Join writer Natalie Denny for an engaging series of creative writing workshops as part of the Rushton Residencies with DaDa. Drawing on her experience as a published author and creative facilitator, Natalie will guide participants through writing exercises that explore the intersection of disability and social change.
Grounded in the disability social model and informed by participants’ personal experiences, these sessions will offer a supportive and collaborative space to experiment with storytelling, poetry, and reflection. Together, participants will consider how writing can challenge perceptions, share lived experiences and celebrate disability as a vital part of creative and social transformation.
Please mention any access requirements when booking.
Cost: These workshops are funded and therefore FREE to access
When: The following dates are available for booking:
Where: Everyman Theatre, Liverpool for in person dates, via zoom for online.
About the Rushton Residency
The Rushton Residency programme, new for 2025, is an evolution ofDaDa’s long-standing annual Rushon Lecture, reflecting on the legacy of Edward Rushton, a British poet, writer and bookseller from Liverpool who opened a school for the blind after losing his own vision. It is Rushton’s passion, activism and drive for social justice that has been reflected and celebrated in our Edward Rushton lecturesand is now re-imagined through our residency programme.
The residencies will explore how social justice creates social inclusion and how access benefits not only for disabled people, but the wider cultural sector in all three countries. Residencies will be run in partnership through DaDa (Liverpool UK) and Potters Gallery, (Abuja, Nigeria), including connection with Lillian Munuo of ‘Beyond The Label’, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and will support artists from the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa to create new work.
#DDFIExtra is a winter programme bought to you by DaDa, an award winning and pioneering disability arts organisation based in Liverpool with international reach and impact in partnership with Potters Gallery Nigeria. Founded in 1984, DaDa were one of the first disability-led arts organisations in the UK and an integral part of the campaign for greater equality and access for disabled artists across the arts sector. #DDFIExtra builds on the momentum built through our 40th anniversary festival ‘DaDaFest International 40 – Rage: A Quiet Riot’ presented earlier this year. It will combine artist development and accessible audience participatory experiences.
The Rushton Residencies will be central to #DDFIExtra which will also feature artist development opportunities and showcasing of work by disabled artists.
#DDFIExtra is supported by funding from British Council and as part of our work funded by Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council Cultural Arts Investment Programme.
Introducing Natalie Denny
Natalie Denny is a Liverpool-based writer, PhD Researcher, and educator. She is the author of Keisha Jones Takes on the World (Little Tiger, 2023) and Keisha Jones is a Force of Nature (Little Tiger, 2024) and founder of Skywriters, a social enterprise that uses creative writing to empower individuals and communities through storytelling. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and social change, and she has extensive experience delivering workshops that nurture confidence, creativity, and self-expression.