Information About Natalie - Stockton-on-Tees teacher -

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Personal Description:

Natalie has been a practising writer for over 20 years, ever since her first play was shortlisted and performed for the Ruth Edenbury Prize, 1999. Following that early glimmer of success, she has enjoyed seeing her work published and anthologised in over 30 literary and academic journals, culminating most recently in a musicalised West End performance. She has poetry collections published by Mudfog, Bradshaw Books, Indigo Dreams and Valley Press. Her work has received national and international awards and has celebrated much critical acclaim from those inside and outside the writing spheres. Natalie’s creative projects feed directly into her teaching as Lecturer in Creative Writing at Arts University Bournemouth and the sessions she facilitates as part of her writing for wellbeing initiative Pen Power.

- Successful recipient of multiple Arts Council Awards: Rare Birds as a Research and Development grant to write the collection and then to create a musicalised adaptation with a West End Team of creatives, and Berth to create a staged adaptation with Vivid Theatre

- Recipient of Award-Winning Finalist in the International Book Awards for Rare Birds – Voices of Holloway Prison, 202o

- Selected to attend Spring Masterclass tutored by Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke at Ty Newydd Writers’ Centre, 2017, and received mentoring from Glyn Maxwell

- Commissioned as Poet in Schools to work alongside Michael Rosen in conjunction with T-Junction Poetry Festival, 2018

- Invited as researcher for the University of Chester and Lapidus, investigating the effects of Covid-19 on writing for wellbeing groups

- Established writing for wellbeing initiative Pen Power™ in 2016, working with diverse community populations

- Invited to present Rare Birds project at the Houses of Parliament

Teaching Experience:

I currently teach on the undergraduate Creative Writing programme at Arts University Bournemouth. I deliver lectures and seminars to diverse groups of students, teaching in a variety of settings from small group tutorials to large lectures, and contribute to the end of year assessment. I also have a lead role in establishing and managing the AUB International Poetry Prize.

My PGCE, specialising in the post-compulsory sector was completed at Cumbria Institute for the Arts, where I lectured on their undergraduate programme. I enjoyed delivering the module on autobiographical writing to second year students, as it gave me the freedom to put into practice the teaching methods I had learned whilst studying for my PGCE, enabling me to deliver innovative lectures and seminars. I found working with students on a personal level during this post to be a fulfilling experience, offering individual guidance on their work as they completed their final portfolios. I found it particularly valuable to see the raw talent of a new writer emerging as I helped each student to shape her/his ideas into a coherent and engaging finished piece.

I facilitate many Creative Writing workshops within the community, working with diverse groups of people. A certified practitioner, I run my own writing for wellbeing initiative Pen Power which advocates the therapeutic benefits of reading and writing. I also tutor for Writing Classes Online, running both prose and poetry courses, the latter of which I designed myself.

Teaching Approach:

I have often been praised for my personable nature and patience when interacting with students and parents - qualities that are equally very important when communicating during on-line and face-to-face sessions. I take pride in my ability to be organised when managing communication, ensuring that I respond to students' messages within 24 hours and always listening to their individual needs as writers. As a Creative Writing Tutor I guide students through the process of writing poetry and other short forms, including the drafting process, using published poems for thematic and stylistic inspiration. I offer a detailed written critique of their work, providing encouragement on what aspects are working well, and advice as to how their work could be developed further.

I also offer mentoring for new poets aiming to publish their first pamphlet, as a next step for students who have successfully completed the course. This service is offered to new writers of poetry or short prose where some precise feedback on their work might give the support they are looking for. I will note those aspects that are working well in a submitted piece and suggest areas that could be improved. My aim is to provide a critical and honest appraisal of the work submitted but in a sensitive way, just as I would wish to receive comments on my own work.

Tutoring/mentoring can be conducted in a variety of ways or in combination to suit individual needs and work schedules. This can include contact by email, post, **Contact Detail Removed**phone or face to face. The working language for submissions and appraisals is English and distance should not be a disadvantage.