Ellen Phethean works a as a sound artist and poet, playwright and editor and has broadcast her poetry on Women's Hour, Loose Ends (Radio 4), Poetry Proms (Radio 3) and Radio Newcastle. In 1996 she won an Arts Council/BBC North writing award to develop a long sound/text poem about the West End of Newcastle 'Witnessing Westgate Hill' for radio which was broadcast on Stanza, Radio 4 in July 1997.

Ellen also works with The Poetry Virgins, a women's performance poetry group. They have three collections 'Modern Goddess', 'Modern Riddles' (Diamond Twig Press) and 'Sauce'(Bloodaxe Books). She also runs Diamond Twig Press which promotes and publishes new writing by women in the North.

Ellen had been appointed as a writer for Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books and Writing on the Wall as able to link its work with this project, as a collaboration which benefited all parties.

Ellen developed the project ‘Penning People and Place’ which gave her the scope to explore and document the lives and stories of the people who live in Byker. She ran writing workshops with young people, some of which were identified as socially excluded, and created a new work in the form of a narrative poem entitled Wall. Wall was finally produced as a long verse which incorporated texts produced from the community workshops. It was read by young people at a well attended reading at the new building for Seven Stories in Ouseburn, Newcastle.

Photo Credit: Snela Solanki

About a Wall pdf