Sixteen young writers created original content over four days for the inaugural Fighting Words NI Summer Camp.
The Sumer Camp Showcase was supported through the Community Relation Council’s Small Grants Scheme.
As this pilot project was the first ever Camp, Hannah Armstrong from Fighting Words was keen to deliver a range of writing genres “a bit like a taster menu.”
Hannah said, “We wanted to give young people the opportunity to explore freely and find out what they enjoyed.”
The project offered four writing genres over four days, with space for sixteen participants. The daily schedule involved prose, song writing, screenwriting, and world-building for games.
“We envisioned a project that would bring together young people from across Belfast, and around Northern Ireland, to explore a common interest,” Hannah said. “We decided to run the summer camp using two venues – our space in the Skainos Centre and Banana Block – to nurture and celebrate the writing talents of young people.”
The courage to share
It takes the utmost courage to share the first draft of a work with a group – this being one of the many highlight moments that Hannah was proud of.
She said: “The writers rose spectacularly to the occasion, and it was a pleasure to listen as they shared their work – short stories were read, songs and screenplays performed, and we were walked through the worlds they’d created as video games. It was brilliant to see the warm reception and celebration of family and friends and we felt very proud of what the writers had achieved over the four days.”
Other highlights ranged from moments of playful collaboration to how friendships were forming over the Camp.
“The absolute highlight, for me, was the showcase.,” Hannah said. “There were a lot of unknowns up until the last moment– each day was a dip into a new world of writing and we didn’t know who would want to share what until the four days were complete.”
Sustainability issues
Awareness of sustainability, equality and peacebuilding were all themes that influenced the writing process and the overall tone of the Camp.
Hannah explained: “This year’s campers demonstrated an amazing awareness of the issues of the day – sustainability, equality, peace. These came out particularly clearly on day two of camp, when participants explored the genre of the protest song.”
The summer camp was funded entirely by the Community Relations Council.
“CRC’s support enabled us to recruit participants from across Belfast (and further afield) and offer participation free of charge,” Hannah said. “We worked with professional facilitators who crafted each session to create a safe place for the writers to take creative risks. We provided writing materials and lunch each day for participants. We ran a showcase event in Banana Block’s What’s the Story? space, where the spirit of the camp was captured by a professional photographer.”
More camps to come
After the success of this inaugural camp, Fighting Words is planning two more camps over the upcoming academic year. The next camp will take place during the Hallowe’en holidays and another in planned for Easter. Both camps will explore one genre, allowing participants to dive in deeply and find what it is they want to bring to the world.
Find out more info about upcoming events here: http://fightingwords.co.uk
It’s thanks to the support of amazing donors like the Community Relations Council that we’re able to spread the word about what is possible.”
Hilary Copeland, Director, Fighting Words NI