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Volunteer Co-ordinator

About the role  

Fighting Words NI is recruiting for a Volunteer Co-ordinator, to be responsible for co-ordinating all elements of volunteering to support our annual programme. 

As a volunteer-centred charity we value the involvement of volunteers supporting our workshops. All of our programmes — from schools workshops, to our after school writing clubs — are facilitated by teams of volunteer writing mentors. We’re always on the look-out for people who are passionate about helping young writers to find their creative spark!  

Submit Your Writing for The Irish Times annual Fighting Words Supplement!

Every year, Fighting Words NI and Fighting Words work together to collect work from young writers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – and  submissions are now open for 2023!  

Guidelines: 

(please read in full) 

  • One prose submission per author, poets may submit two poems.  

  • Max. 1,500 words 

  • FORMAT: Times New Roman, size 12, double spaced. Please attach the email as a Word document. Please do NOT send PDF or handwritten submissions. 

Please Include in your email: 

Fighting Words NI Attends the Launch of the "iCommunity" Report

Fighting Words NI was invited to attend the recent launch of the iCommunity Report, a joint initiative between  NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) and The Wheel, (Ireland’s national association of charities, community groups and social enterprises)  outlining a new vision for all-Island collaboration in the community and voluntary sector.  

Creative Writing Summer Camp 2022 has Wrapped!

Fighting Words NI has just wrapped a one-of-a-kind event for young writers – our very first creative writing summer camp. In a fantastic four-day event between the 8th and 11th of August, young people from around Northern Ireland participated in our workshop in Belfast, flexing their creative writing skills through scripts, prose, song writing, poetry, and even video game world building.   

‘New Worlds’ brought to life by P6 and P7 students and Fighting Words NI 

Fighting Words Northern Ireland has launched ‘New Worlds’, an anthology of creative writing from pupils at four Belfast primary schools.  Between January and March 2022, over 100 young writers from P6 and P7 classes at Scoil an Droichid, Victoria Park Primary School, Fane Street Primary School and Holy Family Primary School attended workshops and collaborated over Zoom to create and produce story endings for the anthology which is now online.   

Young Playwrights: On Stage at the Lyric - Showcase of plays by NI writers ages 14-18 

The short (10-minutes maximum) original plays were developed by 14-18-year-olds from around Northern Ireland who took part in YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS: ON STAGE AT THE LYRIC between February and May 2022.  Each writer had the chance to create and develop their own original short play, then work with professional directors, dramaturgs, actors and designers to bring it to the stage. 

Young Playwrights mentor Emily DeDakis explained: 

Northern Irish Playwright and Fighting Words NI Mentor Karis Kelly takes top award at Women’s Prize for Playwriting

Northern Irish Playwright and mentor with Fighting Words Northern Ireland, Karis Kelly, has been awarded the Women’s Prize for Playwriting for her play ‘Consumed’, a drama about four generations of Northern Irish women at a 90th birthday party in a “house full of hungry ghosts”. 

Karis’ play was selected from 850 entries and 12 finalists, by the panel of judges that included Arifa Akbar, Mel Kenyon (Chair) and Lucy Kirkwood.  

She said of the award: 

Fighting Words Northern Ireland invites young writers to ‘go bananas’ at East Belfast pop up

Fighting Words Northern Ireland, has announced a month-long interactive exhibition at Banana Block in East Belfast, for children and young people.  From 5 March, children, young people and their families can drop in (Wednesday-Sunday) read a book together in The Pencil Portal writer’s studio and create a story of their own to add to the display.    

The Fighting Words exhibition will publish and display story-prompts written by Belfast youth groups and schools in recent months, to inspire other young writers.      

Director at Fighting Words Hilary Copeland, said: 

Six thousand reasons for New Year cheer- Fighting Words receives High Street Voucher donation from No Alibis

Fighting Words Northern Ireland has received an early 2022 bonus from local independent bookstore, No Alibis, following a pledge from the owner to donate 20% of the value of purchases made through the NI High Street Spend Local voucher scheme.  No Alibis, based on Botanic Avenue in Belfast, raised £6000 for the charity through the scheme which ran from October to December 2021.  Fighting Words NI, based in East Belfast, provides year-round free creative writing opportunities for children and young people aged 6-18 through its schools story making workshops, after-school Write Clubs and comm

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