Category: Writing – Marie Cooper

East of England Playwrights Selected for HighTide Writers Group

Six East of England playwrights chosen for the HighTide Writers Group

Norwich, UK – March 2, 2024 – Marie Cooper is one of Six East of England playwrights to have been chosen for the prestigious HighTide Writers Group this year.

The 12-month programme run by HighTide and leading playwrights Juliet Gilkes Romero (The Whip, RSC) and Tim Price (Nye, National Theatre) helps playwrights at all career stages develop their craft.

Writers were handpicked for the competitive program based on writing samples and accomplishments. This year’s cohort also includes Great Yarmouth-based playwright and poet Clare Currie, Suffolk writer and performer Ted Marriott, Ipswich playwright Anoop Singh, Norwich writer and producer Rosa Torr, and Essex artist and playwright Esohe Uwadiae.

Over the 12 months, the playwrights receive a £750 bursary, are paired with professional mentors, introduced to theatres, granted R&D time with actors, and have extracts presented at the HighTide Rising, Festival of new plays.

“I’m still a bit in shock that I was chosen, to be honest. I feel so grateful and incredibly excited for this amazinv opportunity to develop my writing with guidance from these exceptional mentors.” said Marie Cooper.

The program was recently featured in The Stage:

The HighTide Writers Group programme is supported by The Foyle Foundation and The Noel Coward Foundation.

Imperfect Storms – New Writing from East Anglia

Exciting news. Imperfect Storms is returning for its second year at Norwich Theatre. Join us for an evening of fresh, new works by talented members of the East Anglian branch of the Writers’ Guild, as they showcase their creativity and storytelling skills.

I’m thrilled to have my work featured in a rehearsed reading during the event. It’s a fantastic opportunity to share my passion for storytelling and showcase my writing.

Tickets are Pay What You Can, so head over to the Norwich Theatre website now to book your spot.

I can’t wait to see you there and share my work with you.

Presented by the Writers Guild of Great Britain


When: Sunday 26th March at 7 pm to approximately 9 pm
Where: Norwich Theatre Royal: Stage Two
How much: Ticket Price – Pay What You Can

Imperfect Storms is an exciting evening of new work, written by East Anglian members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. Between them, these writers have credits in TV, comedy, film, theatre, radio, books, poetry and video games, and the evening promises to be diverse and full of surprises. These are works in progress, fresh off the printer and presented in a rehearsed reading.

Last year’s show featured singing highwaymen, zombies looking for love and a blue-haired Danny Boyle. This new show features work by Jenny Ayres, Marie Cooper, Brendon Connelly, Peter Mills, Fiona Padfield and Jonathan Skinner, and is directed by writer-performer, Steve Keyworth, whose credits include Radio 4’s The Princess Bride and BBC1’s Doctors.

NaNoWriMo 2022

NaNoWriMo 2022 winners banner

I am back and a bit frazzled after completing NaNoWriMo 2022 on 28 November 2022. NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. The aim is to write 50,000 words during November.

I am happy to have completed it. The challenge felt insurmountable when I began.

Some days felt wonderful and the words flowed. But, there were many early mornings, and late nights when trying to find the words felt brutally painful.

It was especially challenging when I was tired, rushed, or just was not feeling particularly creative. Trying to fit writing time around other work and family time was not easy. It was an emotional month, but I now have 50,000 more words of my novel to add to the existing Chapter and notes.

I might write a bit about the process at some point over on my Novel Progress Page, but at the moment, I just want to take some time out to rest my brain, breathe, and enjoy the accomplishment.

If I can resist the temptation, I will likely wait until after Christmas before I start piecing the novel together in order, printing and starting the first edit.

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