Event places spotlight on Leicester and Leicestershires literary scene
Members of the public and people who have an interest in the literary activity that takes place in Leicester and Leicestershire and those who would like to find out more about the scene are invited to Leicester/shire: City and County of Literature II which will be held at the Bishop Street Methodist Church on Wednesday, 11 July starting at 6.30pm and finishing at 9.30pm.
The event is free and open to all and is part of a series looking at the literary activity that takes place in the city and county and what can be done to raise the profile of the scene.
The event features Dr Corinne Fowler, chair of the Literary Leicester Festival Fringe and Director of the Centre for New Writing here at the University.
Dr Fowler said: "The literary talent in Leicester and Leicestershire is prodigious and needs to be recognised and acknowledged at the highest level. The series of conversations that have been taking place here around the topic are significant. They provide a forum in which to discuss how best to support and harness this region's talent. Literary Leicester and the Centre for New Writing are delighted to be part of the forum."
Co-organised by CivicLeicester and Everybody's Reading, 'Leicester/shire: City and County of Literature II' will be chaired by The Gallery at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) art curator, Hugo Worthy, and will feature, alongside Dr Fowler:
● poet, novelist and filmmaker, Rod Duncan
● poet, academic and Global Hands Publishing director, Momodou Sallah
● poet, performer and literary activist, Lydia Towsey
● The Bookshop Kibworth's Debbie James, and
● Heritage Lottery Fund, East Midlands' Development Officer, Katherine Oughton.
There will also be a display of books by local writers, and a discussion and question and answer session with those present.
Ambrose Musiyiwa of CivicLeicester, said: "Leicester/shire: City and County of Literature II' is part of efforts to showcase the literary activity that takes place in Leicester and Leicestershire.
“The series brings together people from many different backgrounds for an evening of ideas, great literature and conversation. The series also invites people to look at the literary work that is being done in Leicester and Leicestershire and see what can be done to raise the profile of the scene."
Peter Flack of Everybody's Reading added: “Increasingly Leicester is a hub of creativity in the arts. Our literary scene is enormously vibrant as shown by the breadth of talent that we have and by the range and scale of the literary festivals and events we host in Leicester and Leicestershire. Everybody's Reading is proud to be co-hosting this event with CivicLeicester.”