Tag: University (page 6 of 7)

City Writes launch

April 2, 2016 / / 0 Comments

by Novel Studio alumnus, Arun Das

The inaugural City Writes event was held on 29th March 2016. Along with author of Owl Song at Dawn, Emma Claire Sweeney, four writers, alumni and students from City’s creative writing short courses read out their work. Each writer was chosen through a competition run by creative writing tutor Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone.

First to read her story was Evleen Mann, with a piece developed as part of the Novel Studio course. Titled Elvis and the Bear, Evleen fictionalised a humorous but poignant conversation between Rock ‘n’ Roll star Elvis Presley and a bear. Evleen is working on a novel as part of the Novel Studio programme.

Eileen Church Riley, a 2010 graduate of the Novel Studio read an extract from her novel The Tumbledown. Set in Western Nevada, United States, The Tumbledown follows Screeching Eagle and Delicate Bird, members of the Paiute-Shoshone Native American Indian tribe.

Lesley Jones, presented an extract The Worst Day, from a supernatural YA novel. Lesley is also working on a fantasy adventure novel for 9 to 12 year-olds and is a current student of the Novel Studio.

C. G. Menon, who’s pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at City, University of London read the short story I see you in Triplicate. Menon has been published in two short story anthologies, Fugue Press’ Siren II and Dahlia Publishing’s Love Across A Broken Map. Menon has also won the Bare Fiction short story prize, the Asian Writer prize, The Short Story award and the Winchester Writers Festival short story prize. She’s been shortlisted for a number of others, including the Fish short story award, the Short Fiction Journal prize, the Willesden Herald prize and two Words and Women awards.

Emma Claire Sweeney read extracts from her novel Owl Song at Dawn. Published by Legend Press in 2016, Owl Song at Dawn, her debut novel, was inspired by her sister who has cerebral palsy and autism.

Emma is a Novel Studio tutor. Her forthcoming book, A Secret Sisterhood: The Hidden Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, is a non-fiction book, which she has co-written with her friend and Novel Studio colleague, Emily Midorikawa. With a foreword by Margaret Atwood, the book will come out in June 2017 with Aurum Press in the UK and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the USA.

City Writes will run every term and will return in the summer on Wednesday 12th July to showcase more of City’s short courses creative writing talent. The deadline for submissions for the summer term is Friday 16th June and readers will be joined by Novel Studio alumna Luiza Sauma who will be reading from her novel Flesh and Bone and Water published by Viking in February 2017.

Arun Das spent ten years working as a journalist and television producer. He moved to England to join his wife and is currently working on a novel as part of the Novel Studio programme.

Down memoir lane

February 16, 2016 / / 0 Comments

By Kamila Zahno

I recently retired from a very active life as a freelance public and voluntary sector consultant and decided to take part in  City’s Narrative Non-Fiction short course.

I had planned to write my memoirs and needed inspiration and structure. I could not find many non-fiction writing courses in London and was glad when I came across this one. The fact that it was offered by an established institution gave me confidence in the quality of education I would receive.

The best thing about the course was the logical structure employed by the tutor, Peter Forbes. He covered a lot of ground in just 10 two-hour classes.

Peter was very organised in his approach, yet there was room for comments by other students. The tutor would read and critique our work and put it up on the overhead so we could all discuss the points raised. He also sent us his slides after each session. These were invaluable as they included a plethora of reference material.

Even with limited time for student interaction due to the intensity of the course, I got to know some of the students quite well. We were all so different with a myriad of writing styles! I learned a lot from our sessions, particularly from the writing tips and examples from selected books.

The course exceeded my expectations. It was very practical and the notes were excellent. We had plenty of varied assignments. In addition, the tutor gave us information about further editing and mentoring help we could get as well as tips on publication.

Throughout the duration of the course, I was able to write my synopsis and book proposal, which was a great start to my memoir. I am now halfway through my manuscript and have submitted 2,000 words to an anthology of the ‘mixed race’ experience of families. This has now been accepted for publication.

This short course provided me with the skills to write my memoir as well as encouragement from both the tutor and fellow students that my story was interesting to a wider audience.

The next step for me is to finish writing my memoir and find a publisher!

Kamila did finish her memoir and has now published it as Chasing Ghosts.

Peter Forbes’ Narrative Non Fiction course runs termly as part of our non-fiction writing course offering.

Consultant on the road to re-invent himself as legal writer with a journalism short course

February 15, 2016 / / 0 Comments

By Richard Firth

I took City’s short course in  Freelance writing: How to get published in print and online course.

I decided to do the course because, like most of us, I am a newspaper reader and was curious to know how journalists operate. I would like to reinvent myself as a legal writer. I felt that the course would buttress my ambition.

I chose City because I had previously attended an evening class here on public speaking and was impressed with it. But also, my father had been an engineering undergraduate at City between the World Wars so I liked the idea of visiting his alma mater!

It was, of course, important to me that City is a reputable institution. It also offered a valuable bonus – access to a good library.

What I enjoyed the most about the course was the ability to hear of the experiences of past and present students.

I’d describe my course tutor, Susan Grossman, as energetic, dogmatic, kind-hearted… She made sure that all of us could contribute to the class. She was very skilful in teaching practical skills, something which, I know from my own practical experience as a teacher of legal drafting, is very difficult.

The course fully met my expectations – I learnt something new in every session.

As for relations with fellow students, my advanced years (67 and a quarter) were not an impediment!

Although I’ve not yet been able to apply what I learnt on my course directly, it helped me to formulate my arguments and win them!

Richard Firth is a lecturer, writer and consultant on derivatives. In the past he has held positions of Senior Consultant at Linklaters LLP, Hong Kong and Director-Legal at Barclays Capital.

Copywriter embraces her heritage through City’s Chinese Mandarin short course

January 20, 2016 / / 0 Comments

By Natasha Cohen

My name is Natasha Cohen and I’m a copywriter at Ocado, the online supermarket. I undertook two years of Chinese Mandarin classes at City, University of London and am currently continuing with a bespoke course.

I decided to take a course in Mandarin because I’m half Chinese but never learned the language. I realised that I wanted to be closer to my culture and heritage beyond family and food (which are brilliant in their own rights, of course).

The City short course ticked all the boxes for me: the institution has a good reputation, it was easy for me to get to, the course content was appealing and the price was right.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the course when I first started, other than learning words and grammar. What I’ve come away with is a foundation of knowledge about the essential structure of the language, which means that I can continue to learn in my own time.

I’ve also met some great people on the course and will definitely stay in contact with them. I’m quite a shy person but the environment at City is very supportive, and once you realise how much your language skills are improving, it’s a real confidence boost. Since starting this course I’ve been pushing myself to try new things and not be afraid of making mistakes.

There have been a few times when I’ve been able to surprise myself and use Mandarin ‘in the wild’. Not so long ago I visited a Chinese restaurant in Brussels where the staff only spoke French and Mandarin. At school I took GCSE French and am still okay at basic conversation, but nothing in my vocabulary covers Chinese food. After I asked the waiter ‘Do you speak English?’ in Chinese and he responded with mild panic, I was able to muddle through in Mandarin. I was nervous but I got by and it was a great moment. The waiter was relieved, too.

My current plan is simply to continue to study Chinese! I’ve been told that it takes five hours of study a day for 88 weeks to become fluent in Mandarin. With a full-time job and other weekly activities and distractions, it’s going to be a long journey for me – but I’m definitely in it for the long haul.

City offers short language courses at all levels in everything from Chinese to Arabic, Russian, French and Spanish. To find out more visit our language short course page. Or follow our twitter updates on @cityshortcourses.

Winners of City Novel Studio competition 2015 announced

October 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of 2015’s City Novel Studio Competition.

In association with Christine Green Author’s Agency, the competition was open to unpublished novelists writing in any fictional genre for adults, but not non-fiction or fiction for children. Course Director, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, and Novel Studio Tutor, Kirstan Hawkins, sifted through the numerous entries and have now made their final decisions. The winners are:

  • Hannah Begbie
  • Louise Beere
  • Jen Glyn

“There were some very strong contenders for the Novel Studio Competition this year,” said Rebekah. “Each of the finalists produced writing with a skill and authority that left me eager to read more. I have high expectations of what this year’s Novel Studio students will go on to achieve in the future.”

Commenting on the finalists, top literary agent Christine Green said: “I enjoyed each one of them hugely – they are very different pieces but each has a strong voice and each one left me wanting more. Without hesitation I can say that I’d love to see more from each of them…Three very talented women.”

Congratulations to Hannah, Louise and Jen.  A terrific start to their Novel Studio year!

The Novel Studio end-of-year student showcase

July 8, 2015 / / 0 Comments

by Rebekah Latin-Rawstrone

This annual event is the culmination of a year-long course for budding novelists studying on The Novel Studio programme. Twelve students read extracts from their debut novels to a packed audience of family, friends and publishing industry guests.

The work spanned a huge range of genres and themes encompassing satire, crime, young adult and historical fiction, amongst many others, and exploring such diverse worlds as the Arab Spring and the murky dealings of Global Finance. Fresh, contemporary and resonant, the work drew admiration from attendees at the Performance Space, with Course Director Emily Pedder commenting on this year’s talent as ‘exceptional’.

Since the event several students have been approached by agents wanting to see more of their work. Watch this space for further news!

For more information on the course and its growing list of published alumni, visit The Novel Studio.

Winners of City Novel Studio competition 2014 announced

October 3, 2014 / / 0 Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of our inaugural City Novel Studio Competition 2014.

In a rare opportunity to bypass the slush pile, all applications to the Novel Studio this year were automatically considered for our City Novel Studio Competition, in association with Christine Greene Author’s Agency. The competition was open to unpublished novelists writing in any fictional genre for adults, including literary fiction, women’s fiction, science fiction, young adult fiction, chick-lit, fantasy, crime fiction, thriller, historical fiction, but not non-fiction or fiction for children. Course Director, Emily Pedder, and Novel Studio Tutor, Emily Midorikawa, sifted through the numerous entries have now made their final decisions. The winners are:

  • Giles Anderson
  • Tara Basi
  • Meera Betab

The judges commented on the ‘high standard’ of the applications this year and the difficulty in choosing the top three. However, the best three entries stood out for their ‘originality, style and distinctive voice’. They have now been passed on to Natalie Butlin, a top agent at Christine Green Authors’ Agency, with a view to representation. Congratulations to Giles, Tara and Meera!

City hosts inaugural CPD Forum Conference

June 8, 2014 / / 0 Comments

City, University of London hosted the CPD Forum Conference ‘Professional Best Practice: Past, Present and Future’ on 20th June, in partnership with Central Saint Martins, King’s College London and Imperial College London.

The event was a great success, with an unprecedented attendance rate of 96% and delegates coming from as far afield as Cork to listen to keynote speakers and take part in group workshops.

Speakers included Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy; Dr JoEllyn Prouty McLaren, Director of Cass Executive Education; and Professor Yvonne Hillier, Professor of Education at the University of Brighton, covering topics such as development of executive education and the future of lifelong learning.

The afternoon workshops, hosted by the conference organisers, received fantastic delegate participation, and revealed common issues faced with CPD programmes in various institutions, including marketing, administration and international CPD. The workshops aimed to find solutions to challenges highlighted by delegates, but the recurring themes illustrated the need for future CPD conferences.

The conference was “very useful from both a professional knowledge-enhancing perspective, as well as from a networking perspective,” said one delegate.

Bill Richardson, Manager of CPD Programmes at City, University of London, and one of the CPD Forum organisers, said “the forum materialised initially through a need for London higher education institutions (HEIs) to engage and share experiences and best practice for delivering CPD and short course programmes. We are delighted that our mutual interests now extend beyond London and we were extremely please to welcome a wide variety of institutions from across the UK.

“We hope that this is the start of an annual event, bringing all professionals together to transform the future delivery of CPD programmes.”

Launched to success through The Novel Studio

May 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

By Emily Pedder

Before embarking on a novel writing course at City, University of London, Steve Young worked as a freelance comedian and theatre director: “I toured the UK performing, and directed several times with the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. I had a personal interest in writing and wanted to explore it. I had written thousands of jokes and vignettes, but was looking for a forum to go into more serious writing.”

Steve chose to pursue his love of writing in London, “the heart of literature central.” But it was a WWII veteran, and literature graduate from Oxford, who suggested City. “His professors were JR Tolkien and CS Lewis,” says Steve, “he told me I reminded him of CS Lewis…unfortunately, having more to do with my physical size than talent. He heard me read a bit of a novel-in-progress at a local social event, and we met.  I used to come by his home, have a few scotches or schnapps, and I’d read aloud whatever I was working on. When it came time to look for a course, we considered the possibilities, but agreed City, University of London was the right fit, I was impressed that the faculty were all writers and editors.”

Steve started by completing two short story courses, and was advised to apply for The Novel Studio, which he felt helped his work enormously, “I had excellent instructors working in the field. They pushed and challenged me.  I loved the fact that they were direct and honest about my work. The rigorous student selection process created a group of extremely talented beginning novelists, who made a huge contribution to my work.  I always felt there was a vested interest in my work and my classmates were committed to my success and I to theirs.”

Since completing The Novel Studio at City, Steve has found great success as an award-winning playwright. Under the Overpass won the TeCo New Play Competition literary award, and The Wal*Mart-ians was a finalist for the Reva Shiner Comedy Awards at the Bloomington Playwright Project out of a thousand entrants. The King’s Face won both the FutureFest and Southwest Playwriting Competitions, and is currently a live semi-finalist at the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, receiving a staged reading in May at the Blank Theatre in Los Angeles. A few amongst many other varying accolades. Steve’s new play, The Night Witches, will be performed at the Brighton Fringe Festival in May.

“I had some mild success as a writer prior to the course, but The Novel Studio really launched me forward.  It made me brave on the page. It gave me a discerning eye.  I loved every minute of it.”

For more on the course and our growing list of published alumni visit our home page here.

For updates on courses and event follow us @cityshortcourses.

Kickstarted by Screenwriting at City

May 20, 2014 / / 0 Comments

By Gemma Holdway

Before I started the Screenwriting course at City, University of London, I was an Assistant Producer for a production company.

I decided to pursue a short course because my profession was not creatively fulfilling. I needed to explore something different. Screenwriting was at the top of my list.  I was passionate about film and writing and had always wanted to combine the two. But I had no formal training. I’d read Robert McKee’s Story and enjoyed the read, retaining as much as I could. But for me personally, reading a book doesn’t give me the drive I need to pursue a new creative outlet. So, I decided on an evening course once a week. As I worked long hours, this was what I could commit to for 10 weeks.

I knew City’s reputation prior to signing up for the course. City has a relationship with Ryerson University in Toronto. Ryerson is where I studied journalism years ago. Both institutions value practical experience and that’s something I appreciate. Theory is certainly important but I wanted to come out of the programme feeling more confident about writing in the screenplay format.

I studied Screenwriting at City. We met for a few hours once a week. It was a good amount of time to go over some theory, analyse clips and complete a few writing exercises as well. Every class had a focus like visual storytelling or perspective, or character but Dictynna Hood, the course tutor, kept it interesting. We’d learn, apply what we’d learned in groups or independently and then we’d share. Classrooms can be intimidating but we had a great group. Everyone was supportive. And by the end, we walked away with a completed short script and thorough feedback from Dictynna. That’s a huge plus in my books. Overall, it’s an excellent introduction to screenwriting. You learn the basic tools and walk away with the confidence to use them.

Studying at City, University of London was a good experience because the course kickstarted my life in a completely new direction. After I completed the course, I knew in my gut that this was what I was supposed to be doing and I was hungry for it. I took a leap of faith. I quit my job and literally pursued my dream. This was a career path that I didn’t think was attainable but it is. You just have to want it enough. If I hadn’t taken the short course, I don’t think I’d ever have taken such a risk.

I’d love to come back for more courses. I’m living in Vancouver, Canada now but I miss London and a short course is the perfect way to get those creative juices flowing, meet people or just try something new.

As for immediate plans, I’m just about to take off for Victoria to work on a new series as the script coordinator. The series is called Gracepoint. It’s an adaptation of the very popular British series Broadchurch. David Tennant will also be reprising his role in the US series.

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