Cathy Grindrod

My play, False Witness, one of the winners of the recent New Perspectives Playwriting competition, will be performed as part of an ensemble entitled Goldfish as follows:

‘Memory is a murky world’

A piece created by the STEP UP Creatives Ensemble from a selection of the winning scripts from the DREAM UP Writing Competition.

Directed by New Perspectives Associate Director Tilly Branson

What does it mean to remember? How can we evoke memory?

Goldfish explores the blurred and murky realm of memory through a series of stories - diving deep into our ability to remember and examining the powerful part played by others as memories resurface over time.

Guildhall Theatre, Derby Thursday 21 June 7.30pm

Box Office:             01332 255 800       / www.derbylive.co.uk

Lakeside Arts Centre Friday 22 June 7.30pm

Please call New Perspectives on             0115 927 2334       or email kayleighhunt@newperspectives.co.uk

Glentworth Village Hall, Lincolnshire 23 June 7.30pm

Box Office:             01427 667 118       /             01427 667 047

Thomas Cranmer Centre, Nottinghamshire 24 June 7.30pm

Box Office:             01949 850 600       /             01949 850 779

• I will be undertaking a Writing Residency from September 2012 to March 2013 for the organisation, First Story. This will be at Ellis Guilford School, Basford, Nottingham.

EVENTS COMING UP AND OPEN TO ALL  …..

Quad, Derby
21 June: 11am - 2pm
Information day and sign up for Carers living in Derby City - Carers Breaks’ available
(includes Writing for Wellbeing breaks)

Various Venues
21-24 June
Performances of ‘False Witness’
(see above - Latest News)

Oxfam, King Street, Belper
4 July: 7.00 pm
Poetry Reading and talk about my work

Arts Derbyshire Conference
16 July:
Speaker - Writing and Wellbeing

Waterstone’s, Derbyshire
Saturday 1 September
Children’s Poetry Activities, in store.

PAST EVENTS

Codnor Chapel, Mill Lane
13 June: 7.30 pm
Poetry With Punch - Performance by Wirksworth WordMiners

Hardwick Hall
26-27 May
Poetry Takeaway - Derbyshire Food and Drink Fayre

Donut Studios, Chesterfield
Sat 12 May: from noon
Lyric Lounge - Two of my groups, Wirksworth WordMiners
and We’re All Write! (Eckington) perform their work

Chesterfield Library
Wed 14 March: 7.30 pm
Four Derbyshire Poet Laureates

Nottingham Writers’ Studio
Sat 10 March: 10.00am
Professional Development Planning Workshop

Nottingham Contemporary
Fri 2 March: 7.30 pm
Alan Sillitoe evening - Poetry Reading

The Hub, South Normanton
Sat 25 February: 10.00 am
Writing for Wellbeing taster session

Cotmanhay Women’s Group
1 February: 1.00 pm
Creative Writing Workshop

2011

Momentum New Playwriting Festival: Curve, Leicester
Fri 29 Oct, 2010: 7.00 pm
Half-hour extract from my new play ‘Always in the Afternoon’ performed along with other extracts from playwrights on the East Midlands ‘Crossovers’ Project (Theatre Writing Partnership).
Tickets available from Leicester Curve Box Office.

Beeston International Poetry Festival: Beeston Library
Wed 20 October 2010, 7.00 pm
Poetry reading with Kathy Daszkiewicz

Lyric Lounge: New Arts Exchange, Nottingham
Sat 25 Sept 2010: 1.00-2.00 pm
One-to-ones for poets.

Clitheroe Shops Anthology Launch: Molly’s Cafe, Clitheroe, Lancs
Thu 16 Sept: 7.00 pm
Reading of ‘M. Hartley & Son’

Saturday 17 July 2010
Southwell Poetry Festival
Poetry Reading - John Lucas and Friends event

Saturday 26 June 2010
Student Performance from Into The River (see below) - Lowdham Book Festival
Lowdham Chapel, Main Street: 3.30 pm

Wednesday 17 June 2010
Launch of the University of Nottingham’s Creative Writing Degree Student Anthology, Into the River - Angear Visitor’s Centre: 7.00 pm
Congratulations to all the students for their fantastic input into the anthology and all the hard work they’ve put into making the anthology such a success.

Tuesday 8 June 2010
As part of the Derbyshire Literature Festival, I will be at Aston-on-Trent Village Hall alongside Book Doctor Priscilla Baily, talking about books and reading favourite poems.

Sunday 6 June 2010
Shipley Park, Heanor, all afternoon, leading poetry activities for all with Derbyshire Poet Laureate Ann Atkinson. Come along and take part in our poetry trail and write a poem for our poe - tree.

22 April 2010
Poetry reading at Nottingham Poetry Series event along with Mark Goodwin and Kerri French at the Angear Visitors’ Centre, Lakeside, University of Nottingham at 7.30 pm . More information at www.nottinghampoetryseries.com

NEWS ARCHIVE

April 2012

I will be leading a second term of a new course in Creative Writing, as below, from 27 April 2012

Every Friday from 27 April to 29 July 2012
(no session on Friday 8 Jun)
10am to 12noon , Royal Concert Hall
Cost: £60 for 9 sessions. Price includes tea/coffee/biscuits following each session.
New participants welcome, age 55+

About the course …

A 9 week creative writing course for anyone age 55+ who fancies having a go. The course will involve having fun writing, sharing our work in a supportive atmosphere, reading work by established writers, talking and laughing a lot, and on the way, learning quite a lot about writing. For more details, please contact David Longford on 0115 9895531 or email david.longford@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Feb 2011

‘Write Here’ Residency On the Business of Writing

I am undertaking a writer residency from Feb-June 2011, organised by Writing East Midlands in partnership with the University of Nottingham, and will be ‘attached’ to the BA in Creative and Professional writing course on the Jubilee Campus. I will be introducing writing undergraduates to the practice of being a freelance writer and providing mentoring and Personal Development Planning (PDP) as well as running workshops on the business of writing and leading workshops in community settings. Nottinghamshire County Council will be working in partnership on this programme providing placements for the students to work with disabled community groups.

I will also be producing new material on the Business of Writing that will become a resource as well as a creative piece.

Summer 2010

• I am still very busy with the wonderful ‘Crossovers’ Project run by Theatre Writing Partnership. My play is now in its sixth draft and has been workshopped by actors - really exciting process. I’ve learned an incredible amount about playwriting in an intense introduction to the world of theatre, and the mentoring and practical support we’ve been given, not to mention all the theatre visits and talks I’ve experienced, have been invaluable. It all culminates at the end of October in performed extracts of our plays at Leicester Curve (see below).
• My poem, M. Hartley & Son (from ‘The Sky, Head On’), about my late father’s previous family business in Clitheroe’s King Street, is to be published in a special anthology of shop poems  being produced there, and displayed as a shop poster in the town. I’m really pleased to be involved with this.
• In July, I introduced and ran a workshop for the Derbyshire Writing Ambitions Day, organised with Ali Betteridge, Literature Development Officer for Derbyshire - a day for writers seeking to progress in the business of writing. It was an inspiring day and I am to lead a follow-up workshop in Professional Development Planning for writers in the autumn.

March 2010

I’m really excited to be one of six East Midlands writers selected for the Crossovers project, run by East Midlands Theatre Writing Partnership. I will be writing a new piece for theatre between now and October, an extract of which will be performed at Leicester Curve on 29 and 30 October, alongside other new writing during the Momentum New Theatre Writing Festival. I’ll be really busy during the next few months visiting theatre productions, attending workshops and mentoring sessions, and eventually working with actors and directors on the finished pieces. It’s brilliant news and a major new challenge!

March 2010

My poem, Vital Valley, has been read out at an Amber Valley Planning Board meeting, as part of the debate to try and save the valley from major superstore development. Poetry where poetry has never been read before, and doing its job.

November 2009

Nomination for ‘More Glass Than Wall’

Just heard the great news that ‘More Glass Than Wall’ (see ‘Commissions’) has been nominated for a 2009 British Composer Award in the Educational Project Category!

New Book!

My new poetry collection, The Sky, Head On, published by Shoestring Press is now out and currently available (£8.95 p+p free) by contacting me via this website.

September 2009

A Class Act

On Monday, 21 September, at The Country Kitchen, Wirksworth, my outgoing WEA ‘Poetry and Performance’ class of Summer 2009 performed their work to a packed audience.  The event, ‘A Class Act’ was the result of 5 weeks of intensive work in programming, performance and confidence-building, and the final evening, a showcase event as part of the Wirksworth Festival, was very well-received.

Some sample comments are below. Well done, all, you were brilliant!

Wow! What an evening!  Thank you - thank you - thank you.

A delightful evening of poetry rendered by people who were obviously enjoying their poetry writing and reading.

Can I congratulate you all for the wonderful, entertaining and superbly organised poetry reading. An excellent and impressive selection of pieces of work and performed with skill and confidence.

Hugely entertaining and inspiring. A lovely convivial evening.

Excellent performances from all. Really enjoyed my first poetry reading. Thank you.

All components worked so well: presentation, timing, variety, voice projection, wit, humour, sadness … a wonderful evening’s entertainment!

Monologue Prize

My monologue, Always in the Afternoon, second-prizewinner in the East Midlands Dream Up Monologue Writing Competition, organised by New Perspectives, Theatre Writing Partnership and East Midlands Airport, has now been recorded and is available on the New Perspectives website.