University Women In The Arts Announces More Details For International Women's Day Event At The Royal Court Theatre

University Women in the Arts, the one off mentoring scheme to improve the transition from women studying the arts to working in the arts, has announced more details for its International Women's Day event to be held at The Royal Court Theatre on March 9th.

Taking place at The Royal Court Theatre from 3pm on March 9th, the day will include new speaker A C Smith, who will speak about her new initiative the Women's Musical Theatre Initiative, founding the London Playwrights Blog, which helps writers achieve their professional goals, and who will offer advice to women on working in the arts and overcoming challenges for working in the arts.

A C Smith will be joined by previously announced speakers award winning writer, journalist and conflict trauma therapist Justine Hardy and Professor Pamela Burnard.

Professor Pamela Burnard is one of the world's leading experts on arts and education and Professor of Arts, Creativities and Education at the University of Cambridge, and recently spoke at the launch of think tank Gen Pol's policy paper on how education can help prevent abuse.

Justine Hardy combines being a writer and commentator with working at the grass roots in two fields that make many uneasy: conflict and the psychological damage of violence. As a journalist and writer she is the author of six books, ranging in subject from war to Hindi film including Scoop-Wallah, short-listed for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 2000 and serialised on BBC Radio 4, and Goat: A Story of Kashmir and Notting Hill, which was also serialised on BBC Radio 4. Bollywood Boy was an international bestseller about sneaking into the Hindi film industry to look closely at its fame culture, and also the darker side of an industry that pumps out high-octane escapism for an audience of over a billion. In the Valley of Mist was also broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week, and was Runner-Up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2010. Justine writes for The Financial Times, The Times, various Condé Nast magazines, including Vanity Fair and Condé Nast Traveler, and a wide range of other publications in India, the UK, and US. As a documentary presenter Justine started at Channel 4 in 1996 on the BAFTA-nominated series Urban Jungle. She has worked on several BBC strands in India for both BBC and BBC World. Justine is currently a residential INSPIRE fellow at Tufts University (USA) at the Institute of Global Leadership and at CHAT, The Center for Humanities at Tufts.

A C Smith is a scriptwriter and songwriter and co-founder of the London Playwrights Blog. She has won awards from the RSC and Soho Theatre, and had work performed at venues including Soho Theatre, RADA, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre503, HighTide Festival, Rose Playhouse Bankside, Pleasance Theatre, The Space, and the Tristan Bates Theatre and was a member of the Bush Theatre's 2016 Emerging Writers Group. She has worked at RADA as a Playwriting Tutor and as Head of Academic Studies, and as a Development Executive at First Born Films, nurturing new feature film projects. As a lyricist and bookwriter for musical theatre, A.C. was shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Artists of Choice Awards and has had her songs (written with Bella Barlow) performed at The Globe Theatre and on JemmThree Radio. She co-founded London Playwrights' Blog and London Playwrights' Workshop as resources to help writers bridge the gap between their artistic lives and practical goals. She is excited to be expanding this work into new initiatives to support London writers.

Jennifer Tuckett, Director of University Women in the Arts said: "We are delighted A C Smith is joining us on March 9th. The Women's Musical Theatre Initiative and London Plawrights Blog are both important resources which help women make the transition from studying to working in the arts and we look forward to hearing A C's thoughts on our theme this year, which is looking at bullying, harassment and abuse in the arts industry particularly in terms of its effect on female arts students and women working in the arts and how this can be overcome and eradicated and the transition for women from studying to working in the arts improved".

A C Smith, founder of the Women's Musical Theatre Initiative, said:
'Women are still wildly underrepresented in the world of musical theatre - just last year, The Stage reported that in the past 10 years of West End shows, 9 out of 10 writers of musicals were men. This article prompted Bella Barlow and I to work with London Playwrights' Workshop to establish the Women's Musical Theatre Initiative. While the push for change is coming from women, it's been really encouraging to see how much enthusiasm and support we've had from our male colleagues who also believe in the importance of a fairer industry. For me, the University Women in the Arts celebration of International Women's Day is all about celebrating the ideas and inspiration of young women entering the industry - it will lead to a better, more inclusive world for all of us.'

The day will also include a free writing workshop open to woman wanting to work in the arts and female arts students and recent graduates as an opportunity to share views and create new work for female arts students around the UK to perform as well a showcase of 15 of the most talented female arts students and recent graduates in the UK, who were selected from a nationwide search.

The free event is open to all, except for one session creating work which is open only to female arts students, women wanting to work in the arts and recent graduates at university level to share their views and experiences.

More information and free tickets can be booked at: https://universitywomeninthearts-iwd2018.eventbrite.co.uk

University Women in the Arts was set up in 2016 to help improve the transition for women from studying the arts to working in the arts. In 2016, UCAS figures showed 63% of arts undergraduate students were female, whilst at the UK's largest arts university over 70% of students were female. However, Tonic Theatre, British Theatre Consortium, Freelands Foundation and other research has shown only around 30% of professional playwrights, directors and artists are female. University Women in the Arts mentors include Kate Bryan, former Director of The Fine Art Society, presenter, art historian and winner of the Women of the Future Arts and Culture Award; Caroline Cooper Charles, film producer, former Head of Film at Creative England and CEO of Universal Spirits; Suzie de Rohan Wilner, CEO of fashion company Toast; Anne Edyvean, producer and Head of BBC Writersroom; Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director of The Royal Court Theatre; Amanda Foreman, historian, columnist and presenter including of the recent BBC series "The Ascent of Women"; Elizabeth Freestone, former Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre; Charlotte Higgins, Chief Culture Writer at The Guardian; Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre and founder of the WOW Festivals; Lucy Kerbel, founder and Director of Tonic Theatre; Pinky Lilani, founder of the Women of the Future Programme; Sue Parrish, Artistic Director, Sphinx Theatre Company; Joanna Prior, Managing Director of Penguin Books, President of The Publishers Association and Chair of the Board of the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction; Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of the English National Ballet; Kate Rowland, founder of BBC Writersroom, the BBC's new writing department, and the former Creative Director of New Writing at the BBC, Head of BBC Radio Drama and Commissioner of Radio 3's The Wire; Tanya Seghatchian, film producer of films including the Harry Potter series and My Summer of Love and former Head of the Film Fund at the UK Film Council.

For more information on the University Women in the Arts scheme in general and to join the mailing list to be kept informed of future events please go to: www.universitywomeninthearts.com

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