Partners

Paper Nations

Paper Nations is a creative writing incubator. We commission writers in the South West of England to create new work, nurture communities of support, and create partnerships to showcase new writing internationally.

Paper Nations is led by Bath Spa University’s TRACE centre (The Research Centre for Transnational Creativity and Education). We work in partnership with Bath Spa University’s Creative Writing Faculty and Institute for Education, Bath Festivals, the National Association of Writers in Education, StoryHive and a thriving community of local schools and arts organisations. Paper Nations is supported by Arts Council England, Bath Spa University and Investors in Writing.

In 2016-18 Paper Nations worked under the Creative Writing in Schools Fund by Arts Council England. The Creative Writing in Schools programme aimed to inspire young people to write creatively and for pleasure. ACE set up this programme in response to concerns about a lack of creative writing opportunities in schools, and the impact this could have on children and young people’s creativity and cultural education.

StoryHive

StoryHive is a media production and publishing house that creates platforms that blend books, games and films with real-life experiences. Book Kernel is an imprint/platform of StoryHive with a focus on creating ‘living’ books. StoryHive began its life in 2013 through a collaboration with Book Kernel and Professor Alexis Nouss from Cardiff University. The collaboration was made possible through the REACT Books and Print scheme which aimed to bring together Creative Enterprises with Universities. Book Kernel provides a unique ethos and approach to celebrating the ever-evolving relationship between living, speaking, writing and making books.

Since 2016, StoryHive has been collaborating with Bath Spa University and Paper Nations to embed the principles of Book Kernel into the programme. Dare to Write? is one of the key results of this collaboration.

TRACE

The Research Centre for Transnational Creativity and Education (TRACE) is based at Bath Spa University. TRACE’s purpose is to develop research that enables creativity and learning across borders. TRACE believes that everyone can innovate and everyone benefits when research is accessible to all. To this end, TRACE works hard to find ways to work with individuals and groups that feel excluded from major cultural, creative and educational institutions. TRACE continually aims to inspire innovation and establish a greater physical presence in local communities, with the priority on maintaining positive and empowering relationships with all collaborators whether individuals, communities or organisations.

Bath Spa University

Bath Spa is an ambitious, enterprising and supportive university. The university aims to be a vibrant and well-connected centre for new ideas, with a local and international profile for creativity, culture and enterprise in research.

Bath Festivals

Bath Festivals is a charity that brings some of the finest international musicians, speakers and writers to entertain audiences in the beautiful venues and spaces of the world heritage city of Bath. By creating innovative and diverse programmes, our festivals inspire and provide unique experiences for residents and visitors to Bath.