{"id":1609,"date":"2024-11-30T23:05:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T23:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/?page_id=1609"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:25:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:25:46","slug":"a-brief-history-of-the-nethergate-writers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/?page_id=1609","title":{"rendered":"A Brief History of the Nethergate Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nethergate Writers are Dundee\u2019s most prolific writing group. Founded in 2007<\/strong>, as the publishing arm of Esther Read\u2019s \u2018Continuing as a Writer\u2019 extramural courses at the University of Dundee, we have been an independent writing group since 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have published eleven anthologies of short stories and poetry, each with a particular theme. The first volume, Turn Back the Cover <\/em>(2007) is set in the Queens Hotel in the Nethergate. Published in the year of the Scottish Homecoming<\/em> (2008), Roots <\/em>consists of historical tales set in Angus, Fife or Dundee. A sense of place pervades If Stones Could Speak<\/em> (2009) which consists of stories set in the landscapes of Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perthshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In 2010<\/strong>, readers were canvassed to name a character and a dilemma and Nethergate Writers wrote a story around the minimal words supplied. This was published as WhodunWhat<\/em> (2010). All the readers who had suggested a topic which was taken up were given a free copy of the book. Following an invitation to a private viewing of the museum and art collection of the McManus in Dundee, the group wrote pieces inspired by specific exhibits, which was published as A Private View <\/em>(2011) and contains photographs of the artefacts used in the stories. The book was sold in our usual outlet Waterstones, as well as in the McManus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The 2012 <\/strong>publication tried a novel approach of using \u2018story wheels\u2019 to reflect the interconnection of our lives. The protagonist in one story became a minor character in a second story in that wheel. There are on average, five stories per wheel and five different wheels in Wheels Within Wheels. A collaboration with the Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience (CECHR) at the University of Dundee led to a collection of stories and poems about climate change in A Long Way from Eden<\/em> (2013), illustrated with the art work of Jean Duncan RUA, artist in residence at CECHR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In 2014<\/strong>, the theme was the River Tay and features work set in various locations along its watercourse. This extended the range of our sales and bookshops in Aberfeldy and Dunkeld also stocked Watermarks. The launch also featured in the then Dundee Literary Festival: Watermarks – YouTube as was A Long Way from Eden<\/em> previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Esther Read retired after the publication of Just the Job in 2015<\/strong>, that features stories set in workplaces and occupations around Tayside. For a couple of years, the group was taught by local author Zoe Venditozzi, before forming a self-directed, independent group. We rapidly learned the knack of self-publishing and 50 Shades of Tay followed<\/em> in 2018<\/strong>, which is a series of fifty-word stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


With the success of that publication, a more ambitious project resulted in the 113-page book The Low Road<\/em> (2021), which contains stories set around Dundee\u2019s Nethergate in the past, present and future. The group survived lockdown by moving temporarily to Zoom. Now we are happily based at the congenial St Andrews Brewing Company behind the Caird Hall in Dundee, although writers on their travels also join us by Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years the group have performed public readings and book launches, have taken part in the Bookmark Literary Festival in Blairgowrie, performed at the Creative Dundee PechaKucha Nights, held book sales to support aid for Ukraine and still thrive on collaborations with other agencies. A recent one was with the Pitlochry Festival Theatre in which members described their memories of Tayside: Archive of Memories<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In 2020<\/strong>, as part of the #PFTLightHopeJoy project, group members wrote stories on this theme and the stories were read and recorded by PFT actors and posted on Soundcloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Now<\/strong>, in our forthcoming twelfth fiction collection, the writers have imaginatively addressed ways in which AI might affect our lives\u2026and loves. We really are a writing group for the future…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Roddie McKenzie, Chairperson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nethergate Writers are Dundee\u2019s most prolific writing group. Founded in 2007, as the publishing arm of Esther Read\u2019s \u2018Continuing as a Writer\u2019 extramural courses at the University of Dundee, we have been an independent writing group since 2018. We have published eleven anthologies of short stories and poetry, each with a particular theme. The first… Read More »A Brief History of the Nethergate Writers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1609","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1609"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1782,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1609\/revisions\/1782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}