Commonword recently hosted the inaugural Writing 4 Children workshop in the beautiful meeting room at The City Library in Elliot House.

Thirty aspiring children’s writers attended the vibrant session, where our guest speaker, Shannon Park, talked for an impressive hour and a half!  She discussed the state of the children’s fiction industry and the worrying lack of ethnically diverse characters in children’s fiction at the moment.  Shannon is an Executive Editor for fiction at Puffin Books, one of our partners in the Commonword Children’s Diversity Writing Prize.

If you would like to come to future workshops, please send your contact details and a single page sample of your writing to marnie@cultureword.org.uk .  The next workshop is scheduled to take place on 10th February 2011, 7pm-9pm at Commonword’s offices on Mount Street.  Our other partner, RCW literary agency, will be sending their children’s agent, Catherine Pellegrino to a future session in February or March.  Watch this space for details.