Join Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland to explore, uncover and consider what stimulates the artists behind this year’s Made in Scotland programme. Chaired by David Greig, Linda McLean, David Hughes, Nicola McCartney and Jo Clifford and featuring panellists from companies including Catherine Wheels, Grid Iron, Lung Ha’s, Scottish Dance Theatre and The Arches.

These conversations will poke about in the recesses and pan out over the landscape of the showcase connecting you with the artists involved.

These events are FREE but ticketed. For full details of the discussions and how to book, visit http://www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk/madeinscotland.htm

Creative Lab: Creating a Virtual World
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society & Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland
Friday 19th August, 12 – 2pm, Rehearsal Room, Fringe Central

This practical workshop will be delivered by playwright Nicola McCartney and will look at the uses of rhythm, landscape and identity in the writing of a script for live performance.

Current Practice in Scottish Dramaturgy
The Dramaturg’s Café supported by Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland & Dramaturgs’ Network
Thursday 25th August, 11am – 1pm, Lecture Theatre 2, Fringe Central

Reflect on current practice in an informal ‘in conversation with’ format. Playwright Stef Smith and dramaturg Pamela McQueen discuss creating Roadkill, while dramaturg Duska Radosavljevic will explore the dramaturg and the devising process in the work of Grid Iron with producer Judith Docherty and director Ben Harrisson.

All events are FREE but ticketed. You can book tickets at fringecentral@edfringe.com or call 0131 240 1902

Bookshop and Information Point, 8th – 28th August, Traverse Theatre

We’re delighted that our Bookshop and Information Point will be back in the Traverse Theatre Bar this year, 11am - 7pm (closed Mondays). With a fantastic selection of plays by Scotland’s playwrights for sale and Playwrights’ Studio staff on hand to answer your questions, we hope you’ll find time to visit us there.

Follow us during the Festival on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Pwrightsstudio

Playwrights' Studio, Scotland is now accepting applications for our 2011/2012 Mentoring Programme. Every year the Playwrights’ Studio offers an opportunity for new playwrights to be mentored by established playwrights. This is an amazing chance to improve your writing skills and gain valuable insights into the playwriting process.

Eligible Applicants

You should be an emerging playwright, living in Scotland or from Scotland and living elsewhere, with a particular play you hope to develop during your mentoring time. You do not need to have been produced in order to qualify.

You should be available from September 2011 for six months to work on your script regularly. Mentees will be matched with a mentor in September and will remain in communication with this mentor over the six month working period.

To apply please send:

• a cover letter explaining why you would like to be mentored
• two ten-page extracts of your writing
• a synopsis of each work from which the extracts have come
• your current contact details
• a brief biography detailing your writing experience to date

Please address applications to:

Playwrights' Studio, Scotland
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow, G2 3JD

or send via email to info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 31st August

Also Note: Short-listed applicants will be asked to submit a complete piece of writing electronically at a later date.

Creative Futures - Screenwriting Residencies 
Playwrights' Studio, Scotland and Creative Scotland 
Location: Scotland wide

Creative Scotland’s ‘Creative Futures’ is an ambitious programme of residencies and related activities designed to promote the professional development, vision, connectivity and ambitions of Scotland’s creative practitioners and organisations.

Screenwriting Residencies - Apply Now!

Our inspirational aim – to produce best screenwriters in the world.

The programme consists of a residential training programme in Scotland, which will support you over a five month period to develop a specific script. Participants will work with high level experienced mentors, including mentor tutors from Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam. There will be three residential meetings with writers expected to work on their film between meetings.

Selected participants will also be given the opportunity to present to potential producers at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2012.

The workshop weekends will take place in November 2011, February 2012 and April 2012. This valuable development opportunity is free of charge to participants.

Full details are available at http://bit.ly/iSUIjZ

360 Narratives

This project aims to bring together around twenty talented and successful individuals, who create in narrative forms, so that they can develop ideas and methods of working that will enable them to benefit from the possibilities of 360 degree multi-platform content creation. They will have a chance to further capitalise on their creativity in new as well as more traditional formats.

More details and the application process will be posted soon at http://www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk/360narratives.htm

Writers' Course with Playwrights' Studio, Scotland
Location: Perthshire, Scotland
Dates: 7 - 10 October 2011

Join two of Scotland's top playwrights for workshops and the opportunity for peaceful, uninterrupted writing time in the idyllic Perthshire countryside. Playwrights' Studio will shortly be announcing details of a writers' course suitable for those at the start of their playwriting career or those interested in writing a play.

Full details will be announced shortly but you can register your interest by
e-mailing emma@playwrightsstudio.co.uk

Please note, this is a fee paying course, which will include accommodation and meals.

New Works by Davey Anderson, Anne Marie Di Mambro, Pamela Carter and Iain F MacLeod
Playwrights' Studio, Scotland, and RSAMD
Location: Tron Theatre, Glasgow; Cockpit Theatre, London; Traverse Theatre, Glasgow
Dates: 31 August -3 September (Tron Theatre), 7-8 September (Cockpit Theatre), 14-17 September (Traverse Theatre)

Directed by Deborah Hannan, Andrew McGregor, Claire Moyer and Emily Reutlinger. Back for a third year, New Works is a ground-breaking writing collaboration between Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland and The RSAMD (soon to be Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) with extracts of new plays by four of Scotland’s best writers.

Scavengers by Davey Anderson

Part absurd comedy, part mythical yarn, Scavengers tells the story of one man’s disappearance between the cracks of consumer society.

Mother Maria by Ann Marie Di Mambro

The true story of a remarkable Russian women who fled to Paris after the revolution and devoted her life to the poor.

The Bends by Iain F Macleod

A man wakes up in a room with no memory of who he is or where he’s come from.  His name is Adam.

liberty equality fraternity by Pamela Carter

A play in three parts (Parts 1 and 2 of three) about sex, socialism, and doing right by your man.

Please visit the theatre venues for further information and bookings:

Tron Theatre http://www.tron.co.uk/event/new_works-90/

Cockpit Theatre http://www.offwestend.com/index.php/plays/view/6182

Traverse Theatre http://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/

If you are an organisation planning an event/competition/opportunity which would be of interest to playwrights, please send details to the above e-mail address for inclusion in the e-bulletin.

Please note, details must be received before the 15th of each month.

• To write in a working environment
• Meetings with other writers, press and producers
• Round the table script development
• Reading Room with access to our well stocked Plays Library

Use of the space is subject to availability. To book a time to use the space, please call 0141 332 4403 or e-mail info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk

Are You Sitting Comfortably? - Call for Submissions
Byre Theatre and White Rabbit
Location: St Andrews, Scotland
Deadline: 25 August 2011

Local writers are invited to contribute to Are You Sitting Comfortably? - a storytelling variety night due to be held at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews on 8 September. It is set in the magical environment of a topsy turvy tea room, part 1930s cafe, part Mad Hatters Party. For this show London-based company White Rabbit is exploring the theme of magic, and will be showcasing the work of up to eight local writers from the St Andrews area, accompanied by beautiful visuals and old fashioned tunes. 

Writers who would like to take part should submit magic themed stories of around 1000 words.

For further information, please email Bernadette Russell at areyousittingcomfortably@live.com or visit www.thewhiterabbit.org.uk

Click here for further details, and to register your interest, please contact Nicola McCartney nmccartn@staffmail.ed.ac.uk

A new mentoring and development programme for emerging playwrights. Edinburgh-based theatre production company Siege Perilous is introducing the scheme in conjunction with its inaugural Writer-in-Residence Caroline Dunford.

Up to six playwrights will be chosen for the programme. Playwrights will be invited to submit a single script or work-in-progress which will be used to determine the final selections. At the end of the programme, the developed work will be workshopped with the production company and a team of professional actors. There is the further possibility that a script will go into a full production.

Full details of the programme can be found at  http://www.siegeperilous.co.uk/initiatives/playwright-development-programme/

New Writing Scotland publishes works by writers resident in Scotland or Scots by birth, upbringing or inclination. The work must be neither previously published nor accepted for publication and may be in any of the languages of Scotland.

New Writing Scotland are accepting submissions for New Writing Scotland 30, publishing in 2012.

For further details visit http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLS/NWSsubs.html

The Tom McGrath Trust is set up to honour the life and legacy of Tom McGrath, poet, playwright and creative maverick, who died in 2009. The Trust aims to be a source of inspiration, stimulation and support for artists seeking to develop their craft.

Small Grants Award
Small Grants Awards will be given towards expenditure which makes writing for stage possible and able to be heard, examples may include travel and research; equipment; costs of staging performed readings of new work; general living costs to support artists development.  Small grants awards will range from £300-£500.

For details of how to apply, visit http://tommcgrathtrust.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/small-grants-awards-application-guidelines-doc.pdf or email tommcgrathtrust@gmail.com

Writer and Translator Residencies
The long term aim of the Trust is to provide time and space for writers and translators to work.  This will be done through the establishment of a creative and supportive residential environment, based in and around the home of the late Tom McGrath in Fife.

Scottish and international playwrights and translators will have opportunities to be in residence and can work together or independently to develop new plays, new translations and new working relationships.  It is anticipated that residencies will commence in summer 2011.

For further information, visit http://tommcgrathtrust.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/residency-guidelines.pdf or email tommcgrathtrust@gmail.com

The conferences are open to performers, performing arts educators and teachers from all over the world representing various art genres, techniques and forms - theatre, dance, music, circus, visual and multimedia art, interested in the research of topical questions and processes in contemporary performing arts education and training. 

You are welcome to take part in the conference as a Speaker, Presenter, Participant or Observer. The conferences are accepting presentation proposals. Presentation formats are as follows: practical workshop/master class; work in progress; performance fragment not requiring special technical conditions; reading/lecture; other ways of demonstration offered by Speaker/Presenter can be considered.

For more details or to apply, visit

August event: http://www.iugte.com/projects/conf-aug

December event:  http://www.iugte.com/projects/conf-dec

Hampshire County Council will be hosting a writer in residence at The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre in Havant during autumn 2011.

They are seeking a writer experienced in community engagement projects.  The residency will launch on 22nd September and last for between two to three months.

During the project the writer will use local heritage resources to inspire individuals and groups to write creatively.  The writer will also produce their own new work.  

An additional strand will be leading a series of workshops to support the local writing community over the tenure of the residency. 

For further details and submission criteria visit http://www3.hants.gov.uk/writer-in-residence.htm

Would you like to write for an award winning podcast company? Now’s your opportunity. Tin Can Podcast are looking for 5 or 10 minute audio plays to go out in their weekly slot. Just write a play and email it to Tin Can Podcast by the 31 August and if selected Tin Can Podcast will produce and broadcast it.

For further details, visit www.tincanpodcast.co.uk

Your submission must be:

• Original
• Written by you
• Production ready
• Not previously produced (workshops and rehearsed readings are not considered to be a previous production)
• Have a cast of between 1 and 6.
• Length from a 50 minute one act play to full length
• Suitable for a studio space

If your script is chosen Organised Chaos Productions agrees to the following:

• To produce the debut of your play
• To plan and produce future performances
• To help you get relevant industry people to watch your play

For further details, visit http://www.organisedchaosproductions.co.uk/scriptcall.html

Now in its second year, the International Playwriting Competition continues to inspire creative writing for aspiring playwrights throughout the world.

Write a one act play for either audiences of 12-16 years old, or performers of 11 and under. Why not test your creative writing, and see what weird and wonderful stories you can think up? Winners receive a cash prize of £1,000 and see their own play performed in front of a live London theatre audience. Better yet, Trinity College London will publish your play and distribute internationally.

Find out more at http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/playwriting

Naked Stage 2011 is a series of staged rehearsed readings of new scripts up to 50 minutes in length to be presented in Cambridge.

Naked Stage are looking for previously unperformed scripts for stage or radio, maximum length 50 minutes, and maximum number of five characters.

For full submission guidelines, visit http://www.writeon.org.uk/newsitems/newsitem1.html

IdeasTap, the online arts and funding organisation, has teamed up with Sky Arts to launch a new bursary for young artists. The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund will offer five young artists £30,000 each to fund their work for a full year. The fund is open to artists aged 18-30 living in the UK and Ireland, and is designed to bridge the gap between formal education and becoming a working artist.

The Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund is open to individual artists working in visual art, theatre, performance art, film, music, dance or literature. The scheme will also provide each artist with a mentor from Sky, who will help develop their skills and knowledge in the arts and commercial sector. The artists will also have the opportunity to showcase their work on Sky Arts – be it on TV, online or on demand.

The deadline for applicants is 19 September 2011. Two winners will be selected during this round of funding. The next round will open in early 2012 from which three further winners will be chosen.

For more information, and to apply for the Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund, please visit www.ideastap.com/skyartsfuturesfund

The aim of Next Best Page is to produce a highly collaborative and innovative piece of theatre by uniting 52 voices to tell one story over 2011.

The award winning playwright James Graham has written the opening to the play 'Power Lines'. Each week throughout 2011, you can send in your Next Best Page. At the end of each week, the team will read all the pages they receive and decide which page will join The Script. Then the process will begin again, and again and again until the end of 2011.

Each writer will take their inspiration from the previous pages and be the inspiration for the next page. The Play will then be staged in 2012 at venues to be confirmed.

To find out more, visit http://www.nextbestpage.co.uk/home

PitchCentral is a membership-based platform for theatre professionals offering a combination of free/premium content.

How does PitchCentral work?

PitchCentral works in a number of different ways depending on what you are looking for.

For playwrights, it’s about using the platform to pitch your script to producers and theatre companies.

For producers and theatre companies, it’s not only about being aware of new writing looking for production, its about knowing which festivals are looking for product and when; it’s an opportunity to buy or sell production licenses or franchises; to access an up-to-date, comprehensive venue database designed to making tour organization easier.

In short, PitchCentral wants to help you maximise your return on your cultural investment and building your brand by providing the resources that you need to achieve this, at your fingertips.

Visit http://www.pitchcentral.com/ for more information.

Making the Most of the Fringe - How to Give Your Show a Life After the Festival
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Location: Edinburgh
Dates: August 2011

Performing at the Fringe is a great opportunity to get your work seen and to make professional contacts. Edinburgh Festival Fringe offer a number of services to help you make the most of your visit to the festival and can offer one-to-one advice on targeting the right people to come and see your show.

To get you started, they have a selection of online guides covering fundraising, networking and touring. You’ll also find information on their Arts Industry Office, which accredits professionals coming to the Fringe to find new work and talent and our guides explain how we can help you connect with these people.

All the guides and further information can be found at www.edfringe.com/participants/participant-development

You can also email artistadvice@edfringe.com for bespoke advice for your show and to find out more about surgeries and drop-in times.

One of the best ways to meet people and promote your work during the festival is to come to Edinburgh Festival Fringe events at Fringe Central.

They have a host of workshops, talks and seminars that are a great way to expand your skills and start your networking.

A full programme of events can be downloaded here. Events include:

Do You Want to Tour Your Show?
Come along to the How to Tour talk (23 August) and find out about Fringe Festivals around the World (21 August). The Brighton Fringe (26 August) and the Adelaide Fringe (19 August) are also hosting their own events to tell you all about their festivals.

Meet the Professionals
The National Theatre Studio will be hosting sessions for emerging theatre-makers and playwrights (15 to 23 August) and Paines Plough will be sharing their experience of running a new writing company (24 August). There are also places available on the Edinburgh International Festival Masterclasses, led by leading international practitioners (14 to 31 August).

Debates and Discussions
Playwrights’ Studio Scotland are leading conversations inspired by this year’s Made in Scotland programme (19 to 24 August) and there are also events celebrating Children’s Theatre (11 August), Cabaret (14 August), and Dance (21 August) at the Fringe.

All events are free, please email fringecentral@edfringe.com if you would like to reserve any places.

Encounter TWO, Theatre Uncut, 22 August

Leading actors in 'scratch' performances of eight short plays written in immediate response to the recent spending cuts - by playwrights Clara Brennan, David Greig, Dennis Kelly, Lucy Kirkwood, Laura Lomas, Anders Lustgarten, Mark Ravenhill and Jack Thorne.

Book tickets at http://www.traverse.co.uk/writing/encounters/

Informal and sociable afternoon play-reading sessions at the Citizens Theatre, for the young at heart and mature in years.

These sessions are all about giving voice to the characters from the comfort of your seat, talking about the story and sharing your opinion of it.

This season the reading will be from the epic ‘Our Country’s Good’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker.  Set in 1789, a young lieutenant is directing the first play ever to be staged in Australia – with only two copies of the text, a cast of convicts and a leading lady who may be about to be hanged.  Winner of the Laurence Olivier Play of the Year Award 1988, it premiered at the Royal Court in London in 1988 and opened on Broadway in 1991.

The play does not need to be read in advance –find out what happens as the group reads together each week.

The group meets weekly for four sessions on Wednesdays from 2-4pm. 

For booking information, visit http://citz.co.uk/whatson/info/off_the_page/

Scenes @ Beanscene is an hour long show consisting of 4 -5 different stand - alone comedy duet scenes (not sketches). 

Each original scene lasts 10 -15 minutes each and follows a certain theme.  

There will be a new theme each month. To help stick to the theme (and for fun) each author must quote the theme at least once within the dialogue. 

Find out more by visiting www.moretheatre.com

Writing for Screen

Opportunities and events for screenwriters can now be found through a direct link to The Writers’ Factory monthly e-bulletin.

The Writers Factory is invested in by Creative Scotland and is coordinated by the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. For more information about The Writers' Factory, please visit the website www.writersfactory.co.uk

The monthly bulletins contain information about future Writers' Factory courses as well as information relevant to screen writers across the UK and internationally. The Writers' Factory E-Bulletin is divided into three sections:

Factory News: For upcoming Writers' Factory events

Opportunities: Screen writing competitions and other opportunities

Events: Screen writing events and classes

To view the full e-bulletin, please click here

Allotment by Jules Horne
Nutshell Theatre in association with Assembly @ Inverleith Allotments, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Sun 7 - Fri 26 August 2011
Click here

Made In Scotland Showcase
Made In Scotland @ Edinburgh Festival Fringe
August 2011
Click here

Playwrights' Studio, Scotland's Discussion Programme
Playwrights' Studio Scotland, in association with Made in Scotland @Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Fri 19 - Weds 24 August 2011
Click here

Scottish Performing Arts Symposium
National Theatre of Scotland @ Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh
Sat 20 August 2011
Click here

Playwrights' Encounter
Playwrights' Encounters @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Mon 22 August 2011
Click here

Changing: Perceptions
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company @ Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh
Mon 22 August 2011
Click here

Nightwalks by Annie George
Wave Theatre at The Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament
Thurs 25 August 2011
Click here

Culture for The People, By The People (Panelists includes John McGrath, Stephen Stenning and Owen Logan)
Wave Theatre in discussion at The Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament
Thurs 25 August 2011
Click here

Fleck by Alasdair Gray
Alasdair Gray @ Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh
Mon 29 August 2011
Click here

New Works: A Collaboration between Playwrights Studio, Scotland and RSAMD
Playwrights Studio, Scotland and RSAMD @ Tron (Glasgow), Cockpit (London), Traverse (Edinburgh)
Weds 31st August 2011 onwards
Click here

My Romantic History by DC Jackson
Borderline Theatre Company @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Fri 9 - Sat 24 September 2011
Click here

Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart
National Theatre of Scotland on tour
Fri 16 September - Sat 26 November 2011
Click here

Staging the Nation - The Scottish Play
National Theatre of Scotland with David Greig and Paul Henderson Scott @ the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Fri 28 October 2011
Click here

The Playwrights Network

The Playwrights Network links regional organisations which work to develop playwrights (and sometimes writers working in other media too) across the UK.
Click here to find an organisation in your area.

The Scottish Society of Playwrights (SSP)

A professional members' organisation that represents, develops and promotes the interests and craft of professional Scottish playwrights working within the theatre sector. To become a member or for more information about the Society, please see their website www.scottishsocietyofplaywrights.co.uk
or email scottishsocietyofplaywrights@gmail.com

Note: Could any member who has recently changed address or contact details please send in their most up to date information?  Thank you.