Writers Panel

A writer can mean being a novelist, a journalist, a poet and a playwright all in one career! Join us to talk with four industry professionals as they share the ups and downs of their careers so far and impart tips on how to get started. 

Hosting the panel, we have Charlie Swinbourne (The Limping Chicken) along with Mike Bartlett (Bull, King Charles III), Nadia Nadarajah (Can I Start Again Please) and Sahera Khan (FAITH).

This free Zoom event is for anyone thinking of developing their writing skills or wondering how to advance their career. 

This is also an opportunity for young people to learn more about playwriting specifically and ask any questions during the live Q+A at the end of the panel. 

When: Thursday 22^nd July 

Time: 6pm - 7.30pm

Price: Free

Book here

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Panellists

Charlie Swinbourne  

(HOST) 

Charlie is an RTS award winning scriptwriter often making TV programmes with sign language and deaf culture at their core. He has written for Casualty, Jimmy McGovern's Moving On, CBBC's Princess Mirror-Belle and created a long-term storyline and new deaf character for EastEnders. He won an RTS Yorkshire Writer award in 2018 for his six-part sketch show Deaf Funny, which he also directed. Charlie is also a journalist and has written for The Guardian and BBC Online as well as running a deaf blog The Limping Chicken.

 

Mike Bartlett

 Mike is a multi-award-winning writer for both stage and screen. Having begun his career in theatre, he’s picked up numerous awards for his plays, including Olivier Awards for King Charles III (best new play, 2015), Bull (Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, 2015) and Cock (Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, 2010).

His first foray into television, The Town, earned him a BAFTA Breakthrough Talent nomination. Then in 2015 he caused a sensation with his smash hit mini- series Doctor Foster. The first series was BAFTA nominated for Best Mini- Series and Best Writer in 2015, Best New Drama at the 2016 National Television Awards, Best Drama Series at the 2016 Broadcast Awards, and Outstanding Newcomer for British Television Writing at the British Screenwriting Awards. The second series went on to win Best Drama at the National Television Awards in 2018. Mike’s TV adaptation of his play King Charles III was released in 2017, and was BAFTA nominated for Best Single Drama.

Mike’s 6-part mini-series Life (Drama Republic), starring Alison Steadman and Victoria Hamilton premiered on BBC in Autumn 2020. His other recent original TV work includes Sticks and Stones (Tall Story Pictures/ITV, 2019), Press (Lookout Point/BBC, 2018) and Trauma (ITV, 2018).

 

Sahera Khan 

 Sahera is a Muslim artist, deaf and a BSL user. As a writer, actor, poet, filmmaker and YouTuber she has created solo shows, videos and live performances, and has also presented for BSL Zone. 

She was part of Deafinitely Theatre’s Writers Hub Play project in 2016 and recently received a Deaf Freelancers Bursary from the company to develop a new play called No Words.

Sahera recently created a new BSL storytelling version of Am I Dulhan (A Bride) Yet?, supported by Talawa x Graeae Collective 2019 and Artistic Director Jenny Sealey. She has worked with Wonky Table Theatre at the Victoria and Albert Museum in a pop-up performance The Fruit and Vegetable Olympics in 2019. Her short film Faith won awards including Best Storyline Award at New Zealand Deaf Short Film Festival May 2020, Critics’ Choice Award of LGBT Film at Tagore International Film Festival May 2020, Kat Award Winner Best Film in a Language other than English at Together! December 2020 Disability Film Festival, Best Message Award at Top Indie Film Awards Film Awards for the Winter 2020 Edition and was Nominated for Jury Award Best Film at Papaya Rocks Film Festival 2021. 

She performed on stage at the BSL Poetry Slam, as a storyteller, and in The Message at the Palace Theatre, Redditch. She recently performed a monologue Gone Not Forgotten at Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Her most recent storytelling project, The Cockerel and the Fox, was funded by Foundation for Future London. Sahera’s latest production was musical The Throwaways (2020) with Lambert Jackson Productions.

Khan is a Trustee of the Deaf Ethnic Women’s Association. 

Nadia Nadarajah 

Nadia is an actor and writer mostly known for her monologues that are performed in BSL. On the back of winning the Edinburgh Fringe Award 2015, for her show with and written by Sue MacLaine, Can I Start Again Please toured for two years and inspired Nadia to begin writing in earnest. Her monologues have also featured in the play Signs of the Life (Watermill Theatre, 2021) and in short films Meet At The Edge (2021) and Unviable (WoW Festival, 2021). 

In 2010, she wrote a short film All Day, which screened at Deaffest (UK, 2010), New York Festival and 16th Annual Hartford Jewish Film Festival (Hartford, 2012). And won awards at The International Disability Film Festival (Russia 2010), Seattle Deaf Film Festival (Seattle, 2011)

During the first and third lockdown, Nadia joined Deafinitely Theatre’s Hub writers’ course in partnership with the Royal Court. Most recently, her one-woman show was presented at Derby Theatre in July 2021, with the full production coming soon.