Last month, an inspiring group of young women from Hull College staged an event to launch their new First Story group anthology, for which they chose the title We Are Strong, and in which they have …
Regional Writing Stars – Autumn term
This autumn, First Story ran a fun new bi-annual competition called Regional Writing Stars. This competition is designed to highlight regional voices and provides us – the team at First Story, across …
A good education for all: First Story and the Ofsted inspection framework
Last month, Ofsted published its Annual Report for 2018/19, the year it introduced its new education inspection framework and sparked fresh debate about what works best to tackle disadvantage. Is …
Watch: Six Word Story 2019 finalists showcase
In December, we piloted an exciting new platform to showcase and celebrate the shortlisted young writers in our annual Six Word Story competition. For the first time, 12 finalists saw their …
How our writers and teachers support each other
We're committed to providing regular forums for our writers and teachers to share knowledge, skills and practical experience. Over the last couple of weeks, teachers and writers have been getting …
We’ve created an LGBT+ training resource
February is LGBT+ History Month. In honour of this year's theme — ‘Poetry, Prose and Plays’ — we’ve released a dedicated training resource for First Story Writers-in-Residence. We're delighted to be …
YWF19 Highlights
First Story’s Young Writers’ Festival in 2019 was yet again a packed event that saw over 330 students, more than 30 teachers, 24 volunteers, and 18 Writers-in-Residence from around the country …
First Story alumna featured in Rathbones Review
Henna Ravjibhai took part in the Rathbones Folio Prize Mentorships scheme in 2019. She has recently been featured in the Rathbones review to talk First Story, working with Joe Dunthorne, and writing …
BBC Young Writers’ Award 2020 Launches
It’s that time of year once more: the BBC Young Writers’ Award is now open! We're encouraging young writers, aged 13–18, from across the country to submit your best short stories (up to 1,000 words) …
BBC Radio 1 Life Hacks with Chloe Holland
Chloe Holland took part in First Story's intensive creative writing programme during 2016-17, as a student at Appleton Academy in Bradford. Diagnosed with severe dyslexia and also dyspraxia, Chloe …
Supporter reception at Hachette UK
On 18th November 2019, publishers Hachette UK generously hosted a reception for First Story supporters at their London HQ, Carmelite House — an iconic building on London's Victoria Embankment, …
On being a Writer-in-Residence
This is the transcript of a speech given by Rachel Seiffert during an event for First Story supporters at Hachette UK on 19 November 2019. …
#12Stories Campaign
Celebrating the power of storytelling while raising some much-needed funds to support creative writing by young people. We're trying to raise £1,000 this festive season, to help fund our two …
Six Word Story 2019 shortlist and winner announced
It's been another great year for our Six Word Story competition. With the sheer variety and ingenuity on offer, shortlisting this year was tough. Somehow we settled on our top 12, before handing over …
Our impact in 2018-19
We’ve published our annual Impact Report for the year ending June 2019. I joined First Story as Chief Executive at the end of the academic year, but I'm no less proud of all that was achieved in …
Extended deadline: University of Cambridge Bursary Scheme
First Story is collaborating with The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) to provide two new tuition fee bursaries. The joint scheme encourages teachers or librarians …
First Story moves into CLPE to create new literacy hub
First Story and Driver Youth Trust have together moved into the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. As our three organisations share space, resources and ideas, we look forward to building an …
Exclusive interview with Juno Dawson
Juno Dawson is a best-selling author of YA fiction, a successful journalist with bylines in publications from Glamour magazine to The Guardian, a former teacher who specialised in PSHCE and …
Announcing our 2019-20 Rathbones Folio Mentees
We’re delighted to announce the four First Story programme graduates from our 2018-19 cohort chosen to participate in the third year of the Rathbones Folio Mentorships programme. The Folio …
Durham Commission report: a catalyst for change?
The Durham Commission on Creativity and Education report, a collaborative research project between Durham University and Arts Council England, is a 96 page deep dive into why and how creativity should …
PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing is a life-changing opportunity
Developing teachers' confidence and skill to practice and teach creative writing is central to our mission. One of the ways we support teachers' professional development is through our partnership …
First Story alumni in Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2019
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is the biggest poetry competition in the world for 11–17 year olds. Organised by the Poetry Society, and this year judged by First Story favourites Jackie Kay …
First Story at BBC Contains Strong Language festival
Contains Strong Language is the UK’s biggest annual poetry and performance festival. Over three days the BBC festival stages some 30 events in the city of Hull, with leading poets and world-class …
Six days in Lviv ‘where every third person is a poet’
I’ve recently returned from six days in Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural capital and one of Nottingham’s sister UNESCO Cities of Literature. Like Nottingham, Lviv is a young UNESCO City of Literature, rich in …
