2017 events

Pete Bearder (Pete the Temp) Spoken Word: A Performance and Talk 

Wednesday 13 December in Attenborough 111, University of Leicester
Pete Bearder read from his work and talked about spoken word cultures in Britain.

We Will Remember Them: Raising public awareness of Commonwealth Troops in WWI. An evening of spoken word, archives, visual art and photography

Wednesday 22 November, 6.30-8.00pm in Ogden Lewis Seminar Suite, Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester
Nottingham Black Archive (NBA), Professor Sharon Monteith of Nottingham Trent University and Renaissance One presented We Will Remember Them, which marks the Centenary of WWI. Empire troops fought in the most infamous battles of the war, including Ypres and Passchendaele. This exhibition and spoken word event commemorated forgotten commonwealth troops, bringing to the fore the hidden histories of soldiers from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia. This event featured original artwork from Barbara Walker and Keith Piper, and performances and speeches from Dr Irfan Malik, Panya Banjoko, Michael Brome and The WAWI Project.

Green Unpleasant Land: Rural Racism in Contemporary Britain

Saturday 18 November, 4.00-5.00pm in Peter Williams Lecture Theatre, Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester
Historical, literary and sociological research is increasingly challenging notions that the countryside is a space of whiteness to which black Britons have never belonged. This panel assembled two researchers, Corinne Fowler and Nathan Kerrigan, the author Catherine Johnson and a local farmer, David Mwanaka, to discuss the experience and phenomenon of rural racism. They talked about the cultural and literary experiences which underpin this racism and considered how to combat it with evidence, writing and action.

Victoria and Abdul

Friday 17 November, free pre-screening talk at 6.00pm followed by ticketed film showing of Victoria and Abdul at 6.30pm at Phoenix Cinema
Shrabani Basu explores the unusual friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant, Abdul Karim, which caused a storm in the Royal court. Based on previously unseen private diaries and letters, her book Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant reveals a hidden story that the Establishment tried to erase.

Douglas Dunn and Rory Waterman read from their new collections 

Thursday 16 November, 4.30-5.30pm in Ogden Lewis Seminar Suite, Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester
Professor Douglas Dunn is an Honorary Professor at St Andrews and a distinguished poet who has just produced his first collection of poetry in ten years. Rory Waterman's second poetry collection, Sarajevo Roses, has just been published by Carcanet. His debut, Tonight the Summer's Over (Carcanet, 2013), was a PBS Recommendation and was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Prize.

On the Buses: Lydia Towsey: a partnership with Arriva and Literary Leicester 

Wednesday 15 November, 12.00-7.00pm on Arriva Buses 44 and 31
Bus driver's daughter and Leicester-based poet Lydia Towsey took to the road with Arriva Buses for these specially-commissioned Literary Leicester journeys around the city.

George Green talk 

Monday 13 November, 2.00-3.00pm in Attenborough 002, University of Leicester
George Green is a novelist and academic. The author of two works of historical fiction set during the Roman Era, Hound and Hawk, he has also published numerous works on the craft of writing. He talked about ‘Story and Structure’.

Launch of the first New Walk Editions pamphlets: John Mole, A Different Key and Zayneb Allak, Keine Angst

Thursday 2 November, 7.00-8.30pm at The Exchange, Rutland Street
New Walk magazine is turning to high-end poetry pamphlets from Autumn 2017 – publishing four new and established poets per year. At the Exchange bar on Rutland Street we launched the first two poetry pamphlets, A Different Key by John Mole and Keine Angst by Zayneb Allak.

Annual Creative Writing lecture: Michael Morpurgo 

Thursday 4 May, 6.15-7.30pm in Lecture Theatre One, Centre for Medicine, University of Leicester
Michael Morpurgo is best known for children’s novels, including Toro! Toro! (2001) andWar Horse (1982), and his latest book is The Fox and the Ghost King (2016). He is a former children’s laureate and renowned storyteller.

Adrian Mole’s 50th Birthday Bash

Sunday 2 April, 10.30am-5.45pm in Peter Williams Lecture Theatre and at Attenborough Arts Centre
In association with Literary Leicester. A 1980s-themed birthday tea to celebrate Adrian Mole’s 50th birthday, featuring talks by Sue Townsend’s widower, Mole’s illustrator and publisher, and by John Tydeman (BBC producer). Included inaugural readings of three radio plays inspired by Sue Townsend’s writing.
See the programme from the event

Bali Rai 

Wednesday 15 March, 2.00-4.00pm in Attenborough 210, University of Leicester
To coincide with the University of Leicester’s new MA in Creative Writing, the Centre for New Writing and Literary Leicester presented a masterclass from Leicester’s most celebrated living author, Bali Rai. The event was open to the public and involved Bali working with writers chosen both from the public and the university’s students.

Literature, Writing and the Creative Economy: New Directions? A Research Symposium and Workshop

Friday 24 February, 2.00-5.00pm in The Council Room, Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester
Organised by CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economics and the Centre for New Writing, University of Leicester. Key speakers were Claire Squires (Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication, University of Stirling) There’s only so much shelf space to go around: Publishing’s diversity deficit, and Rick Rylance (Institute of English Studies, University of London) What’s in the Literary Economy?