Disability Arts Online

New Voices London is a project funded by Arts Council in partnership with writers' development agency New Writing South and Shape Arts. Through this programme DAO intends to enable a group of emerging writers to develop critical and blog writing skills to support online arts-writing practice.

The programme aims to create a space for disabled writers to gain an experience of engaging with DAO’s online community through publishing a series of blogs, discussions, reviews and comment on the artistic process.

New Writing South
New Writing South works with all kinds of creative writers and new writing in the south-east region: authors, playwrights, poets, screen writers, radio writers, journalists and more.

They offer writers development, encouragement, resources and opportunities to make new contacts. They also programme numerous events that aim to enhance skills, stretch creativity and broker partnerships with those who produce and publish work. http://www.newwritingsouth.com

Information about New Voices workshop leaders

Bella Todd
Bella Todd is a Brighton-based freelance arts journalist specialising in theatre and music. She has worked as Editor of what’s-on magazine Latest 7, Staff Writer at Time Out and Entertainments Editor of The Argus, and is currently writing for The Guardian, Time Out, The Arts Desk and Red Bull’s Culture section among others.

Nii Ayikwei Parkes
Nii has been published in over 30 magazines, e‐zines and journals and has written, contributed to or edited more than 10 books. He is the author of three poetry chapbooks; eyes of a boy, lips of a man (1999) and M is for Madrigal (2004) and the self‐published shorter (2005), which is a vehicle to raise money for a writers' fund in Ghana and co‐edited the groundbreaking Tell Tales Volume I short-story anthology with Courttia Newland and regularly edits x magazine. As a socio‐cultural commentator and advocate for African writing, Nii has led forums internationally, has sat on discussion panels for BBC Radio with literary heavyweights such as Booker winners, Margaret Atwood and A S Byatt, and he runs the African Writers’ Evening series, at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden.

Mark Bryant
Mark joined New Writing South from Arts Council England in September 2008 where he worked in Advocacy and Communications. Prior to this he held various administrative positions in the public, private and voluntary sectors. As New Writing South’s Operations Manager, Mark manages the website, which hosts the online courses and all NWS current information. He also manages the social networking sites and e‐newsletters, communicating with 1000’s of writers every week.