Date/Time: NEW DATE! Wednesday 10th May 2023, 2pm to 4pm

Venue: Newcastle University

Please note this event is open to Newcastle University students only.

THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED. If you would like to join the waiting list please email Melanie.Birch@ncl.ac.uk

Want to work in the media, get published, write for screen or stage, develop ideas or present for TV? Don’t know where to start? Come ask your questions and hear from four industry rising stars ready to share all their secrets about how to get started, and what you need to do to succeed.

Publishing: Mo Hafeez is the commissioning editor for Guardian Faber, an imprint of Faber & Faber. He started his publishing career as a trainee at Granta Books before joining Faber & Faber as an editorial assistant in November 2019, working across the publisher’s general non-fiction, music and popular culture lists. He has worked with authors such as Jason Okundaye, Kae Tempest, Michael Pedersen, Kate Molleson, William Atkins, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Matthew Green.

Script Writing: Karim Khan is a screenwriter and playwright. His award-winning 2022 play Brown Boys Swim completed a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to London’s Soho Theatre. He wrote an episode for All Creatures Great & Small Series 3, and is currently writing episodes for two new shows for the BBC. He’s a graduate of the NFTS’ Screenwriting MA, and has run playwriting workshops for Newcastle’s Live Theatre. He is currently a Pillars Artist Fellow supported by Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Films.

Broadcast Journalism: De-Graft Mensah is one of the presenters on CBBC’s ‘Newsround’, championing and telling incredible stories for the children of the UK. His knowledge and passion for all things entertainment has led him to sit down with some of the biggest names in music and film such as Sean Paul, Ella Mai, Dwayne Johnson and Chris Pratt to name a few. In 2020 he produced and presented a special ‘Newsround’ edition about racism following the murder of George Floyd - a programme which was hailed for its sensitivity and openness. De-Graft also has a short documentary for ‘Newsround’ coming out on the history of the British Empire and the lessons to be learnt. His BBC Radio 1Xtra podcast ‘If You Don’t Know’ has been described as a safe space for Black topical conversation and current affairs, as well as being an entertaining listen.

TV Production: Anna Phillips is a development executive at Rollem, a Leeds based independent production company making high quality drama series for the BBC and ITV. She supports their existing projects as well as seeking new projects from writers with original and innovative ideas. Anna started working at Rollem through the Channel 4 Production Training Scheme. Before joining Rollem she worked as a rotational Trainee and Production Designer PA at Netflix. Anna has a background in theatre, training as an actor and facilitator at the National Youth Theatre, where she served as a Youth Trustee.

Preti Taneja is Director of NCLA and Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing at Newcastle University.

This event is now being held on Wednesday 10th May 2023, rather than as previously advertised 22nd March 2023.

THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED. If you would like to join the waiting list please email Melanie.Birch@ncl.ac.uk