Dr Natalie Scott

I am a writer and educator from the north east of England. My first poetry collection Berth – Voices of the Titanic (Bradshaw Books, 2012) was awarded runner-up in the Cork Literary Review Manuscript Competition 2011, and received Arts Council funding to create a theatrical adaptation. My pamphlet Brushed (Mudfog, 2009) features ‘Victorine or Naked Woman in Manet’s ‘Le Déjeuner sur L’herbe’, awarded finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition 2009. Poems from my pamphlet Frayed (Indigo Dreams, 2016) were commissioned by Vivid Theatre for their production Just Checking, and ‘Fog’ was Highly Commended in the Hastings International Poetry Competition 2012.

My latest collection Rare Birds – Voices of Holloway Prison (Valley Press, 2020) was awarded a Research and Development grant from the Arts Council of England, and features my poem ‘Colonel Barker’, longlisted for the Live Canon Poetry Competition 2018, and ‘Katie Gliddon’, Highly Commended in the Yaffle Poetry Prize 2019. Poems from this collection were commissioned by Apples and Snakes to feature in a podcast to celebrate Vote 100. Rare Birds received a further ACE award to create a theatrical adaptation which was workshopped with a team of award-winning West End actors and composers and showcased at the Soho Theatre in London.

My poems have featured in over forty UK and international journals and anthologies, including Agenda, Ambit, Dream Catcher, English in Education, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Live Canon, Orbis, Poetry Scotland, South Magazine and York Literary Review.

I teach on the BA (Hons) Creative Writing Course at AUB, specialising in poetry and playwriting. I am Unit Leader for Writing Life1: The Writer's Toolkit and Poetry: Fundamentals. In 2020 I created and project-managed the AUB International Poetry Prize which was judged by T.S. Eliot shortlisted poet Glyn Maxwell and attracted over 300 entries from 17 countries in its inaugural year.

In addition to my teaching role at AUB, I am an experienced workshop leader and facilitate writing sessions for a range of diverse community groups, including those living with dementia, vulnerable women, excluded children and adults with special educational needs. I have previous experience of teaching and examining at further and higher education level, and also offer a mentoring service to new writers.

In 2020 I was awarded credentials in the field of Writing for Therapeutic Purposes as a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator, having trained under the mentorship of registered poetry therapist Victoria Field. This post-graduate programme consists of 440 hours of self-directed experiential study through facilitation of workshops, supervision from a qualified poetry therapist, peer learning and didactic study. In 2016, I established my writing for wellbeing initiative Pen Power.

I was a member of the Senior Examining Team for AQA’s Creative Writing A Level for the course’s duration from 2012 – 2019. I have delivered presentations in Creative Writing at the National Association for Writers in Education (NAWE) Conferences in Bristol and Durham, and completed academic research commissioned by Lapidus International.