City Writes Summer 2021 Event Gives it 110%

July 12, 2021 / / 0 Comments

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

On the warm summer evening of the 7th July, when most of the nation was preparing to watch the game that doesn’t need a mention, the fabulous students and alumni of City, University of London’s creative writing short courses were providing entertainment of a literary kind. With a fantastic group of competition winners, many alumni of Peter Forbes’ excellent Narrative Non-Fiction course, the audience were in for a treat that culminated in Alex Morrall reading from, and discussing, her debut, Helen and the Grandbees published by Legend Press in 2020.

Anne Manson began the evening with a haunting and gripping post-apocalyptic tale, ‘Bones’, about a father and child subsisting against all the odds on a small patch of land surrounded by toxic floodwater. An alumna of the Crime and Thriller Writing course with Caroline Green and the Short Story course with Katy Darby, Anne’s superb delivery was spell-binding and thought-provoking.

Susanna Morton – the first of our Narrative Non-Fiction alumni – read her minutely observed domestic drama next, ‘Regrowth’, where a couple struggle to communicate about lost money and time is marked by the slow progress of a dent in a nail growing from the cuticle to the fingertip. Quiet and precise, this unique glimpse into a couple’s life sent a visible hush through the zoom audience.

We heard from another Narrative Non-Fiction alumna next as Jen Metcalf read her fascinating account of a lost place and time in her personal Berlin, ‘Tentstation’. Reminding us of the wonderful ways in which writing can capture places and moments, and of the magical way in which each of us creates a unique understanding of the places in which we live – your city not ever quite being the same as mine – Jen transported us into a swirl of transient lindy hopping.

Alumnus Adam Zunker read next. Having taken both the Introduction to Creative Writing and the Writers’ Workshop courses, Adam shared an extract, ‘Mosquitto Gods’, from his fantasy novel-in-progress, taking us into the afterlife with his character. We tasted the goat droppings and felt the swirling winds of spirits passed on, making us eager to find out what would happen next.

Alex Morrall

Returning to the complex world of dating and relationships next, Helen Ferguson, Novel Studio alumna, read an extract from her novel, End Cuts. Poignant and carefully observed, the extract explored the main character’s relationship with Matthew, a man whose love was more potent and exciting when contained by brief time spans and a boring town rather than the glory of a child-free holiday in the Adriatic.

Glenda Cooper, our final Narrative Non-Fiction alumna, was the last of the competition winners to read and she took us back into the annals of English history with an extract from her novel-in-progress, The Heaven Born, an account of the scandalous life of her great-grandmother. We were skillfully placed right into the heart of a trial in which the woman in question, the ‘slut’ behind the crime, was sitting in the courtroom listening to all the gossip she’d generated. It was a striking end to an outstanding set of readings from the competition winners.

Having heard from the soon-to-be published, we were then treated to a reading from our professional alumna, Alex Morrall. Alex, who took a Freelance Writing short course with Susan Grossman, shared a passage of her debut, Helen and the Grandbees, published by Legend Press in 2020. We were introduced to Helen and learned a little of her history, exploring her need to escape difficult truths from her past and being given the origin of the term grandbees. It was an excellent way in to a discussion about the novel, a mother and daughter reunion that explores identity, race and mental illness.

Alex gave interesting and thoughtful answers to my questions, allowing the audience a chance to investigate some of the novel’s central concerns and the particulars of Alex’s writing practice. Inspired by her voluntary work, we were amazed that Alex is able to write in front of the television and that she has already written another novel and is halfway through her third. Go, Alex! We can’t wait to read the next one!

For those who haven’t read Helen and the Grandbees, you can get access to a 20% discount from Legend Press by going to their bookshop and entering this code at the check out: HELEN20. The offer lasts until the 12th July, so hurry!

If you weren’t able to attend on the night, don’t worry, we recorded the session and you can see it here. Don’t forget to watch out for future City Writes events and competition dates. If the City Writes Summer 2021 event was anything to go by, you can’t afford to miss the amazing talent coming from the creative writing short courses, so do look out for our Autumn event next term.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Narrative or Therapeutic Non-fiction: does it really matter?

July 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

By Raviakash Deu

Doctors, nurses, scientists have all played their roles this past year, but for narrative non-fiction writers, what does it mean to serve on the front-line? I knew, without really knowing, the answer to that for some time. When done well, any writing grounded in the facts as much as in the imagination has a way of inspiring, energising and in some cases healing the minds of its readers. On deciding to pick up the pen, one begins to take control of those transformations not only in others but crucially within oneself.

I experienced this phenomenon in company and in spirit on City’s Narrative Non-Fiction Short Course, which might just as easily be termed ‘Therapeutic Non-Fiction’ – and not just because the group boasted a psychologist. In the wake of artistic absence in the world, City’s virtual offering brings together traditional storytellers, reporters and scholars from across the globe who, while seeking guidance on an outer narrative, inevitably end up fulfilling part of their inner one too.

Creative writing is a soul-bearing business. Setting weekly classes in the digital sphere might present students with additional complexities against the larger editorial goal of stripping them away. Yet this hasn’t stopped City, who’ve plenty of reason to trust in tutor-extraordinaires like Peter Forbes. As one of those under Peter’s stewardship over the last three months, I’ve been glad to convert a fairly demanding hobby into a more thoughtful practice, and beyond that, develop a confidence that had been desperately missing prior to week one. Starting out as a nervy penman amongst some sophisticated scribes, by week eight, I presented my changed state in the following journal entry:

‘A rare environment. One which appears to value personal growth, indeed community, over competition. In reading aloud our compositions, it’s a unique opportunity to bring alive the material for a bright-eyed audience, of which I too am an avid member. The talents of the group are unlike anything you’d expect. I sink into Roli’’s delicate depiction of makeshift graves on the banks of the Ganges, Monica’s rich reflections on ‘room-travel’ and Roz’s masterful musings on imitation, a lyrical style translated effortlessly into her diction. There’s Imran’s artful sketches on humans in the age of machines, and Robert’s endlessly entertaining travelogues.

The academics, meanwhile, seem to keep us honest. Both Katherine and Claire are as faithful to their subject areas as they are to the business of elegantly unfolding them for us mere mortals. Oh, and amidst all this, I’ve perhaps discovered my own capacity for spinning a good yarn.’

‘Good’ writing is, of course, subjective, and arguably, my hopes going into the programme were of unearthing something ‘real’ rather than ‘good’, a readiness – as spoken by Hesse –  to ‘gaze into the fire, into the clouds and as soon as the inner voices begin to speak… surrender to them’. It’s thanks to City’s new expression of ‘bookbinding’ or a sharp sense of literary unity, I’ve been able to take meaningful strides toward that free and fearless outlook, and all its potentialities.

 

Raviakash Deu is a freelance writer from Birmingham. He holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Nottingham and a Master’s in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College London. His regular features appear at ‘The Lipstick Politico’ where he is interested in bringing light to daring South Asian narratives across culture and the arts.

Narrative Non-Fiction runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from October 2021.

 

City Writes Summer 2021 Competition Winners Announced

June 24, 2021 / / 0 Comments
By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone
After another bumper month of submissions to the City Writes Competition this term, we’re delighted to announce the winners who will join alumna, Alex Morrall on the virtual stage at 7pm on Wednesday 7th July. You can register for the event here. For those of you who aren’t familiar with City Writes, it is a showcase event for students, tutors and alumna of City’s Creative Writing Short Courses. With a termly competition for students and alumna who win the chance to read their work alongside a published alumna or tutor.
This term’s winners, in alphabetical order are:

Glenda Cooper

Glenda Cooper, who will be reading her story ‘The Heaven Born’. Dr Glenda Cooper worked as a staff journalist for a variety of media organisations including the Independent, Washington Post and BBC. She is now a senior lecturer in journalism at City. Her work has been shortlisted for the Exeter Novel Prize twice, and longlisted for the Grindstone Novel and Yeovil Literary Prizes.  She has won the 2014 Poetic Republic and Writers’ Bureau Short Story Prizes. She is currently taking the Narrative Non-Fiction course at City.

Helen Ferguson, who will be reading an extract from her novel Ghostings. Helen is a translator of Russian a

Helen Ferguson

nd German. She started writing in 2015 and had her first piece published in Lighthouse Literary Journal. In 2020 she completed City’s Novel Studio course and since then has finished writing her novel. She lives in Ely with her daughters. Book tweets @HFergusonWriter

Anne Manson, who will be reading ‘Bones’. Anne has a Masters in Writing for

Anne Mason

Young People from Bath Spa University. Her first novel, Lobster Wars, is a YA thriller about two boys who witness a murder on a small island off the coast of Maine. Her second, The Clockwork Artificer, is a MG fantasy about a stolen pen, a lidless eye, and a girl with a hole in her heart. She was recently awarded the Writer’s Prize from PaperBound magazine for her short story, “Winter”. Anne has is an alumna of the Crime and Thriller Writing course with Caroline Green and Short Story Writing with Katy Darby.

Jen Metcalf

Jen Metcalf is a translator and editor who arrived in Berlin in 2006 and accidentally made it her home. Hav

Susanna Morton

ing spent most of her adult life concerned with foreign languages, she recently decided to focus on her own and enrolled on this summer’s Narrative Non-Fiction course. Jen was an avid lindy hopper for several years and will feel forever lucky that this coincided with the evenings that inspired her text, to be read on the 7th, ‘Tentstation’.

Susanna Morton, who will be reading her story ‘Regrowth’. Susanna lives and works in London, where she has developed her writing habit through creative writing courses at Imperial College London and the Arvon Foundation, and as a current participant in City’s Narrative Non-Fiction short course. Susanna studied English Literature with Spanish at the University of Edinburgh, where she was a contributor to Edinburgh Flipside and Editor of Nomad: a travel, culture and creative writing magazine.

Adam Zunker

Adam Zunker has taken several short courses in creative writing at City University (Introduction to Creative Writing and Writers’ Workshop) and is working on his first novel, a fantasy story about death, faith and hallucinogenic frogs. He has spent far too many years working in politics and journalism, though both have probably provided some grounding in creative writing. He lives in London with his wife and daughter. He will be reading ‘Mosquito Gods’ an extract from his novel-in-progress.

These five writers will join Alex Morrall, reading from her novel, Helen and the Grandbees, published by Legend Press in 2020 about a mother and daughter reunion that explores identity, race and mental illness. We can’t wait to share all these wonderful stories with you on the 7th July at 7pm. Register here for your zoom link to the event. See you there!

Starry night: Novel Studio Showcase 2021

June 22, 2021 / / 0 Comments

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

Tuesday 15th June was a beautiful summer evening, perfect for sharing the dazzling work of our 15 Novel Studio 2021 students via zoom. The Showcase is the culmination of a year’s work on their novels and with genres as varied as satire, sci-fi, procedural crime and literary fiction, this year’s cohort promised a varied and tantalising programme of extracts from their work-in-progress.

This is the first year of the Novel Studio which has been run entirely virtually and it has led to a wonderfully diverse group with students joining us from India, France and America as well as the UK. The students have forged a tight-knit group, challenging each other in an incredibly supportive and encouraging manner, leading to some truly fabulous work being produced as we soon heard.

After running through the amazing list of published alumni, that grows year on year with names like Kiare Ladner, Harriet Tyce, Deepa Anappara, Hannah Begbie, Elizabeth Chakrabarty, Attiya Khan, Anna Mazzola and Greg Keen, we heard from alumna Harriet Tyce who introduced and funded the Novel Studio Scholarship in 2019, which provides one successful applicant from a low-income household with a fully funded place. We are delighted the scholarship is running again for the third time this year.

Harriet spoke with fondness about her time on the Novel Studio and all that it offered her in terms of structure and support. She also spoke of her sense of anxiety waiting to share her work at the Showcase and wished all the students luck. Hopefully they will all go on to have writing careers as successful as Harriet’s.

Nana Wereko-Brobby

With some thank yous to all the tutors, Kiare Ladner, Emma Claire Sweeney and Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, alongside our director Emily Pedder and the Short Courses team, in particular Laura Bushell, Robert Lastman and Sathya Mathivanan, we were ready to be transported into the various fictional worlds of the students starting with Nana Wereko-Brobby whose novel, Dark Heart explores one British Ghanaian’s journey into boredom, excess and murder. Reading from the first chapter, Nana gave us an insight into her character’s acerbic attitude to his daily life and relationships that left us wondering what else might be in store.

Deepa Somasunderam

We went from London to a village in Tamil Nadu next as Deepa Somasunderam read from her novel, Nivya, a coming of age novel in which twelve-year-old Nivya must come to terms with a more complex understanding of her world and heritage. Narrated by Nivya, Deepa read us a passage that introduced her uncle’s latest business venture, the tuk-tuk Henry.

Freya Sanders

Freya Sanders took us into a young woman’s mind next when reading from her literary anti-bildungsroman, out of the sky. We learnt about the tragic death of Peter Gilbraith, a popular, high achiever whose death is all over Facebook. What will this mean for the character, her friends and the wider social circle? What importance do external achievements have in the face of death?

Michael Lawson

From Cambridge to British Airspace next, Michael Lawson took us into the mind of Blanche, an undead agony aunt and political agitator who died choking on a custard cream in an airplane sitting next to her best friend, Cilla Black. A hilarious satire sending up the British and their political system, Michael’s extract from Biscuits with Blanchehad the audience giggling in delight.

Scholarship winner Janice Okoh

We were dropped right into the action in a large house in Nigeria next as Novel Studio Scholarship 2021 winner, Janice Okoh, read from the beginning of her novel, The Killing Season. Olori’s daughter is missing. She went out with the bosses new British Nigerian wife who Olori does not trust at all. Where is her daughter? Who will help her find her? Certainly not the police, or so it seems. Leaving us on tenterhooks, reeling from the pithy phrases of Olori’s mind, we were transported into an entirely different character’s mind next.

Stephan Schmidt

Delving into the head of a young man who wishes he’d already written the Next Great American Novel, Stephan Schmidt shared an extract from his novel Abscondia in which his second person narrator described meeting a woman at a cafe in France. Seeped in skepticism and nihilism, will this woman mean anything for the unnamed narrator, or will it just be one more in a catalogue of disappointingly mundane events?

Rhiana Gold

We were transported into the near future next as Rhiana Gold read from her speculative fiction novel, Under the Surface. We joined her character, Stevie, at the hospital, there for her dying father, a father no one like her – a lab-born – usually has. What is a lab-born and how is Stevie different? You’ll have to wait for the full novel to find out!

Seema Clear

Seema Clear took a different look at identity and belonging next, as she read from her multigenerational novel, The Refugees, that explores the life of Vidya and her father who were some of the many Asians expelled from Uganda in 1972. Seema read from the opening of her novel in which Vidya is back in the family home in West London, tending to her father on his deathbed.

Lucy Blincoe

From one set of emotional waters to another, we travelled to the Cornish coast with Lucy Blincoe next as she read from her novel, Kernow. Susie is a Met detective on leave, taking time out from London after the death of her colleague ostensibly to spend more time with her teenage daughter, Nancy. Then Nancy finds a dead body washed up on the beach. Susie thinks the young man won’t be her problem to solve, but the audience all knew better.

Grayson Anderson

We were blasted into the distant regions of an alternative galaxy next as Grayson Anderson read from the first in a trilogy of science fiction novels, Until Time Runs Out: The Awakening. We joined Aluz as she attempted to persuade her superiors to let her keep a perfectly preserved body found on a long-dead planet while mining. Drawn in by the sharp dialogue and Grayson’s fabulous voices, the audience was left wondering about Aluz’s discovery and what it might mean for her future.

Catherine Till

Time traveling into the past rather than the future next, Catherine Till took us on a train ride as her character attempted to travel illegally across the border and out of Soviet-controlled Hungary, as she read from her novel, Behind The Curtain. Leaving us with our hearts beating in our mouths, fear sounding loud in our ears, we were left to imagine whether her character made it or not.

Back to London and the world of environmental protest, government cover-ups and organised crime, James Mott read from his novel, The Holloway Men next. He introduced us to his main character, DI Robert Bramadisso, just back from a year’s suspension whose first job is to babysit City boys. How could that possibly go wrong?

Vasundhara Singh

We went back to India next with Vasundhara Singh whose novel, mistress, mother, explores the lives of three women: the wife and mother, the daughter and the mistress. Taking us into a scene of shared memory and food, we followed each bite with careful and lyrical attention.

Nola D’Enis

Continuing the lyricism, we journeyed to a small French town next as Nola d’Enis read from her novel Doulun. We joined her for the opening pages as one of her characters, Judith, explored the treasures of her underwear drawer and revealed a little of the steely femme fatale that lies beneath the frills.

Rhydian Wynn Davies

Finally, we were thrown into a scene of rich drama as Rhidian Davies read from his novel, Role of Lifetime, in which his two main characters, ex-actor Oliver Molyneux and solicitor-agent, August Avery, talk about Oliver’s impending divorce. Both narcissists, the extract from this tragi-comic novel introduced us to a world where these men and their impulsive actions might take them into deeper water than either of them expected.

 

 

 

The readings ended with a fantastic revelation, taking the death knoll high and our emotions higher. With final thanks and reminders about students’ contact details in the chat and in the anthology now available here, the Showcase for the Novel Studio students 2021 was concluded with a marvellous dramatic flourish. Watch this space for news of these students’ future successes. Congratulations Novel Studio Cohort 2021!

 

Short Courses alumnus shares his experience of Python course

May 12, 2021 / / 0 Comments

We spoke to alumnus Jason Bradley to find out why he chose to take an online City short course with his colleagues and how it has helped him develop the skills required to progress within his career.

What were the main reasons you wanted to join this course?

The entities that we oversee are increasingly making use of programming tools to perform data analytics and we wanted to ensure that we stayed ahead of the curve and developed the skills needed.

Why did you pick to study this course at City?

Reputation of City, University of London and the course was a very reasonable cost compared to other, less well-known institutions.

How have you found the online classes and teaching environment?

The course material was excellent, and although the pace was quite quick (difficult with a mixed ability group) the material was manageable.

What did you learn throughout the course? 

As I had no knowledge of Python prior to the course, I learnt a great deal and it has helped me to understand the processes that are undertaken to build programs.

How will taking this course help you in your professional and personal life?

In my professional life it will help me engage with our stakeholders effectively and personally it has spurred me to look into how programming languages are use in Blockchain technologies.

Would you choose to study another short course at City? 

Yes, I am in fact already doing the follow up course on data analytics and machine learning!

If you or someone you know may be interested in our Introduction to Programming with Python or other related short courses then please visit our website.

City Writes Summer 2021 Writing Competition

April 26, 2021 / / 0 Comments

City Writes Summer 2021 Competition Opens

City Writes, the showcase for Short Courses creative writing talent, is back on Zoom this Summer with alumna, Alex Morrall as our professional. Alex’s debut, Helen and the Grandbeeswas published by Legend in 2020 to great acclaim.
Described as ‘Uplifting’ by the Daily Mail and ‘Breath taking’ by Awais Khan, Helen and the Grandbees is a mother and daughter reunion exploring identity, race and mental illness. We’re delighted Alex will be sharing the novel with us on Wednesday 7th July.

Alex is a Brummy artist and writer living in southeast London who took a Freelance Writing short course at City. She has had poetry published in several journals and writes food reviews for her local newspaper. You can find out more about her work on her website.

Alex Morall, author of Helen and the Grandbees

For your chance to join Alex on the online stage, all you need to do is send us 1,000 words of your best creative writing (fiction or non-fiction, YA but sadly no poetry or children’s fiction) by Friday 11th June 2021. Full submission details are here.
If you want to register for the event on Wednesday 7th July, you can do so here and if you are keen to catch up on the online events you’ve missed, check out the blog for links to videos and articles.
Don’t forget to send your best 1,000 words by midnight Friday 11th June 2021. Competition winners will be announced in week 9. We can’t wait to read your submissions.

Meet JavaScript course lecturer, Aris Markgiannakis

April 20, 2021 / / 0 Comments

My name is Aris Markogiannakis and I am a Developer, a Lecturer and a Leader in London,  JavaScript Community organiser and creator of CityJS Conference. I have been teaching for the past 10 years at City, University of London and other institutions around London for the last couple years. My specialisation is in teaching Programming languages such as ASP.NET and JavaScript.

At the moment I am teaching the Advanced JavaScript short course, which happens to be one of my favourite subjects. JavaScript is a very flexible and at the moment on the top two Languages for developers.

JavaScript was invented in 1995 by Brendan Eich. At the very beginning was just a small additional scripting language to languages such as .NET and JAVA. Through the years it has developed to an autonomous programming language with the creation of NodeJS.  You can now do everything with JavaScript from reading databases, programming chips, and creating e-shops fully running with JavaScript. You will still need to know HTML and CSS as JavaScript is depending on those two web programming languages.

JavaScript comes with a vast toolkit that is developed by various companies and the developer community. Most recent one is ReactJS which is developed as an Open-Source project by Facebook. ReactJS is an abstraction on top of the core JavaScript and it fastens development by providing a set of tools and capabilities so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time we create a new project. Other frameworks include VueJS, Angular. In addition there are tools such as JQuery which was quite popular a few years ago but with the creation of Frameworks its popularity decreased.

The most common mistake when you start learning JavaScript is by starting learning a framework instead of learning the core JavaScript.

  • The key advantage is that all frameworks change over time.
  • Frameworks are written with JavaScript so when something goes wrong you will need to understand why it doesn’t work you will need to know the basics
  • When using a framework you still need to use some of the core JS features.

When teaching my course , I make sure that  the student can get from  having a basic level of JavaScript  learns and understands the advanced concepts of JavaScript  and at the end can relate those concepts with the key features of the frameworks.

Some of the core areas we cover at my course are:

  • Arrays, Objects, Prototyping
  • Scoping, this, Hoisting
  • Event handlers, Bubbling and Delegation
  • Async and Await, Asynchronous JavaScript
  • REST API’s
  • TDD
  • ES6, Babel Transpiler
  • Modularisation of Applications and use of Webpack
  • Introduction to React

All those areas are covered with the main idea that students when end the course get to know how to easily adapt to a Developers working environment.

To sign up and join Aris’s course, visit our website.

 

 

 

Facing the fear of career change: from data analyst to copywriter

April 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments

After years of feeling directionless in my NHS job, I’ve finally found a calling that’s reignited my passion. Here’s how I’m pivoting in mid-life thanks to a City short course.

by Christopher Hunt

For five years I’ve considered changing careers. As a Data Analyst for the NHS, the prospect of changing not only to a new career but from an employee to freelance feels daunting. I have a mortgage and two children under 12 after all. And yet, while it’s easy to make excuses, I’ve realised the only way to confront my fear is to act.

Writing has always been part of my life. I’ve self-published a supernatural novel, written guitar-related blogs and even scripts for a short-lived YouTube comedy series. I also have a fascination with psychology. Searching the internet for jobs related to these interests I discovered a career called copywriting. I could be paid to write!

‘Introduction To Copywriting’ by City University runs over a single weekend, fitting conveniently around my job. The course is taught by author and copywriter Maggie Richards. One of the first things she said is from novelist Ernest Hemingway: “The only writing is rewriting”.

I love this quote because it can be interpreted in different ways. While on the surface it’s telling us to rewrite our work until concise, it also encourages action – to start writing and overcome the ‘fear of the blank page.’ We can refine our work later.

This encouragement to move toward the unknown resonates with my aspirations: the initial steps toward a new career are similar to the first tentative words a writer must put on the page. Many of my doubts and insecurities are really just fears of the unknown.

As author Seth Godin says in ‘The Practice’: “The career of every successful creative is… a  pattern of small bridges, each just scary enough to dissuade most people.” Much like the act of writing allows a writer to clarify their thoughts, it’s by taking action that we can find our next step and the step after that, slowly lifting the fog that obscures the path ahead.

City’s online workshop offered many opportunities to take action with practical copywriting exercises, working individually and in small groups. One of my favourite was writing home page copy for an imaginary app.

My team came up with ‘Fitness Friends’, where users meet new people sharing similar fitness goals:

 

Headline:          Meet, Motivate, Get Fit.

 

Introduction:     Walk, Run, Gym. Meet your goals with new local friends.

 

Call to Action:   Find Fitness Friends Now.

 

Maggie pointed out that the headline and introduction used the same three-part staccato punctuation. I realised the importance of varying the rhythm of the words, blending punch with flow. Creativity should not cloud clarity.

I’m now taking steps to start my copywriting career alongside my NHS job, hoping to eventually become a full-time copywriter. I’ve signed up to a freelancing website and contacted small business owners in my network, offering my writing assistance.

Writers spend so much time living in their heads that it can feel uncomfortable taking physical action.  But the pages of my life so far don’t have to dictate where my story goes next. Realising that no first draft is perfect, I now know I can shape my path until I reach the outcome I desired all along.

 

Christopher Hunt took City’s ‘Introduction To Copywriting’ course. You can find him on LinkedIn.

City offers short writing courses in everything from short story writing to writing for the web and digital media. To find out more about all our writing courses, view our full range here.

Lara Haworth

City Writes Spring 2021: an evening of spellbinding stories and creative writing tips

April 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments
City Writes Spring 2021: another fabulous evening of readings from the writing short courses alumni

by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

City Writes Spring 2021, although held on April 1st, was no joke. With the fabulous Kiare Ladner as our professional writer, reading from her debut Nightshift (Picador, Feb 2021), the event was an evening filled with spellbinding stories and creative writing tips.

 

The event marked the fifth year of City Writes, an event that showcases the best of City’s creative writing short courses. The event is fuelled by a termly creative writing competition open to all current students and alumni of creative writing short courses at City. Five to six pieces of writing, either fiction, nonfiction, complete story or extract, are chosen each term to share their work in front of an audience and alongside a publishing professional from amongst the short courses staff or alumni. Having started with the Visiting Lecturer Emma Claire Sweeney in 2016, it was great to have another Visiting Lecturer, Kiare Ladner, share her work. 

 

Though we’ve moved from in-person events to Zoom, there is something about the intimacy of online readings that mirrors the magic of holding a book in your hands.

 

The night began with the first of our competition winners, K Lockwood Jefford. Alumna of the Novel Writing Summer School, Kate read her haunting and harrowing story, ‘Driver’, about a woman driving to the address of the man who killed her nephew in a car accident. Kate’s reading set our pulses on fire with the pain of grief and the anxiety of what the narrator might do about it.

 

Another car accident was at the heart of the next piece, ‘The Opposite of Grace’, written and read by Sini Downing, alumna of Short Story Writing. If you can capture motion with a machine, can you recreate a better version of them on screen? Sini’s narrator fought to reconcile the elegance of the dancer with her graceless personality and the energy of her performance was breathtaking.

 

Lara Hayworth, Novel Studio alumna, took us across Europe with an extract from her story ‘Monumenta’ next. Which massacre would be remembered in a monument that would take a character’s house? How many histories are buried beneath our pavements and homes? Poignant and political, the extract asked us to imagine many characters and the borders crossed through their connections.

 

Alumnus of City’s former Theatre Writing course, Stephen Jones, read an extract of his story, ‘Pearl’, next. Here windows were reimagined as screens and watching took on a new, unnerving, eerie direction. What story would our windows tell of us?

 

From characters to memoir, Avril Joy, alumna of the Memoir Writing Course, read an extract from ‘Clothes my mother made me – A Memoir’ next. Using the motifs of creative writing suggestions to begin with what you know, to start with something other than death, Avril took us to the deathbed of her narcissistic mother and explored the idea of living on ‘a diet of stones’. A moving reading filled with poetic imagery, it was a taste of the joys the finished memoir will bring.

 

The last of our competition winners to read was Vasundhara Singh, a current Novel Studio student. She read her story ‘Feel, Feeling’ about a pregnant woman at a garden party in India. When confronted with the question, ‘How are you feeling?’ the character longed to answer such a direct and complex question in Hindi rather than English. Exploring the complexities of social interaction, Vasundhara’s performance of the story, her careful rhythms and attention to etymological nuance, was brilliant.

 

With these wonderful stories to follow on from, Kiare Ladner spoke next. She read from the beginning of her debut, Nightshift, an exploration of obsession amidst London’s night workers. Kiare’s character Meggie introduced us to Sabine, the woman with whom Meggie becomes fascinated to such a degree that their friendship ripples through into Meggie’s more mature adult life. Who is Sabine? Where does she come from? Could Meggie ever emulate such insouciant charm?

 

Following her fantastic reading, Kiare answered questions from Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, Visiting Lecturer for the Novel Studio, and also took questions from the audience. The discussion explored the complexities of female friendship, the subtleties of translating in relationships and Kiare’s writing inspirations, methods and tips. She was a fascinating and candid City Writes guest with helpful ideas for all the budding and established authors in the audience.

 

If this sounds too tempting to miss, you can see a video of the whole event here. Click to be transported and do watch out for the City Writes event next term when our professional will be Alex Morrall who’ll be reading from her debut, Helen and the Grandbees (Legend, 2020).

Watch the full event here

Major Event Management webinar hosts an international panel

April 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Students from City’s Major Event Management short course are once again given the chance to attend as leading international event practitioners come together for a discussion of the effects of Covid-19 on their industry.

This event will have a more international focus where special guests will discuss events from across the globe and how differently the pandemic has affected their work.

Kassiani Benou

Kassiani Benou

Born and raised in Kalamata, since 2006 Kassiani has been at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST), where she is the Arts and Cultural Manager and Communication Manager. Having taken her first degree in Greece, she completed her Masters in Arts and Cultural Management in New York and followed it with internships at some of the US’s great cultural institutions. A former host and editor of a national TV show Kassiani is also a founding member of an organization that focuses on the restoration and promotion of Ancient Greek theatres.

Aya El Kara

Aya El Kara

Aya El Kara has long been passionate about event management. After working on a wide variety of corporate and private events in Dubai – including the prestigious Dubai Shopping Festival – she co-founded her own company Essence-Ciel Events in her home country of Lebanon. Essence-Ciel continues today, with Aya as CEO, to provide clients with the best and most memorable events. Aya has also been very socially active, working to support the Beirut community during the period of inflation, covid lockdown and the blast of August 4th.

Glenn Spicker

Glenn Spicker

Glenn Spicker moved to Prague just after the Velvet Revolution and retired as an intrepid traveller and below average student of international relations. Excited about a new democracy and capitalism he ventured into the Restuarant business and also salvaged communist artifacts nobody wanted (or wanted to admit they had) and opened Prague’s Museum of Communism. 25 odd years later he still lives in the city and runs his Burrito Loco fast food shops, the jazz club U maleho Glena, the museum as well as 2 fine dining restaurants  Agave and Cali Brothers. He’s opened more then 20 different businesses…. some of which still survive as of this writing ).

Caroline Wade

Caroline Wade is a hugly-experienced freelance events professional who has worked for Primary Talent and Harvey Goldsmith Entertainments amomg others, and has a relationship of over thirty years with the International Live Music Conference.

Dave Powell

Dave Powell

Dave has 30 years’ experience in event ticketing. He worked at the Royal Albert Hall for 10 years. He has also worked for a number of ticket agencies and venues and in 2020 managed the set-up of ticketing for later cancelled Edinburgh International Festival.

Tune in tonight, Tuesday 13th April, 19:00-20:00 (BST) to watch the event on the City Short Courses Facebook page.
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