Lancaster's Litfest is looking to work with a writer or writers on developing a piece of live literature.

The project will run through a series of meetings and rehearsals between the writer/s and Artistic Director, Andy Darby, and Publishing Development Manager, Sarah Hymas. The aim is to explore and develop of a piece of literature for performance. We do not expect to have a finished piece, performance-ready. by the end of the process. This is a time of play.

Andy and Sarah will offer skills, experience and an objective eye in the devising and development of the piece, and advise on funding, marketing and potential submission process of any resulting work.

The rehearsals/meetings will take place in Litfest’s Auditorium at The Storey.

The project will run May – September 2011, with five meets or rehearsals with the Litfest team and possibly another relevant specialist, should it seem appropriate to the work.

There is a budget of £500 to cover any expenses incurred by the project.

We are looking for a writer who:

• has an idea for a performance piece (which you may or may not have written);
• is interested in a creative collaboration with Litfest;
• may not necessarily have experience of performing their work, but has an interest/understanding of live literature;
• wants to extend the scope of their work.

How to express your interest in taking part in the project

Email both Sarah and Andy by 5pm Thursday 17th February with:

• a brief outline of your idea;
• why you’d like to work with us and how you might benefit from the experience (200 words max);
• five poems or 1000 words prose as a sample of your work attached in a Word document (this might not be the writing for the project);
• a CV of your writing/performance career attached as a Word Doc;
• a contact phone number, should we need to talk to you to discuss your proposal.

Cath Nichols, who we worked with back in 2009 had this to say on her experience:

Working on the text so hard and being questioned about what I was trying to do helped me clarify what was most important. I became aware of the strongest parts of the poem that have made it through into the play.

Her piece The Price of Legs, after the R&D process, won a rehearsed reading at Trilateral Stageplay Festival in Nottingham in June 2010.