What?
NeuWrite Nordic is a regional branch of the international collaborative science-writing workshop NeuWrite.
A bold idea
The original NeuWrite was founded in New York City in 2009 by the chairperson of biological sciences at Columbia University—Stuart Firestein, author of Ignorance: How It Drives Science and Failure: Why Science Is so Successful—along with members of Columbia's graduate writing program in the School of the Arts. NeuWrite was founded with a bold idea: that people rarely found in the same room—scientists and creative writers—can together develop novel strategies for communicating about science to general audiences.
The creative-writing workshop
Today NeuWrite has branches around the United States, in London, and in the Nordic region. Participants meet regularly using the creative-writing workshop model to give feedback on drafts of each other's work. This work can include journalism; commentary; scientific and explanatory writing aimed at non-specialists; personal essays; parts of nonfiction books; fiction; scripts for film, theater, and podcasts; poetry; talks and lectures for the public; and other forms of creative writing, broadly defined, that deal with science.
Support
The Nordic branch of NeuWrite is supported by a generous grant from
Crossing boundaries
Science writers benefit from a collaborative space like NeuWrite because their work crosses the boundaries of the sciences and the literary arts. This hybrid nature of science writing forms a cultural glue that can help hold science and society together, and that can help scientists and the public interact and understand each other's roles—a challenge that has never been more important.
Spanning disciplines
Through NeuWrite, scientists and creative writers escape their professional isolation; they make writing social and transdisciplinary. This enriches literature, science, citizen engagement, and public policy.
Why?
Who?
NeuWrite Nordic
Director
Board
Juha Saarikangas
Principal Investigator & Associate Professor, Cellular Individuality Lab, University of Helsinki
Jussi Valtonen
Novelist and Visiting Professor of Writing, University of the Arts Helsinki; Researcher, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki
Contact
NeuWrite Nordic ry is a registered non-profit association supported by the Kone Foundation.
Advisers
Brendan Battersby
Research Director, Battersby Lab, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki
Paul Graves
Poet and University Lecturer, Language Centre, University of Helsinki
Former science journalist and Senior Communications Manager, Aalto University; founder, Black Box (Musta laatikko) performed journalism series, Finnish National Theater
Howard Jacobs
Professor of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University
Science writer; Lecturer in Science & Writing, New York University; former director, NeuWrite
Professor of Practice, Department of Computer Science, and leader, Critical AI and Crisis Interrogatives research group, Aalto University
Satu Vasantola
Novelist and medical & health journalist; reporter, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper
Hanna Västinsalo
Filmmaker; PhD in genetics, University of Helsinki and MFA in directing, American Film Institute Conservatory
Virpi Yliraudanjoki
Writing coach, teacher in creative writing and creative academic writing, and poet. PhD in education. Rovaniemi.