly and the Dovecot Arts Centre in Stockton between 1980 / 84.

Next we look at what I call the Watershed period 1984 - 1886 - a transition period during which developments would lead to the creation of a free Cleveland wide community based poetry magazine called Outlet, which I co-founded with a group of like minded literary activists. Outlet was to establish a county Creative Writing infra-structure in the area consisting of creative writing courses, the establishment of many new writers groups and the annual Write Around festival which became a dynamic launch pad for new projects itself. You will be able to read about them all as this section develops.

The results of this work between 1986 and 1990 were documented in a BBC Open Space Programme we made in 1990 called Breaking the Ice.

The next stage - 1990 to 1995 was the consolidation of the work and the integration of many of these developments into more mainstream channels. Leeds University Adult Education (through the work of Andy Croft, took over organisation of the a wide programme of free Creative Writing courses), Write Around became more formerly established and funded and a range of new magazines, writers groups, publishers flourished in the area like never before. The movement became the subject of a Leeds University research project and Write Around was the first literary festival to integrate effectively national literary names with the local creative writing scene.

After 1994, the area, through Cleveland Arts, established it's own Literary Development Worker, Mark Robinson, followed by the establishment of Buzzwords, led by Bob Beagrie. To an extent, the local literary scene was taken to yet another new height, with more funding and resources available and yet sadly something was lost along the way as well. The grassroots suffered, partly through policies which affected adult education and funding and through a new focus on taking the area's formost writers in the the national and international arena.

Nonetheless over the last 20 years, the supposed cultural desert that is the Teesvalley, has witnessed the development of an amazing and dynamic grassroots literary culture forged in the cauldron of Thatcherism!

You can (or will be able) to read about them all in this section.

 

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