Professional and creative development for writers working with older people
By Gemma Seltzer, 2021
Fellow’s Profile
Fellow’s Profile
Professional and creative development for writers working with older people
Supporting creative and professional development for writers working with the elderly
2015
London
I'm a London-based writer and my latest book is a collection of short fiction, Ways of Living (Influx, 2021). I run Write & Shine, a programme of morning writing events and library of online courses. I also collaborate with older adults on storytelling projects.
For over 12 years I have supported artists and writers to raise funds and realise their ideas. I've worked at Arts Council England and as UK lead for crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.
My Fellowship in 2015-2016 focused on creative writing and ageing, and took me across the UK, Australia and the USA. It was supported by Age UK Bromley and Greenwich. I considered what it meant to work with those in later life as a writer, and why it mattered to be engaged creatively as an older person. I looked at examples of artist training, and thought about the impact of time and age on forms of writing too.
Since then, I've initiated and taken part in related activities including a creative befriending project linking artists to older adults at risk of isolation. Most recently, I worked with an academic, a book artist and a group of older women on New Stories, which invited creative responses to memories of childhood.
Writer Gemma Seltzer (CF 2015) published a book entitled Ways of Living on 15 July. The book is a collection of short stories that explore what it means to be a modern woman inhabiting the urban landscape, a concept inspired by her Fellowship travels.
By Gemma Seltzer, 2021
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Writer Gemma Seltzer (CF 2015) published a book entitled Ways of Living on 15 July. The book is a collection of short stories that explore what it means to be a modern woman inhabiting the urban landscape, a concept inspired by her Fellowship travels.
By Gemma Seltzer, 2021
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.