University of Birmingham confirms 3 years of support for National Writers’ Conference
The University of Birmingham has confirmed it will continue its support for the annual National Writers’ Conference, run by Writing West Midlands. Previously The Writers’ Toolkit, The National Writers’ Conference is the annual focus for writers in the Midlands and beyond, attracting over 150 people to spend a day in Birmingham learning about the writing industry.
Since 2014, the Bramall at the University of Birmingham has hosted the National Writers’ Conference. The University of Birmingham has provided the Bramall for free, as in-kind sponsorship, and has just confirmed that it will continue its sponsorship for the next three years from 2018 to 2020 inclusive.
Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive of Writing West Midlands, said:
“I’m delighted to have such long-term commitment from the University of Birmingham. Over the last few years the Conference has become national rather than just regional (a change we felt the need to reflect in its name) and 32% of our speakers and participants in the most recent Conference were from beyond the region. The range of speakers has broadened and included representatives of many important organisations, including the BBC, Arts Council England, British Council, The Literary Consultancy as well as publishers, agents and leading writers and policymakers. The Bramall and the University of Birmingham campus are the perfect home for the National Writers’ Conference, and I’m very excited to be programming next year’s knowing that we can rely on the University’s support once again.”
The next National Writers’ Conference is on Saturday 30 June 2018 and booking will open in April 2018.