Since its founding in 2015 by Newcastle-based authors, Ed Wright and Wendy James, The Creative Wordshop has taught writing to adults and children in the Hunter and beyond. Together with quality collaborators such as kids’ book author Jess Black, we have conducted workshops for thousands of primary and secondary students in local schools, at the Newcastle Writers Festival, at the opening of the Barangaroo Park in Sydney and at the Royal Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Our school holiday and after school Creative Writing Workshops for kids continue to grow in popularity. Ed’s English Tutoring and exam workshops have helped many students improve their English results.
Our adult courses have proven popular and helpful for writers. More than a few of our writing students have enjoyed first publication as a result of our classes, while several have found publishers for their books. With a two-book deal and a three day a week job in Sydney, Wendy stepped out of the business, and while her presence has been missed, we have been lucky to feature talented Newcastle-based writers such as Jess Black, Vanessa Bates, Rosemarie Milsom, Ivy Ireland, David Kelly, Maggie Ball and Jenny Blackford as guest teachers, all of them published writers.