On the 16th October at 6pm, the Royal Society of Arts’ Newcastle Network will join forces Northumbria University School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries for their monthly ‘Encounter’, where Fellows and university staff and students have an opportunity to hear from guest speaker Julie Blackie about her extraordinary life and career.
Julie grew up in Benwell, left school at 15 without taking any exams and had the first of her 4 children at 16. Her involvement with Gingerbread, an organisation for one parent families, in the late 70s led to her taking up further education at Sunderland Polytechnic and becoming a community worker, FE Teacher and later getting Masters degrees in Public Policy Studies and in Media Studies.
Julie will discuss her experiences in community work, and later as project manager of multiple regeneration projects; her foray into theatre and TV drama (writing 25 episodes of Casualty and Hollyoaks), building a theatre in the Ouseburn valley, and then accidentally becoming a business woman - establishing a fashion business with her daughter which grew to create 75 jobs and a turnover of £25m a year. She has also owned a hotel, 3 other clothing businesses and bought, renovated and sold around 25 properties over the last 20 years. She continues to write drama and has co-written 2 novels under the name of Nicky Black. Her remarkable story crosses subject areas from business to creative writing, and from regeneration to fashion.
Please register if you’d like to hear from Julie, with drinks and networking afterwards. The venue is building 6 on the campus map here.
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