2013

Masterclass in Fiction Writing with Anita Sivakumaran

Tuesday 26 November
Anita spoke about rewriting myths and fairytales and read from one of her own rewritten Indian myths.

Tom Geens

Monday 25 November
Tom Geens screened his film Liar and discussed writing screenplays.

Grassroutes: Three Leicestershire Writers

Amusing vivid and transcultural readings by Lydia Towsey, Jacob Ross and Kerry Featherstone followed by a panel discussion about regional literary cultures. Listen to the readings.

Andrew Mitchell: A Byron Elegy

Wednesday 13 November
A reading of Mitchell's 300-line narrative poem with cello accompaniment by composers James Whittle and Natalie Halliday. Listen to Andrew Mitchell's accompanied reading.

History and Fiction

Tuesday 12 November
Amitav Ghosh in conversation with novelist Harry Whitehead, Stephanie Jones, John McAleer and Anshuman Mondal. A seminal discussion on the relationship between history and fiction. Listen to the conversation.

Maggie Gee

Monday 21 October
Maggie Gee read from her memoir, My Animal Life (2010), before generously sharing her wisdom on the creative writing craft and answering questions on multiple topics about contemporary writing and publishing from an audience of students, academics and writers.

SuAndi

Wednesday 15 May
SuAndi gave an electrifying reading, showing the impressive scope and range of her work to an audience of 59 people. In conversation with Dr Fowler, she discussed the regional influence of Alan Bennett and the Liverpool poets and talked memorably about writing for performance.

Centre for New Writing Launch

Tuesday 7 May
The Centre for New Writing's launch day consisted of a panel, lecture and wine reception. The keynote speaker was Daljit Nagra.

John Siddique

Tuesday 30 April
John read new poems from Full Blood, together with new work, to an audience of 50 people. In conversation with Corinne Fowler, he talked about landmark poetry, his Haiku trail in Hebden Bridge, his nature poetry, the perceived Northernness of his poetic voice and his work's relationship to modernism.