HI~Arts provides a wide range of services to professional and developing writers living and working in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, with a unique, two-stage core service offering critical assessment, mentoring, advice and support surgeries, development funding and information, and a second stage residential 'masterclass' for the most promising writers to have used our services over the year April-March. Where possible all of our services are available in English, Scots and Gaelic.

Full details of these services are available below, with all necessary form downloads etc.

In addition, HI~Arts also develops and delivers a range of projects that encourage the development of new writing and community access to creative writing. These include the Embedded Poets Project, and the HI~Arts International Fellowship, full details of which are available from this page (left margin).

The post of Writing Development Coordinator was established in 2004 in response to the report Writing Development in the Highlands and Islands , and is funded by Scottish Arts Council (SAC) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

HI~Arts Short Story Competition 2008 - The Winner!

'Bird In The Snow' by Jennifer Blackburn of Aberlour

HI~Arts is very pleased to announce that the winner of our 2008 Short Story Competition is 'Bird In The Snow' by Jennifer Blackburn of Aberlour. Jennifer is a teacher of English at Keith Grammar School. Jennifer takes the prize of £300 and a place on the HI~Arts Masterclass 2008. The theme of this year's competiton was 'Winter'.

Commenting on the entries and the winner, competition judge, novelist, poet & playwright, Kevin MacNeil said:

'The quality of the entries for the 2008 Hi-Arts Short Story Competition was variable, but the best of the best were excellent. Some of the stories were necessarily, if reluctantly, jettisoned because they did not adhere to the remit; I couldn't in all fairness consider awarding the prize to a story that didn't meet Hi-Arts' criteria. This meant losing a couple of great stories that were not really Winter-themed, but I am confident those stories will find their place elsewhere.

Before announcing the winning story, I feel compelled to give honourable mentions to a few particularly good near-winners: The Far Side [Maggie Wallis] (richly meaningful and tightly composed), For a Whole Winter's Work [Janis Mackay] (poignant, very well written and ultimately uplifting) and The North [Patrick Gray] (a multi-layered journey revealed through masterful sentences). These three quite superlative narratives were eminently satisfying reads and their authors - anonymous to me, of course - are to be congratulated.

I have chosen to award first place to the author of the intriguing, resonant, skilfully disquieting Bird in the Snow.

In theory, a story centering around a ten-year-old's efforts to clean up a kitchen is an unlikely basis for an award-winning narrative; that, however, is rather the point. It takes a talented writer to fashion from ordinary-seeming events an extraordinary reading experience. The author's attention to detail throughout the piece is an exercise in creating and sustaining a realistic, evocative intensity.

The relationships between the child and the other members of the family were rendered with an authentic, understated and thought-provoking lightness of touch.

And like all good and lasting stories, Bird in the Snow says more than it says.'

A pdf copy of  this year's competition winner 'Bird In The Snow'  by Jennifer Blackburn, can be found at the bottom of this page.

Writing For Children - Pitch Your Unpublished Work to Scotland's Leading Literary Agency!

Writing for children - whether in terms of picture books for very young children or in the fascinating world of new teen fiction - is notoriously difficult, yet it remains one of the most rewarding and lucrative areas in which an author can work, requiring great imagination but also control and focus.

HI~Arts is therefore very pleased to announce a new project which will provide authors in the Highlands and Islands area with the chance to pitch their unpublished work and/or ideas for a children's book to Scotland's leading literarcy agency specialising in books for children - Fraser Ross Associates. 

Submission is now Closed.

Fraser Ross Associates have written two new tip-sheets on writing for children, see below for details!

For project submission guidelines please click here 

Tip Sheets for Writers 

 No. 1: Writing A Successful Synopsis and Cover Letter by Jenny Brown

The first tip sheet covers the difficult task of writing a successful synopsis and cover letter for use in approaching agents and publishers, and was prepared by Jenny Brown, Scotland's foremost literary agent. 

Click this link

No. 2: Hunting Down The Pleonasm by Allan Guthrie

This second tip sheet offers award-winning author Allan Guthrie's insight into creating sharp, direct prose and self-editing for authors.   Allan Guthrie (photo by Mary Reagan) was born in Orkney, but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. He is married to Donna. His first novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. His second novel, KISS HER GOODBYE, was nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe awards. His third, HARD MAN, has just been published. Allan is a commissioning editor for Point Blank Press and a literary agent with Jenny Brown Associates.

 Click this link

No.3 & 3a:  Writing For Children - Do's and Dont's / Writing For Children - Common Pitfalls by Fraser Ross Associates

The two tips sheets for authors wanting to write for children have been written for HI~Arts by Scotland's literary leading agency specialising in writing for children - Fraser Ross Associates.  Lindsey Fraser and Kathryn Ross ran Scottish Book Trust from 1991 until 2002 when they decided to put their combined experience into a new venture - Fraser Ross Associates Literary Agency and Consultancy.

Their experience prior to Scottish Book Trust lay mainly in teaching and bookselling, both in the UK and overseas. Over the years, they have been on the judging panel for the Nestlé Smarties, Whitbread and Fidler literary prizes and have attended and addressed conferences on literature and readership development throughout the UK, in the USA and Canada, in Ghana, France, Germany and Russia. They have reviewed children's books widely, both nationally and for the Scottish press, and edited a number of anthologies and author biographies for children.

In addition to the literary agency, Kathryn and Lindsey are the National Co-ordinators of the Scottish Executive's Read Together initiative and run The Pushkin Prizes, a creative writing competition for Scottish pupils in their first and second year at secondary school. They also administer the Blue Peter Book Awards on behalf of the BBC.

To download tip-sheet 3 please click this link

To download tip-sheet 3a please click this link 

Work in Progress

Work in Progress is a  unique critical assessment scheme for writers that provides free, impartial, anonymous, critical feed-back on work in progress. Originally established for writers living in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland, the scheme has now started a nationwide pilot project offering writers of poetry and work for children the chance to have their work assessed.

Work in Progress provides writers with an assessment report on their work completed by one of a specially selected panel of Scotland’s major writers and agents including, where appropriate, feed-back on potential markets and publishing opportunities.

Work in Progress is open to writers of fiction, poetry and non-fiction for adults and children, writing in English, Scots or Gaelic, living in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. Writers of poetry and work for children currently living in Scotland can now also access the scheme as part of the national Words@Work programme.

Work in Progress is free of charge to use, but places are limited. Full guidance notes, terms and conditions are available for download at the bottom of this page.

Masterclass 2009

The Masterclass is a week long, residential writing course for the most promising writers from the Highlands and Islands region, aimed at providing an intensive follow-on - or second-stage - opportunity for writers who use our core writing developement services.

The Masterclass gives writers the chance to write, a seminar programme with leading writers, 1-2-1 sessions with assessors and with the literary agency, Jenny Brown Associates.

Details of Masterclass 2009 will be posted on this site in Autumn 2008. 

Database of writers

HI~Arts is keen to build up a database that is as comprehensive as possible of writers, and those involved in working with and supporting writers, in the Highlands and Islands.  If you  would like to be included in the HI~Arts database, please click here.
 

Writers' Professional Development Scheme

This Awards scheme can offer grants of up to £500.  Its purpose is to support writers based in the Highlands and Islands by helping to support initiatives which will assist them to develop and extend their own personal practice. The guidelines and application form are available for download at the end of the page. If you experience problems downloading the information send a request, together with full contact details, to Maggie Dunlop, Funding & Liaison Manager at maggie@hi-arts.co.uk.
 

Writer Surgeries

HI~Arts programme of Writer Surgeries enables writers across the Highlands and Islands to have an hour-long, one-to-one session with HI~Arts Writing Development Coordinator, Peter Urpeth to discuss the development of their work, funding and other training opportunities both in the region and nationally.

All surgeries are free but must be pre-booked with Peter Urpeth, either by phone on 01463 717091, or via e-mail: peter@hi-arts.co.uk

Next Surgery Dates -

Please contact Peter Urpeth

To download any of the files below, click on the name of the file and not the Adobe Reader or Word icon