WRITE Festival 2021

WRITE Festival will return for its 5th year with a week-long programme from 17-25 September! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s WRITE Festival was delivered digitally with a series of online events. This year, the festival returns to once again celebrate the written word in all its forms with a programme of unmissable events, workshops and performances at The Word, across South Tyneside Libraries and online.

See the full programme of events and book your tickets today to avoid disappointment! Tickets can booked online or in person at Shop @ The Word.

Find out more about WRITE Festival

Wild World Heroes Summer Reading Challenge

From Saturday 10 July children can sign up at The Word and start taking part in the Wild World Heroes Summer Reading Challenge 2021. Children will need to read six library books of their choice and return them before Saturday 25 September to complete the challenge. There are rewards to collect along the way and it's FREE to take part.

Find out more about the Wild World Heroes Summer Reading Challlenge

Jen Stevens - Dialect Song Commission

We have commissioned local singer/songwriter Jen Stevens to write 3 new songs using the bank of dialect words that had been collected during our Lost Dialect exhibition from 2016-2018.

The commission aims to celebrate the North East dialect and used the vast library of words donated by the public and gathered by us. In total over 2,400 words and phrases were collected and turned into the Word Bank of Lost Dialects.

Jen has used the Word Bank of Lost Dialects to write 3 new songs.

Listen to the songs

Shiver Me Timbers - Online Exhibition

‘Shiver Me Timbers: Pirates on Page, Stage and Screen’ was originally conceived as a physical exhibition and was on display at The Word, National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields from 25 May 2017 to 31 January 2018.
It proved to be very popular with people of all ages and we have now created this online version, featuring all of the amazing stories, myths and facts that visitors to the exhibition found so fascinating.
So if you are ready, we invite you to dive in and immerse yourself in the exciting – and occasionally dangerous – world of pirates!

View the exhibition

Reportage Art Commission with Laura Fitton

In February 2020, artist Laura Fitton was commissioned to create an exhibition, which was due to run over summer, that represented life in South Tyneside through reportage drawing.

Laura drew a series of images that were created on location in various places across the borough, working with a range of people to illustrate different local stories. However due to the coronavirus pandemic, the project was put on hold in mid-March.

Laura was able to do some further drawings over Zoom in October 2020 prior to entering the second lockdown.

The drawings showcase our local community prior to the pandemic and how things have changed since then.

View the drawings

The Place We Love

A film commissioned by The Word and produced by Tom Kelly and Unified Films specifically for those living with Dementia. 

The Place We Love has been inspired by our original Lost Dialects exhibition which explored traditional North East words, phrases, songs and more, many of which are now rarely used. The effect of the exhibition on visitors with various stages of dementia was so profound that we commissioned the film to capture what the exhibition explored.

Watch The Place We Love

Shop @ The Word Online Gift Guide

Shop @ The Word is filled to the brim with some fantastic gifts, cards and decorations from North East artists and small businesses for all our visitors to browse.

We have pulled together the below gift guide with the details of those artists/companies that we regularly stock. Take a look through the A-Z below and check out the fantastic local businesses to find the perfect gifts for your loved ones.

View our Online Gift Guide

FabLab @ The Word

FabLab @ The Word provides a state of the art creative space for budding designers and entrepreneurs to bring ideas to life and allows children, young people and adults the opportunity to digitally design an object and then create it using our high-tech equipment on offer such as 3D printers, vinyl and laser cutters. We offer courses for all levels of skill including beginner workshops to more advanced sessions.

Discover more about FabLab