A six-month long creative writing project for LGBTQ+ people and allies is underway.

Hear Me Now welcomes Isle of Wight writers of all abilities, and includes free writing workshops, inspiring walks and inclusive talks organised to grow a supportive writing community.

Funded by Arts Council England, Hear Me Now is hosted by Anmarie Bowler, who is the editor/founder of Brevity, The Isle of Wight’s Literary Handbill, in collaboration with StoneCrabs Theatre.

Brevity is a six-times yearly literary zine that features submissions of 500-words or less from Island writers.

The new project aims to inspire local writers, urging them to find and celebrate their unique writers’ voices within the safe, welcoming spaces of the workshops, walks and talks.

Learning from a variety of diverse writers and creatives, Hear Me Now seeks to introduce participants to short-form fiction, while inspiring them with compelling, inclusive and bold points of view.

There will be one-to-one mentoring on offer and short work created will be considered for publication in the print edition of Brevity or on the Brevity website.

Hear Me Now events

Anmarie Bowler and award-winning short story writer, novelist and lecturer Emily Bullock will lead the first workshop in Ryde on April 30, at 6pm.

George Budden, London-based LGBTQ+ photographer who recently completed a creative residency at Dimbola, will lead an walk in the West Wight on May 25, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.

Author Katie Daysh will lead a Writing Historical Fiction workshop in Newport on June 8, from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

On July 13, from 11am to 2pm, Island  creatives Tracy Mikich and Teresa Grimaldi will lead a print workshop at Boojum & Snark in Sandown. Participants will design and print a one-off Hear Me Now broadsheet. The publication will be made available to the public during IW Pride.

In July, Niall Moorjanni, a non-binary, neurodiverse Scottish-Indian writer and storyteller will give a Hear Me Now talk and perform at Ventnor Fringe.

There are also plans for a walk/talk at The National Trust’s Mottistone Manor and Gardens where participants will be inspired by the lives of mid-20th century architects and partners Paul Paget and John Seely who worked together to restore Mottistone Manor.

The Hear Me Now project will wrap up with StoneCrabs Theatre co-producing a public performance of selected short stories, and audio recordings.

To find out more, email Caroline Diamond at caroline@stonecrabs.co.uk