Rules, and lives, are changing. Schools and nurseries are cracking open their doors. People are returning to work. We’re taking tentative steps towards seeing our friends and loved ones. We continue to peep round corners, give strangers a wide berth, but the pace of life is creeping up.

Yet covid remains, and we have decided to keep the Creative Writing Challenges going. If your lives are hectic, take a break, and come back to us when you can. There are no deadlines; there is no pressure.

The entries we have to date encapsulate so many of the feelings we’ve all encountered through this unprecedented year. Your words have made us laugh, made us cry. And each and every entry has reminded us of the phenomenal writing talent of the Jesmond Library community, both from seasoned writers and those who have never attempted a writing challenge before.

Thank you for staying with us on this journey. We can’t wait to share the final book with you. As always, remember, this is meant to be fun!

This week’s Challenge

This week’s creative writing challenge is another one that’s fun for the whole family! Rewrite song lyrics. Any song, any theme. Ask your teenager their favourite song. Or share one of your own. My family and I have had a delightful time writing the lyrics to ‘Lockdown Hair’ to Billy Joel’s classic ‘Uptown Girl’.

As always, please send entries to events@jesmondlibrary.org, and let us know whether we can publish your work on social media.

Rachel H.