Vintage crockery company Dormouse and The Teapot are to hold a series of craft and writing workshops throughout June and August at their space - Kitschen at Woodend Mill, Lancashire.

Within the ambiance of an old fashioned parlour, workshop attendees will take part in the three hour sessions led by expert crafters and published writers. They will make lovely crafted items to take away or learn new writing skills, followed by tea and cake served on Dormouse and The Teapot’s trademark mismatched vintage china.

Craft sessions include Love to sew? (shabby chic hearts and corsages) led by Julie Utratny and Airborne Gorgeousness (mobile making) by Sally Fort. Among the writers are Hawthornden Fellow Ian Parks and TV Screenwriter Helen Farrall.

Craft workshops are £20 and writing workshops £30. Each person who books a place before 28 May will be entered into a draw to win a Dormouse and The Teapot - two person afternoon tea set worth £32!

For full details of workshops and to book a place visit the website at www.dormouseandtheteapot.com.

Pics: Emma Fozard’s concertina books
Sally Fort’s mobiles
Kitschen, Woodend Mill, Lancashire.

A new zine is coming to Manchester. An Apathetical Reader is ‘an online magazine revolving around and interacting with the community - a forum for Manchester’s displaced, disheartened and disillusioned individuals that aims to question the meaning of apathy and the effect it has on those around us’.

The creators are currently seeking contributors. Whether your thing is writing (features, articles, poetry or prose) or if you’re into art, illustration or photography, this could be an outlet for your work.

Keep your eye on the Facebook Group. And there’s a meeting planned for 22 April at The Chapel Social Centre, Platt Chapel, 187 Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, Manchester. All welcome!

When I got home from work last night my favourite magazine was waiting on the doormat. Mslexia is magazine for women with an interest in writing. It’s packed full of new writing, features and interviews and offers a wealth of tips and advice for getting your work into print.

I was thrilled to see a small mention of Indie Quarter in their submissions section.

You can visit the Mslexia website at www.mslexia.co.uk. And read their blog at http://mslexia.wordpress.com.

Just recently I’ve received a number of requests from writers and writing-related organisations. The latest is from Carissa Halston, who quote rightly pointed out that writers are often missing from indie-related sites and blogs. After all, writers are artists too. I have therefore added a brand new category devoted entirely to wordsmiths, scribes, poets and new writing projects. And you can find a number of writing-related blogs and projects in our blogroll.

Going back to the talented Ms Halston, her novel, ‘A Girl Named Charlie Lester’, was honourably mentioned at the New York Book Festival last year and two of her shorter pieces of fiction have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Carissa also creates text-based art, which can be purchased along with her books through her Etsy store.

The CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow) is launching a new quarterly publication dedicated to creative writing. Edited by Francis McKee and Louise Shelley, each issue will feature new work, as well as work commissioned specially for the publication.

I’m currently working with the CCA as part of an audience development internship, helping get their message out to as wide an audience as possible. The new publication, which is called ‘2HB‘ is one of the CCA’s innovative side-projects, and the first issue will be launched officially on the 7th March 09. The publication is a totally new project and has arisen from the editors’ own interests in creative writing.

Submissions from interested writers are welcomed. The selection process will focus on creative writing or fiction with a critical awareness or issues. Subjects for future issues include eroticism, sci-fi, philosophical fiction, art as writing and detective fiction, but work beyond these suggestions will be considered.

So far the response has been fantastic, with artists and writers keen to get involved with this project, and excited by the concept. It makes my work so enjoyable to be involved in such an interesting and creative project.

For further information please visit www.cca-glasgow.com

This month sees the launch of Soup - an anthology bringing together Manchester writing and illustrating talent. The organisers are inviting submissions for creative prose - whether its stories, articles, essays, diatribes or opinion pieces - which will be passed to an artist to respond to the pieces. Artists and illustrators are also encouraged to get in touch and submit examples of their work.

To submit, you need to be between the ages of 20 and 25 and currently live in Greater Manchester.

For more information on submission guidelines go to www.soup-anthology.blogspot.com.