Tag: City short courses (page 1 of 5)

City Writes Springs into 2025 with an Exciting in-person Literary Extravaganza

January 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments

City Writes Springs into 2025 with an exciting in-person literary extravaganza and submissions are open.

City Writes, the showcase for all the creative writing talent coming from the short creative writing courses here at City St. George’s, is back and supercharged for Spring. We will be holding the event in person in Northampton Square, 7pm 26th March, and we have a bumper line up.

Not only do we have the amazing Short Story Writing alumna Han Smith, a 2024 Goldsmiths Prize shortlisted author coming to read from her debut novel, Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking, we also have readings from some of our incredibly talented tutors: Jem Bartholomew, Caroline Green, Katy Darby and Martin Ouvry. More details of all four tutors will be forthcoming over the next few weeks, so do keep an eye on your inbox.

Han Smith grew up in Japan, Russia, the UK and elsewhere. A queer writer, translator and adult literacy teacher, Han is the recipient of a 2019/2020 London Writers Award, and has been shortlisted/longlisted for the 2019 Mslexia Novella Award, the Bridport Prize, the Desperate Literature short story prize, and the Brick Lane short story prize. She has also been published by Lunate, Five Dials, Cipher Press, Versopolis, Litro, The Interpreter’s House and the European Poetry Festival. She lives in London. Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking is her debut novel and was shortlisted for the 2024 Goldsmiths Prize.

We couldn’t be more delighted by her visit to City Writes. She’ll be reading from Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking and taking part in a Q&A with tutor and City Writes host, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone. We’ll then be asking our tutors to join us on stage for a broader Q&A with the audience.

Joining this stellar line up will be our competition winners. This could be you!

For your chance to read your work on stage, in person, with Han Smith, Jem Bartholomew, Katy Darby, Caroline Green and Martin Ouvry, all you need to do is send the best 1,000 words of creative fiction or non-fiction to rebekah.lattin-rawstrone.1@city.ac.uk with details of your name and the short course you took, or are taking, by Friday 28th February. Full details and submission guidelines are here. Whilst we accept YA, we don’t currently accept children’s fiction, poetry or scripts. There will be five competition winning slots available and we can’t wait to read your submissions.

In the meantime, don’t forget to save the date for the event. It is free and doors open at 6.30pm for drinks and nibbles. Mark your diaries for City Writes Spring 2025 at Northampton Square, 7pm, 26th March. The booking link will be available very soon! As an extra bonus, all attendees get 10% off their next Creative Writing Short Course. City Writes Spring 2025 needs to be in your diary now!

Starting the Year with a New Skill: Embrace Learning at City St George’s

December 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments

New Year’s resolutions often feel like a list of restrictions: exercise more, cut out chocolate, reduce alcohol intake. But what if we reframed our approach? Instead of focusing on what we can’t do, let’s concentrate on what we can learn.

 Why Learning Matters

Research consistently demonstrates the benefits of acquiring new skills. Learning:

 Discover Your Next Skill at City St George’s

This year, break free from traditional resolutions. Our short courses offer exciting opportunities to expand your horizons:

 Learn a Language

Brush up on your Business Skills

Start your Story

Craft your Creativity

Computer says Yes

 

Your Journey Starts Here

Learning doesn’t need to be one more thing on your to do list—it’s about discovery and personal transformation. Choose a course that sparks your curiosity and embark on a journey towards your own personal growth.

Explore our range of short courses and turn this new year into an opportunity for personal and professional development. Book soon to avoid disappointment.

Have a question? Contact our friendly short course team on shortcourses@city.ac.uk

 

Announcing the City Writes Autumn 2024 Competition Winners!

December 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

 By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

Congratulations to Joanna Bawa, Doug Kessler, Audrey Madden, Tunde Oyebode, Aditi Parekh and Robin Sheeran, this term’s winners of the City Writes competition! From complex family histories, through childhood summer afternoons, airport queues, befriending apps and graveyards all the way to AI envisioned futures, this term’s selection of writing has it all. You can hear these fantastic stories being read by their authors alongside debut crime writer Jo Cunningham, at this term’s City Writes event on the 11th December at 7pm on Zoom. Register here to come along and read on for more information on our wonderful winners.

Joanna Bawa is a professional and creative writer, currently working as a ghostwriter. This complements her work as a cognitive behavioural therapist, combining an appreciation of the power of words and the complexity of human nature. She belongs to a local writing group where her fiction and poetry has won awards, and her first novel was longlisted in the 2019 Mslexia novel competition. She is working on a second novel, and her piece for City Writes, ‘DeathDefy’, may become a third. Joanna is an alumna of the Writing the Memoir course.

Doug Kessler is an expat Yank who’s lived and worked in London for the last 34 years.
He’s a marketing copywriter and agency founder but pretty new to narrative non-fiction, short stories, and poetry. Adam in 20 Snapshots is his first book-length project, of which he will be reading an extract. Doug is a Narrative Non-Fiction alumnus.

Audrey Madden is currently writing her first book while working in the not for profit arts and culture sector. She has a degree in English & Comparative Literature from Goldsmiths University. Her work is inspired by nature and the different environments that exist across the United States and the UK. A Writers’ Workshop alumna, Audrey will be reading an extract from her novel, Matriarchal Lines.

Aditi Parekh is an aspiring writer and student of Writers’ Workshop. She is interested in human psychology, particularly the dark triads and group dynamics. She is currently working on a novel, with the working title The Sabbatical, which describes a woman’s struggle with drug addiction and her descent into madness. She will be reading an extract from the novel.

Tunde Oyebode is a Nigerian-British architect and writer based in East London. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, his fiction explores human relationships and African diaspora experiences. His work has been featured in Stylist Magazine, Obsidian, and Solstice Literary Magazine. A finalist for the 2023 London Independent Story Prize and the 2024 Solstice Literary Magazine Prize, he was also nominated for Best of the Net. Tunde is currently looking to publish a collection of interconnected short stories. Outside writing, he enjoys cycling and photographing architecture. A Writers’ Workshop alumnus, Tunde will be reading ‘To Crazy Shane’.

Robin Sheeran is a native of Belfast. He studied Film and Literature at Warwick University and is a former BBC journalist. Robin is interested in producing stonking characters and crackling dialogue. His work uses dark humour to examine how we relate to each other. Robin is the current holder of the international Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award for his writing for New Humanist. He ghostwrote Going the Distance, the autobiography of endurance cyclist Joe Barr, published by Gill Books in 2021. A Short Story Writing alumnus, Robin will be reading his story, ‘Summer Job’.

Just from reading their biographies you get a sense of the night of stories that awaits on Wednesday 11th December at 7pm over Zoom. Alongside these wonderful competition winners will be our cosy crime author and Novel Studio alumna, Jo Cunningham, whose novel Death By Numbers came out earlier this year. Register here to listen to all these authors on 11th December at 7pm. Can’t wait to see you there!

Guest alumna Jo Cunningham, author of Death by Numbers

Announcing 2024’s Novel Studio Literary Agent Competition Winners!

November 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2024/2025 Novel Studio Literary Agent Competition: Merveille Ondekane, Connor Maxwell, and Madison Silverman.

The Novel Studio is City St George’s flagship short course for aspiring novelists, offering 15 writers dedicated time and support to hone their craft. The competition is a rare opportunity for students to bypass the typical manuscript submission process and connect directly with literary agent Lucy Luck, agent at C&W Agency.

Merveille Ondekane, Connor Maxwell, and Maddie Silvs were chosen from a pool of exceptionally strong entries. Course Director Emily Pedder noted, “We’re very excited by these three writers and can’t wait to see their novels progress this coming year.”

 

Winner Merveille Ondekane

Merveille Ondekane’s journey as an aspiring novelist began with City University’s An Approach to Creative Writing course, where she discovered her passion for bringing the worlds and characters in her imagination to life. In her own words:  “As a newcomer to the literary world, I wanted to deepen my understanding of novel crafting, which led me to the intensive Novel Studio course—a year-long experience I was fortunate to join after being awarded a scholarship. Winning the Novel Studio Literary Agent competition, especially among such a talented group of writers, is an incredible honour, and I’m looking forward to connecting with Lucy Luck at C&W Agency as I continue to develop my novel.”

Winner Connor Maxwell

Connor Maxwell is a Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he is working to advance a $460 million initiative to increase upward economic mobility and opportunity in the United States. He has served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the White House, an Economic Policy Advisor on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, a Policy Analyst on the Biden-Harris Presidential Campaign, and as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress. Born and raised in the District of Columbia, he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Policy from the University of Virginia. Currently living and working in London, he enjoys reading and writing fiction that sheds light on lesser-known historical events and perspectives. He completed the City, University of London Novel Writing and Longer Works short course before joining the Novel Studio.

Maddie Silvs is a debut novelist with her coming-of-age novel, Stardust. She is a Penn State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in public relations. A Philly girl at heart, she currently resides in the sunshine state in Delray Beach, Florida. Working as an Events Manager for Cambridge University Press, the written word has always been her safe space. She googled funny author bios, but really couldn’t come up with much to say about herself other than, “go birdz baby.”

Winner Maddie SIlvs

The Novel Studio has a strong track record of published alumni, including recent bestsellers and award winners such as Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Anna Mazzola’s  The Unseeing, The Story Keeper, The Clockwork Girl,  and The House of Whispers, and Harriet Tyce’s Blood Orange, The Lies You Told, It Ends At Midnight and A Lesson in Cruelty.

Congratulations to Merveille, Connor, and Madison! We look forward to supporting them and their fellow students as they develop their novels over the next year.

Writing Short Course News Roundup 2024

October 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Whether you’re taking a course with us this term or were a student in the past, we want to inspire your writing with the latest news from our short course alumni and tutors.

The Novel Studio 

Alan Gray (also alumnus of WW and SS) has been awarded the Sonny and Gita UK Scholarship to complete his MA in creative writing at UEA.

Kathrine Bancroft has had one of her poems longlisted for the 2024 Aurora Prize. She is also a London Independent Story Prize Poetry Finalist.

Katy Darby’s Writers’ Workshop and Short Story Writing alumna Isabel Blake has been accepted on the Creative Writing MA at UEA, while Erica Buist has just completed her Cambridge MSt in Creative Writing, has been longlisted for the BBC’s annual callout for scripts and is now teaching Creative Writing at City Lit.

Peter Forbes’ Narrative Non Fiction alumna Melissa Cornet has had her firstEnglish piece published in July in the London Review of Books, about her work in Afghanistan on Gender apartheid. She is also confirmed to publish a piece in the Guardian this month.

Tutor News

Anna Wilson has two books out this autumn: Be Back Soon is a picture book about swallow migration, illustrated by Jenny Bloomfield and published by Andersen Press and A Story of the Seasons, a large-format non-fiction picture book about seven habitats throughout the seasons, illustrated by Carolina Rabei and published by Nosy Crow and the National Trust. Both books have been translated into other European languages including French, German and Danish.

One-day Courses

There are plenty of options for anyone keen on one-day writing courses: our ever-popular Introduction to Copywriting with Maggie Richards is available monthly; while our Writing the Memoir course is now taught by the brilliant Anna Wilson (see above). And the dynamic duo of Anna Tsekouras and Pete Austin, aka Anon Agency, run our Intro to Branding course. This term we are also introducing a brand new course, Content Writing, taught by the fabulous Tamsin Mackay.

Opportunities

City Writes

City Writes is City, University of London’s termly writing event, showcasing the best of City Short Courses writing talent.

Hosted by longstanding short courses tutor, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, and into its seventh year, City Writes provides an opportunity for the best new writers from the City Short Courses community to read an extract of their work, sharing the stage with one of our published alumni or tutors reading from their new or award-winning publication.

This term’s guest alumna will be debut cosy crime author and Novel Studio alumna, Jo Cunningham. Jo’s novel, Death by Numbers, was published by Constable in August this year. This delicious crime has had rave reviews and who could resist a novel about an actuary investigating a spate of deaths in Eastbourne? Hilarious and gripping, this is the perfect novel to see you through the cold winter nights. Buy your copy ahead of the event here.

To join Jo on the virtual stage, all you need to do is submit your best 1,000 words of creative fiction or non-fiction (we do accept young adult fiction but don’t currently accept children’s fiction) on any subject to rebekah.lattin-rawstrone.2@city.ac.uk with details of the City short course you are taking or have taken by midnight on Friday 15th November. Competition and submission guidelines can be found here. 

We can’t wait to read your submissions and if you are keen to secure your place for the night, you can register for the event here. Good luck!

Key Dates:

Our Writing for Social Impact course continues to offer a scholarship for one young student (18-25) from an underrepresented background and/or facing financial difficulty. Please contact the tutor, Ciaran Thapar, for more information on this opportunity.

All current students of Introduction to Copywriting, Writing for Business and Narrative Non-Fiction courses are eligible to submit an idea for a blog post for short courses. If the idea is accepted, and the written piece meets our standards, it will be professionally edited and published on our blog.

The annual Book Edit Writers’ Prize is open for submissions until 15 October 2024. Judged this year by Novel Studio alumna Lara Haworth and run in association with Legend Press, this is a fantastic (and free) opportunity for any unpublished novelist from a community currently underrepresented in UK publishing. What’s up for grabs? Chance to share your work with top agents. A mentoring session with a Legend Press Commissioning Editor. A supportive community of talented writers and tailored advice from industry experts. For more details please click HERE.

Open Evening

And finally, we are running an open evening with taster sessions on 11th December. Details will be available soon but watch this space or check the website for links to registration.

That’s all for now. Keep on writing and keep your stories coming into us. And huge congratulations to all our alumni and tutors.

Back to School: Expand Your Horizons with City’s Online Short Courses

September 16, 2024 / / 0 Comments

As the autumn leaves turn to brown, that familiar ‘back to school’ feeling settles in. But who says learning is just for kids? It’s never too late to expand your knowledge, develop new skills, or explore a passion you’ve always wanted to pursue.

This autumn why not embrace the spirit of lifelong learning and enrol on one of our online short courses? Whether you’re looking to advance your career, indulge a creative interest, or simply challenge yourself, we have something for everyone.

Diverse Course Offerings

City’s online short course program spans six subject areas:

  1. Business and Management: From entrepreneurship to project management, gain the skills to thrive in today’s competitive business world.
  2. Computing: Dive into the digital realm with courses on programming, cybersecurity, and data analysis.
  3. Creative Industries: Unleash your artistic potential with courses in Music Business, Event Management, and more.
  4. Languages: Open doors to new cultures and opportunities by learning a new language or improving your existing skills.
  5. Law: Explore the complexities of the English legal system, learn about specific areas of law, or enhance your understanding of legal principles and practices.
  6. Writing: Whether you dream of penning the next bestseller or want to enhance your professional writing, our courses will help you find your voice.

Flexible Learning for Busy Lives

Our online courses are delivered over zoom or teams so that you can join from home and fit education around your work and personal commitments. With expert instructors, interactive content, and a supportive community, you’ll have all the tools you need to succeed.

Invest in Yourself

In today’s rapidly changing world, continuous learning isn’t just an option—it’s a necessity. By enrolling on one of our short courses, you’re investing in your future, opening new doors, and keeping your mind sharp and engaged.

So why wait? Embrace the ‘back to school’ spirit and take the first step towards your next achievement.

Ready to start your learning journey? Explore our courses or email our friendly short course team on shortcourses@city.ac.uk. Your next learning adventure is just around the corner.

Celebrating Literary Dreams: The Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship Empowers Aspiring Novelist

September 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Scholarship Winner Merveille Faila

We are thrilled to announce that Merveille Faila will be 2024’s recipient of the Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship. This generous scholarship, supported by City Alumni Ambassador George Politis, provides a fully funded place on our prestigious year-long Novel Studio programme, aiming to provide opportunities for talented, aspiring novelists from low-income households.

The Novel Studio offers a structured and supportive environment for writers to learn about the craft of novel writing and to develop their own novels over the course of a year.  The course has built a reputation for spotting and nurturing emerging novelists and has a very strong track record of published alumni. Through the Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship, we are able to open doors for talented individuals who might otherwise face financial barriers to pursuing their writing ambitions.

This year’s scholarship recipient, Merveille Faila, has said:

“It is a great honour to be the recipient of the Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship. As someone aspiring to develop my voice as an emerging writer, the scholarship provides the resources to do so in a structured and supportive environment. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to gain greater exposure to the literary world, and to learn and grow in my experience of crafting a novel.”

This sentiment embodies the very essence of what the scholarship and the Novel Studio programme aim to achieve – fostering new voices, building confidence, and providing the tools and connections necessary for success in the literary world.

George Politis has said:

“It is such a great honour to support literature and talent.  I try to follow in my dad’s footsteps, always curious.  That’s why we launched the FinTech. Lab at Bayes, all about innovations and technology.  Progress requires creativity and imagination.  The Novel Studio is all about that, training our future inspiring novelists. Congratulations to Merveille, eager to hear your voice!”

We are hugely grateful to George Politis for his visionary support. By funding this scholarship in honour of his late father, Captain Tasos Politis, George is investing in the future of literature.

The Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship also represents City’s commitment to diversity in literature and our belief in the power of storytelling to shape our understanding of the world. We look forward to being part of Merveille’s writing journey as she embarks on her Novel Studio year.

For anyone interested in City’s writing short courses, join us for our online open evening on Wednesday September 11 where you will have a chance to try one of our free taster sessions. Full details avaiable here.

City Short Courses Open Evening September 2024

August 15, 2024 / / 0 Comments

As the new term approaches, we’re excited to offer a selection of taster events at our free online event next month. Whether you’re considering taking another course with us or joining for the first time, these events provide an opportunity to sample our courses and engage with our expert Short Courses team.

We’re hosting two events: the first is specifically for Language courses and will take place in-person on Wednesday 4 September at our Northampton Square campus, London EC1V OHB. We are excited to be hosting our first short courses event on campus since 2020, highlighting our popular language courses. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to brush up on your skills, this event is perfect for you. We are offering two 40-minute taster sessions to give you a feel for our exciting language courses starting in October.

Register for this first event here:

Languages Short Course Taster Evening

Wednesday 4 September 2024, 5.30pm – 7.30pm

Tasters include:

  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Russian

The second event, held online on Wednesday 11 September, will showcase all our short courses available online, from Business to Computing, Creative Industries, Law, Languages and Writing.

Register for this second event here:

Short Courses Online Taster Evening

Wednesday 11 September 2024, 18:00 – 19:30 (BST)

Tasters include:

  • Arabic Beginners
  • Chinese Beginners
  • Crime and Thriller Writing
  • French Beginners
  • Introduction to Programming with Python
  • Japanese Beginners
  • JavaScript: An Introduction to JavaScript Programming
  • Korean Beginners
  • Human Rights Law
  • Major Event Management
  • Narrative Non-Fiction
  • Photoshop: An Introduction
  • PowerShell Basics
  • Russian Beginners
  • Short Story Writing
  • Spanish Beginners
  • Starting up in Business
  • Writing for Business

Additionally, we will have virtual enquiry desks for all other courses, should you wish to know more about the content and booking.

If you have any questions about any of these events or our courses, please get in touch.

We look forward to meeting you.

City Short Courses Team

Interview with Jo Cunningham, author of debut novel Death by Numbers

July 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Next week sees the launch of debut cosy crime novel, Death By Numbers, written by City Novel Studio alumna Jo Cunningham. Jo took time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions ahead of publication day. Read on for her answers and for more details about the book.

 

  1. When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

Glossing over my dubious childhood poetry and notebooks full of random jottings, I didn’t start writing ‘seriously’ until my early thirties. I went on a beginners Arvon course for a week, with no expectations, and by the end of the course I was hooked. One of the tutors on the course recommended the courses at City University for novice writers and…

 

  1. Who are you currently reading?

I have just finished reading The Misadventures of Margaret Finch by Claire McGlasson which is a beautifully written novel about a young woman in 1930s Blackpool who questions how she observes others, and herself. Next up, is Kala by Colin Walsh – I’m going to hear him speak about the book soon, so that’s exciting. And after that on my TBR pile is Monumenta by Lara Haworth – after hearing Lara’s amazing talk at the recent City Writes event, I had to get her book!

 

  1. You’ve studied creative writing and also worked hard at the craft of writing on your own. What’s been the most useful thing you’ve learned about writing a novel?

Yikes – just one thing? At the moment, I’m in an editing phase, and as I re-read each scene, I ask myself ‘Does this scene earn its keep?’ – is there enough happening to keep it – does it push the story and the characters forward? If the answer is ‘No’ then I either need to rework the scene or ditch it.

 

  1. What kind of qualities does a writer need?

Persistence and resilience.  It took me many years from starting to write novels to reach the publication stage. The main thing you must do is finish the novel. I know that sounds glib, but not everyone does. The next thing is dealing with rejection. I wish had some words of wisdom on that. Rejection hurts, but you somehow have to get over it and keep going. Even now I’m at the publication stage, I know there will be more of that to face in the future but… you only need that one person to say ‘yes’!

 

  1. What made you write a cosy crime novel? What is it about the genre that appeals to you?

Back in 2017, I’d just put another novel in the ‘bottom drawer’ and wanted to start something new. I’d been reading Douglas Adam’s Dirk Gently detective novels and was inspired to start on a humorous detective book. I read and watch a lot of cosy crime – there’s something oddly comforting about knowing everything will be resolved and usually there’s a good dose of humour included.

Author Jo Cunningham

  1. Can you tell us about your path to publication?

I’d describe it more as an obstacle course where I created some of the obstacles. For my first three novels, I didn’t bother with looking for an agent or publisher – I didn’t think they were of a good enough standard and perhaps I was trying to put off being rejected… they went straight in the bottom drawer. But the fourth novel I did send round to five or six agents. I got a couple of personal replies in amongst standard rejections and tumbleweed. I think I should have been a bit more persistent at this stage – please see my own advice about writer qualities above. Anyhow… when it came to the fifth novel, Death by Numbers, I decided I would really go for it. I sent the novel out in small batches to agents. I started to get full-read requests which boosted my confidence – this is when the agent has enjoyed the excerpt that you’ve sent and now wants to read the whole manuscript. Eventually I got an offer from my amazing agent Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency – from sending in a submission to the ‘slushpile’ – so yes, it can happen.

 

  1. What advice would you have for someone starting out writing a novel?

I’ve benefitted enormously from taking courses, getting feedback at workshops, and reading books to help improve different writing skills – structure, character, productivity. But there were times when I had step back and work out what was going to work for me. I guess my advice is that you have figure it out so that you create your own advice for yourself.

 

  1. What are you working on now?

I’m currently finishing off a batch of edits on the second book in the cosy crime series featuring Una, an actuary and a detective. It’s called Pet Hates and is due to come out in August 2025. Writing the next book in series has been a learning curve, as it has to be standalone but still have some touches that make it feel there’s some continuity for anyone who’s read the first one.

Thanks so much, Jo! We can’t wait to read the novel!

Death by Numbers will be published on 1 August and you can order a copy here.

Jo will also be our guest at next term’s City Writes. Full information on how to enter the competition or how to come along and listen to Jo read from her novel will be available on the website soon.

For more information about our writing short courses, visit our website here, or come along to the virtual open evening in September. Full information on the free taster sessions available and how to register can be found here.

City Writes Summer 2024: A Monumental Event

July 12, 2024 / / 0 Comments

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

While half the country were on the edges of their seats watching football, us lucky few were treated to a night of storytelling, imagination and the excitement of hearing the inner world of consciousness burst out from the page.

 

City Writes is a termly event set up to showcase the best talent from City’s creative writing Short Courses. It’s a game of two halves (I couldn’t resist): readings from competition winners, students and alumni of City’s creative writing short courses who enter their best 1,000 words of fiction or creative non-fiction into the termly competition; and a visit from a published alumni or tutor and this term we managed to score the wonderful Lara Haworth, whose debut Monumenta came out with Canongate on the 4th July.

 

We began the night with the competition winners and Dee Miller, recent Novel Studio alumna, kicked things off with an extract from her Middle Grade novel, Between Wind and Water. We were enthralled as Geal, guardian of Spring, discovers all the people and animals of their local village are gone, leaving only footprints, paw marks and hoof prints behind. It was easy to imagine a young audience being gripped by this fantastical and energetic tale.

 

We heard from An Approach to Creative Writing alumna, Emily Edwards next as she read her multi-perspective story, ‘Laurie’. Who was this rather wild woman and what happened that night? A story that leaves the central character absent but all over the text, it was a thrilling and eerie listen. The audience were left wanting more in all the right ways.

 

Moving from one dark scenario to another, Flora Tonking read her story, ‘The Playing Field’ next. Another recent Novel Studio graduate, Flora’s story was inspired by events in her mystery novel, Chosen Family, and certainly proved her expert turn of phrase and her ability to leave bodies bleeding in the dark. A very haunting and moving story. Bring on the novel!

 

From fiction to creative non-fiction, we were treated to a wonderful portrait of Constance Markiewicz next as Fact-Based Storytelling alumna, Pamela Welsh, read her piece, ‘A Countess in Combat’. Constance’s life from riches to revolution was inspiring and a wonderful advertisement for Pamela’s book project on women in conflict. That’s a book I think we’ll all be eager to pick up.

 

Another Novel Studio alumna and City Writes veteran, Jill Craig read next. Her story, ‘Estrangement’, took us onto a boat ride with her main character, on her way to see her estranged mother with a new boyfriend, desperate to reach out to her sister, the one who remained her touchstone of safety. So full of emotional turmoil and laced with lyrical writing, the audience were putty in Jill’s hands.

 

Next, we heard from Margaret Rogerson, our final competition winner and another recent Novel Studio graduate. Margaret read an extract from her novel, I Was, Once. She transported us into those delicate teenage years, fourteen and eager to find excitement in life. Her character found herself on holiday in a campsite surrounded by an aunt preoccupied with ‘that stupid baby’ and a whole host of men hungry to watch her cartwheel. Let’s hope Margaret publishes soon so that we can read the rest of this story with such a compelling and funny voice at its heart.

 

After such a stellar set of competition winning readers, it was a good thing we had multi-talented artist, filmmaker and now writer, Lara Haworth as our guest speaker. A Novel Studio alumna who read an early extract from Monumenta at City Writes back in 2021, Lara is a phenomenal writer dear to our hearts. Her debut, Monumenta is a book that examines how we remember collectively and in private. The Guardian says it  ‘fizzes with ideas’ and Bookmunch say it ‘Deserves a place on awards shortlists’ and the City Writes audience couldn’t agree more. Over the next half an hour or so Lara introduced us to the book through her answers to my questions and some wonderful short readings from a small novel that really packs a punch.

Author and City alumna Lara Haworth

Set in Belgrade, the novel opens with Olga Pavić receiving a letter from the government. It tells her that her house is being requisitioned in order to turn it into a monument for a massacre. But which one? No one seems to know. It’s a novel that explores memory in all its present, personal and civic interpretations. It was such a delight to speak with Lara and you can hear her readings, our conversation and all of the competition winners by clicking on this link to the video of the night. It really was a monumental night. Buy your copy of Monumenta here.

 

Thank you, Lara, thank you competition winners, thank you audience members and Emily Pedder for supporting this event. It truly is a showcase for the talent coming from the short creative writing courses at City and what talent there is. Next term, City Writes returns with alumna Jo Cunningham as our guest. Jo’s debut, Death by Numbers comes out with Hachette this August. It’s a seaside comedy crime that will have us burning on our beach towels. Listen to the event HERE and watch this space for details of City Writes Autumn 2024.

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