NeuWrite Nordic: Establishing in Finland a branch of the world’s premier interdisciplinary science-writing workshop for scientists and creative writers, and expanding it across the Nordic region

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

Science writing is well-developed in the USA and UK but less so in the Nordic region. We will establish in Finland a branch of the international collaborative science-writing workshop NeuWrite, and lead its expansion to other Nordic countries. NeuWrite was founded in 2009 by the chairperson of Biological Sciences at Columbia University in New York, along with members of Columbia's Fine Arts Writing Program, with a bold idea: that people rarely found in the same room—scientists and creative writers—can together innovate strategies for communication. Through NeuWrite, members meet regularly in creative-writing workshops to comment on drafts of each other's work. Many books, articles, talks and other media have emerged from NeuWrite and achieved wide public impact. Science writers benefit from a collaborative space like NeuWrite because their work crosses the boundaries of the sciences and the literary arts, in order to engage general audiences. The hybrid nature of science writing forms a cultural glue that holds science and society together, helping scientists and the public interact and understand each other. Through NeuWrite scientists and creative writers escape their solitude and professional silos; they make writing social and interdisciplinary. This enriches literature, science, citizen engagement, and public policy. In Finland demand for science-writing strategies is high, but nothing like NeuWrite exists where scientists and creative writers can collaborate on a regular basis in an interdisciplinary setting. NeuWrite Nordic will create a fertile workspace to nurture existing and new talent, helping Finnish and Nordic science writers to emerge as mature artists and communicators who can address local concerns and attract global audiences.