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 …
Multi-year grant from PHF to fund programme pilot
First Story is excited to embark on a three-year pilot project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. We’ve received a More and Better grant of £244,000 from the foundation which specifically funds …
Reflecting on my first summer with First Story
Fittingly, my first day as First Story's new Chief Executive was also National Writing Day. And what an inspiring day it was. My first stop on 26th June was to the Museum of Migration in Lambeth, …
The First Story Summer Residential 2019
In twenty acres of steep woodland overlooking a Pennine valley sits Lumb Bank, an impressive eighteenth-century millowner's house that once belonged to Ted Hughes. For six days in July, Lumb Bank was …
Flashers’ Club reluctantly wraps up
Flashers’ Club is a quarterly 'flash fiction' event in Cheltenham where writers can read their original short fiction to an audience. It's a friendly, supportive and inclusive atmosphere, where all …
Write-Along Movies at Genesis Cinema turns two
If you live in London and you write, get yourself along to the iconic Genesis Cinema, for the city's only (known) 'Film Club and Writers' Hub'. Write-Along Movies is a regular event, created and …
Picket Line Poetry in Hull
To celebrate National Writing Day 2019, First Story East Yorkshire collaborated with local partners to put on a packed day of activities culminating in an original event, 'Picket Line Poetry'. …
Why learning to use your voice is powerful
It is a quite a coincidence that National Writing Day is my first day in the job as CEO of First Story, the lead organisation behind the campaign. When I tell people I will be working in an …
The Fault in Our Stories
Every anthology that we publish includes an introduction by the school's Writer-in-Residence. This one is an excellent example, written by Mashuda Snaith to introduces the 2019 anthology by students …
#Merky Books Collaboration
Curated by Stormzy, #Merky Books is a home for a new generation of voices. An imprint of Penguin Random House UK, #Merky is dedicated to publishing the best new fiction, non-fiction and poetry. It …
On Letters (Live)
Dear Reader, There is creativity in writing a letter. A proper letter is considered, crafted. Good letters tell us stories, using detail to draw us in. Great letters reveal their writer’s world and …
100-Word Story 2018 Winners
Now in its fifth year, our 100-Word Story competition is open to all First Story students, aged 11-18. Entries can be prose or poetry and can be on any theme. Judged by Vintage, the competition gives …
Creative Writing in Schools: Recommendations
In 2015 First Story received a Creative Writing in Schools grant of £600,000 from Arts Council England, alongside our fellow creative writing organisation, Paper Nations. We were thrilled …
Robert Webb will present our BBC Radio 4 Appeal
We are thrilled to announce that Robert Webb, actor and author of the wonderful, important, and number one bestselling book How Not To Be a Boy, will be presenting a charity appeal on behalf of First …
Imaru Lewis at YWF18
Imaru Lewis is a graduate of our intensive Writer-in-Residence programme from Highgate Wood school in London. We invited him back in 2018 to speak at First Story's Young Writers’ Festival. His …
YWF18 Highlights
In 2018 First Story's annual Young Writers’ Festival was held for the first time in partnership with the University of Cambridge. We welcomed over 330 students to the new venue, from schools across …
