29 Jul 2009 In celebration of Women’s Month and the legacy of women journalists in South Africa’s popular media, Standard Bank Joy of Jazz will be offering a five-day practical workshop for women arts writers as part of the event’s educational programme.
 
The Lady Porcupine arts journalism workshop, which takes place from August 24 to 28 in Newtown, will be run by Gwen Ansell, music/jazz writer and journalism trainer. Guests include international media trainer Fiona Lloyd, poet Myesha Jenkins and historian of women in jazz Ceri Moelwyn-Hughes. There will also be opportunities to interact with Joy of Jazz festival role-players.  

The workshop title honours Johanna Pahlane, who wrote for Bantu World under the pen-name ‘Lady Porcupine’ in the 1930s while also directing the Merry Makers vaudeville troupe.
 
The workshop curriculum is based on the Specialist Journalism Unit Standard (117541) of the SAQA-accredited Level Five National Certificate in Journalism; learners, cadets or interns at media houses will  be able to add arts stories to their assessment portfolio. The week-long course is offered at a fee of R1200 which covers all teaching and materials. Scholarships are available. For more details email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with‘Women writers’ workshop’ in the subject line. Entries close on August 5.
Lady Porcupineis part of wider educational programme linked to the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz. Also included in the programme are development workshops with the international artists appearing on the line-up who teach youngsters and musicians the intricacies of the craft as well as the hit musical Crazy for Jazz, which exposes youngsters to the magic and history of jazz. For more information on the line-up go to www.standardbankjazz.co.za and www.tmusicman.co.za.