Courses & Workshops

‘Amanda manages to create an inclusive group that allows each participant to achieve their own goals. Each writer is valued and their work celebrated – everyone is given the opportunity to learn and to contribute.’

WEA Creative Writing Student

I’ve been teaching creative writing since 2015 and have delivered courses and workshops online and in community centres, libraries, museums, galleries, day centres, and schools across North East England to inspire and support people to write. I’m particularly interested in helping people benefit from being creative in their everyday lives and my sessions are designed to be enjoyable as well as inspiring.

I’m a qualified adult education tutor, having gained a Level 3 Award in Education and Training (NCFE) in 2015. I have an enhanced DBS certificate and Public Liability Insurance and I’m a professional member of the National Association of Writers in Education. I’ve completed Emergency First Aid at Work and First Aid for Mental Health (Level 2) training and a six-week course in how to facilitate Writing for Wellbeing groups.

Please contact me if you’d like me to run a course or workshop or to talk or read at an event. You can find out about my upcoming courses and workshops on my news page. For more about my work in schools and with children and young people see my schools and young people page. I also offer a mentoring and critique service for anyone who would like one-to-one support with their writing.

Talking about my teaching for The Cultural Spring in Sunderland and South Tyneside

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

I’ve worked with a wide range of groups and organisations. Here’s a list of my current and previous projects, workshops, and creative writing courses:

Projects/Commissions:

  • Jesmond Library Writer in Residence (October 2023-March 2023). Read my blog post introducing my residency here.
  • Group leader for New Writing North Newbiggin Hall Creates Writing Group (October 2022-ongoing).
  • Helix Arts Artists’ Agency – selected for artists’ development programme in the Newcastle Culture and Creative Zone involving a 12-week training course to develop skills to develop and manage participatory arts projects (July-September 2023).
  • Art With Purpose – One of 60 artists involved in Junction Point CIC project exploring how art can be used to tackle local issues by connecting artists and the voluntary and community sector (September 2023).
  • Front of house work at Hexham Book Festival, including as a guide for Deception Island – an immersive poetry, sound and film experience which took place inside a replica 1950s Antarctic hut (June 2022).
  • Artist Practitioner for Paul Hamlyn Teacher Development Fund MaGPiE Project with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (2019-2021).
  • Digi_Transform – selected by New Writing North/Creative Fuse North East to take part in a digital development programme for writers (2018). You can read more about my experiences on this programme here. You can also watch a film about the project here.
  • Lit and Phil Young Writers Awards Mentor (2015).
  • Judge for Hysteria Writing Competition (2014).
Picture of Amanda Quinn from Digi_Transform film.

Talking about Digi_Transform

Workshops:

  • Short Story Craft workshop at The Biscuit Factory Gallery (November 2023).
  • The Art of Flash Fiction workshop at the The Biscuit Factory Gallery (October 2023).
  • MOTHEROTHER – workshop on stimulating ideas, free writing, and communal poetry for community social event (September 2023).
  • Creative Writing Kickstart one-day workshop at The Biscuit Factory Gallery (September 2023).
  • Collage Stories drop-in workshop for Newcastle Libraries as part of the Welcome to Your Library Event for Refugee Week (June 2023).
  • Fallow workshop on how creating and viewing visual art can inspire writing for the Women Poets’ Network (May 2023).
  • Drop-in Creative Writing taster for young writers aged 9+ at Hexham Book Festival (April 2023).
  • Drop-in writing session for children and adults as part of family fun day at Galafield Youth Centre in Newbiggin Hall (December 2022).
  • Creative Writing Taster for Ukrainian people making their home in Newcastle for Newcastle City Council Arts Team (September 2022).
  • ‘Picture This’ online workshop on how creating and viewing visual art can inspire writing for the Crow Collective (July 2022).
  • Series of three workshops with a KS2 class at Newburn Manor Primary School which looked at how to take notice of and write about the local area as well as looking at how to use this real-life experience to create fiction (March 2022).
  • Workshop on life writing for the Northumberland Federation of Women’s Institutes (March 2022).
  • Creative Writing taster for wellbeing group at Cornerstones (Chester le Street Methodist Church (March 2022).
  • Workshops for the Northern Writers Studio Summer School on Ways Into Writing (with Sarah Davy) and Micro-fiction (August 2022).
  • Series of writing workshops at Fenham Allotments/online to engage and support people in recovery as part of Nicola Lynch’s Fenham Recovery Garden residency (November 2021).
  • Poetry workshop for International Women’s Day event at WHiST, South Shields (March 2019).
  • ‘Brief Encounters: Writing and teaching flash fiction’ workshop at the National Association of Writers in Education Conference 2018.
  • Delivered series of six writing workshops to help adults, children and young people respond creatively to the SEAM exhibition at Newcastle Mining Institute (June-August 2018).
  • ‘Postcard Stories’ – stall at the Great Exhibition of the North Family Expo to encourage children and young people to write and read flash fiction (August 2018).
  • Lead writer for the Durham Cuckoo Young Writers group looking at short fiction (June-July 2017).
  • Workshop on flash fiction for Lit and Phil open day (2017).
  • Northern Butterflies (Cramlington) – working with adults with learning difficulties to develop their writing and storytelling abilities (Jan-April 2017).
  • Workshop on flash fiction for Books on Tyne at Lit and Phil (2016).
  • Creative Writing Taster Session at Women’s Health in South Tyneside (2016).
  • Workshop on flash fiction for New Writing North Creative Writing for Teachers programme (2015).
  • Want to write but don’t know where to start? – workshop for beginner writers for Books on Tyne at Newcastle City Library (2015).
  • Workshops on short fiction for New Writing North Young Writers City programme (2015).
  • Workshop on flash fiction for North Pens Writing Group (2015).
Coloured sheets spelling out 'What Makes You Happy' surrounded by paper hearts.

Finding out what makes Newbiggin Hall happy at a drop-in event

Creative Writing Courses:

  • Hexham Young Writers 11-13 course at the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre (June 2023-ongoing).
  • Online creative writing courses for The Cultural Spring (November 2020-ongoing).
  • Monthly Gather Creative Writing Group for Northern Writers Studio (January 2022-ongoing). I now run Gather independently – find out more about Gather here.
  • Hexham Young Writers course at the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre (October 2022-May 2023).
  • Online Creative Writing Course for RT Projects, a mental health charity that uses art as a tool to give people resilience and a creative outlet (March-May 2021).
  • Online creative writing courses for the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) (March 2020-December 2023).
  • Face-to-face WEA Creative Writing courses at various venues including Newcastle Mining Institute, Brunswick Methodist Church, Morpeth Methodist Church, South Shields Museum, Washington MIND, Shiney Advice and Resource Project, and Blyth Resource Centre (2015-2020).
  • WEA Creative Storytelling at Washington Resource Centre – working with adults with learning disabilities to encourage them to write, tell and draw stories (2015-2017).
  • Creative Writing at Women’s Health in South Tyneside (WHiST) (2016-2020).
  • ‘Happy Jotters’ Writing Class at Gateshead Carers (2015-2018).
Collection of small hand drawn pictures.

Communal poem written on WEA Creative Storytelling Course for adults with learning disabilities

 

‘I had such a wonderful and relaxing time – it was an amazing course.’

WEA Online Taster Session Student

 

‘A positive, encouraging and supportive atmosphere in which to discover your own creativity.’

WEA Creative Writing Course Student

 

Slips of paper with lines of poetry on each.

Writing a poem together at WHiST

‘Really inspirational thank you – I felt the drawing really freed me up for writing.’

Women Poets’ Network Fallow Session Attendee

 

Note with, 'Do you think he thought it was parsley?' written on it.

Writing first lines at a WEA Creative Writing Course

‘A delightful, easy-going introduction to writing in a friendly environment.’

Workshop participant – Books on Tyne

 

Table with glue, magazines, and pens.

Collage at Newbiggin Hall Creates Writing Group