Summer News 2024

It's been a busy Summer, with lots of good news building up since our last News post (which you can read here). So it feels like a good time to share some of the great things students and staff have been doing in the Centre for New Writing at Leicester. 

Creative Writing News, August 2024

Firstly, congratulations to all the final-year BA students who took Creative Writing either at programme or modular level, and who graduated this July! Many of the current MA Creative Writing students and MA Modern and Contemporary Literature and Creative Writing students are now approaching the end of their course, so good luck to them as they complete their dissertations.

Congratulations to second-year English with Creative Writing student Grace Klemperer, who won both this year's John Coleman Prize (for best undergraduate non-poetry submission) and G. S. Fraser Prize (for best undergraduate poetry submission). And congratulations too to Shauna Strathmann and Sara Waheed, who received Honourable Mentions in the G. S. Fraser Prize. 

In early May, we published all five of the winning of entries of the "Nature, the Environment and Sustainability Competition," which the Centre for New Writing ran earlier this year in conjunction with the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability, and was judged by celebrated author Mark Cocker. You can now read the winning stories on Creative Writing at Leicester by Carol Rowntree Jones, Sam Dawson, Alice Newitt, Lee Wright, and Sophie Sparham.

Congratulations to Laura Besley and Tina Jay, both of whom have been awarded Midlands4Cities AHRC Funding to undertake PhDs in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. Congratulations to Maisie Ridgway, who has been awarded a Leverhulme Early Career Trust Fellowship for post-doctoral research in Creative Writing. 

Everybody's Reviewing, our book review sister site, has now had well over 400,000 readers. Congratulations and thanks to all concerned: our reviewers, interviewers, interviewees, editors and readers. Creative Writing at Leicester has had over 250,000 readers. Again, thanks to all our contributors, editors and readers. 

Student and Staff News, August 2024

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Jess Bacon, whose moving article about her father's illness was recently published in The Metro here. 

PhD Creative Writing student Joe Bedford has reviewed Hope Never Knew Horizon by Douglas Bruton for Everybody's Reviewing here, and The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo here. 

Congratulations to Laura Besley, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose story "The Pros and Cons of Conditioning" is published by Northern Gravy here. Laura's story "Oh, So Brightly" was shortlisted for the A4 Scratch Books Competition. You can read it here. 

Congratulations to Constantine, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose new novel Alien Boy was recently published. You can read more about the novel, and an excerpt from it, on Creative Writing at Leicester here. Constantine has also reviewed Legion of Lost Letters by Debasish Lahiri for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

MA Creative Writing graduate Lauren Foster has reviewed A Marginal Sea by Zoë Skoulding for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Tracey Foster, whose haiku was longlisted for the Haiku Foundation's "Magnificent Trees" Competition. You can read her entry here. Tracey also had three poems featured in Rhythm Zine, which was on exhibition in the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham in late May. Tracey has written a review of All Sorts of Lives by Claire Harman for Everybody's Reviewing here, a review of Wanderers by Kerri Andrews here, a review of Unravel Exhibition at the Barbican here, a review of Shadowlands by Matthew Green here, and a review of The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd here. 

Beth Gaylard, PhD Creative Writing student, has written a review of God's Country by Kerry Hadley-Pryce for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

The Granite Kingdom by PhD Creative Writing graduate Tim Hannigan has now been published as a paperback. You can read more about this brilliant book on the publisher's website here. Tim's essay, "The Machinery of a Hare," was also recently published on The Clearing by Little Toller Books here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Millie Henson, whose second play, Where You Go, was staged in the Etcetera Theatre in Camden. You can see more details here. 

PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle has had her story "Dreki" published by Roi Fainéant Literary Press. You can read it here. Her story "Gallows Pole" is in New Flash Fiction Review here. As part of Writer's HQ "Writing as Resistance Festival," she will be running a workshop on "Discovering Dialect" on Monday 16 September at 7pm. You can see details and book here. In Autumn, Kathy will be interviewed by Jen Bowden for her Northern Voices podcast, which you can find here. 

Congratulations to Felicity James, Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, whose story "Llewellyn, Last King of Wales: his role in the divorce" won first prize in the Westword Micro Fiction Competition! You can read it here.  

Sabyn Javeri, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has been invited to be one of this year's Writers in Residence for the University of Iowa's International Writing Program (IWP). The IWP is the "oldest and largest multinational writing residency in the world." You can read about the residency and Sabyn's work here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Tionee Joseph whose work was featured at the International Working Class Story Festival, at Upstairs at the Western and online. 

Karen Powell-Curtis, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has had her poem "Mary Wilson" published in Allegro Poetry Magazine here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Cathi Rae, who has recently published two new poetry pamphlets, Just This Side of Seaworthy and Other Poems and Rock, Paper, Scissors and Other Poems. You can read more about them on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Sally Shaw, whose story "A Blackbird, Bobble Hat and an Answer" has been published by Roi Fainéant Literary Press here. Sally Shaw has also written a review of Ghost Town: A Liverpool Shadowplay by Jeff Young for Everybody's Reviewing here, and a review of The Dark Within Them by Isabelle Kenyon here. 

In June, Jane Simmons, PhD Creative Writing student, gave a poetry reading at an online event with Imtiaz Dharker (who has previously been featured on this site here) run by the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere. Jane has also reviewed The Strongbox by Sasha Dugdale for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Megan Stafford-Adatia, BA English with Creative Writing student, has written a review of Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Associate Professor Jonathan Taylor's new memoir, A Physical Education: On Bullying, Discipline and Other Lessons, will be published by Goldsmiths Press in September. You can read more about it on the publisher's website here. 

Rory Waterman, who gained his PhD at the University of Leicester and is now Associate Professor at Nottingham Trent University, has published his fourth poetry collection with Carcanet, Come Here to this Gate. You can read about it on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Harry Whitehead, Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, has written a review of Merchant by Alexandra Grunberg for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Lee Wright, PhD Creative Writing student, has written a review of Our Island Stories by Corinne Fowler, Professor at the University of Leicester, for Everybody's Reviewing here. He has also reviewed The Observable Universe by Heather McCalden for Everybody's Reviewing here.