Julia Darling 1956-2005

Fellow at University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2000/01 Associate Fellow, 2001/02 Project Fellow, 2002-04

Julia Darling died in April 2005, and is sorely missed by all at the RLF. Further information on her life and work can be found by following the link at the bottom of this page.

Julia lived in the North East from 1980. She began her writing career as a poet and worked with The Poetry Virgins for many years, touring and writing material for performance. In 1995 she published a book of short stories Bloodlines and many of these stories were broadcast on Radio Four. She continued to write short stories, many of which were anthologised or broadcast. In 1998 her novel Crocodile Soup was auctioned by six publishing houses and published by Anchor at Transworld. The novel went on to be published in Canada, Australia, Europe and the States.

She wrote many stage plays too, beginning with youth theatre productions and then writing for touring companies. Her recent works included Venetia Love Goes Netting, Personal Belongings, Sea-life (broadcast live on Radio 4) and The Last Post which have all been produced by Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne.

She worked with glass designer Cate Watkinson to produce words on glass and marble benches throughout the city centre, officially launched in the spring of 2002. Also with Cate she worked on a glass window for the Port of Tyne Building in South Shields. Julia's play Personal Belongings was performed at Edinburgh in 2002.

Project Fellowship
Julia Darling worked in the School of English at the University of Newcastle. For some time she ran workshops and developed work around the area of creative writing and health. This involved going out of the university to run writing groups with groups of GPs, and running day workshops within the department, which were open to medical practitioners, carers, academics, patients.

She helped develop a number of writing exercises to be used by people who work in the area of health care. She also published a collection of poems called Sudden Collapses In Public Places (Arc Press) which explores her own treatment for breast cancer. 

Much of the work she did, in collaboration with writers Cynthia Fuller and Rima Handley who were also working part time in the English School, was incorporated into a longer course for people who wish to work using writing in the communities in which they live. This exciting and positive field of work helped health workers to be more creative and patients to be more confident.

Website:    http://www.juliadarling.co.uk