Professional Writing and Publishing on Creative Writing at Leicester

Over the years, we've published numerous articles on professional writing, publishing and other aspects of "employability" in relation to Creative Writing. So we thought it might be a good idea to bring some of these together. 

We embed professional writing skills at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate) in our Creative Writing courses at Leicester. We believe it's a fundamental (and also fascinatingly varied) part of the subject. 

Below, you can find links to many of the features we've run on aspects of the professional writing world over the last few years. Some of these are general, some written by students and graduates, some by professionals beyond the university. Just click on the links to read more. 

Books by Students on Creative Writing at Leicester

Resources and Opportunities in the Media 

Some Useful Online Resources for Creative Writers 

The MA in Creative Writing: What You Can Expect

How Creative Writing Skills Can Make You A Better Copywriter, by Kristina Adams 

What Ghostwriting Taught Me, by Charis Buckingham

Five Years of Publishing Beyond the Mainstream: On Setting Up and Running Renard Press, by Will Dady

Pitch Perfect: Make Money from Your Writing, by Simon Elson

The Author as Promoter: A How-to Guide, by Charlie Hill

On Running a Literary Festival, by Charlie Hill

Reflecting: The Lessons I've Learned as a Writer, by Jenny Kane

Small Press Publishing: The Dos and Don'ts, by Isabelle Kenyon

In Conversation with Literary Journals, ed. Isabelle Kenyon and Charley Barnes

Our Future Storytellers: A Creative and Critical Writing Course, by Amirah Mohiddin

Writing for Games: Theory & Practice, by Hannah Nicklin

Multiple Middles: Storytelling in Games, by Hannah Nicklin

So You Want to Self-Publish? by Alicia Saccoh

Is An Internship for You? by Lisa Smalley

My Work Experience at Shoestring Press, by Sonia Tailor 

On Applications and Employability, by Jonathan Taylor

Creative and Critical Digressions: On the Creative Writing PhD, by Paul Taylor-McCartney

Red Flags and Green Flags in Publishing, by Anna Vaught

Do Too Many Cooks Spoil the Draft? Some Reflections On Amateur Hour's Second Zine and Group Feedback, by Nina Walker

Work Experience, Copywriting and Journalism, by India Wentworth

The Civil Service Fast Stream: Career Opportunities, by Gregory Wilson

On Applications and Employability

By Jonathan Taylor

As part of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, we run a major module on "employability" called Applications: Publishing, Teaching & Other Stories. This core module considers the vocational and professional aspects of Creative Writing, looking beyond the university workshop to the world outside. It's a crucial part of the Master's degree. I see Creative Writing as a hybrid subject, which brings together practice-based, research-based and vocational forms of knowledge. 

The module deals with three key strands in relation to employability: 

• the dissemination of Creative Writing in public and professional spheres (e.g. the publication and performance of Creative Writing);
• other diverse ways in which Creative Writers subsist in the world (e.g. through portfolio careers, made up of teaching, journalism, editing, writing for professional briefs, etc.);
• the myriad related fields to which the transferable skills that Creative Writing develops can be applied.

These three strands might also be seen as concentric circles, moving from the immediate vocational context of the dissemination of Creative Writing, to professional contexts directly related to Creative Writing, to the much wider circle of professions which draw on the writing skills students have developed. We look at major and independent publishing, the role of literary agents, literary magazines and reviewing, performance contexts and techniques, writing for briefs, and so on. The module includes workshops, seminars, talks as well as guest speakers from the professional writing world. 

I've been teaching the professional side of Creative Writing for twenty-five years now, and I've seen students go on to work in a myriad of different fields. In a literate economy, the value of writing well, reading critically, storytelling skills, imaginative use of language, communication skills can hardly be overestimated. Jobs and roles I've seen students go into after studying Creative Writing have included (among many more): novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, playwright, radio writer, speech writer, creative non-fiction writer, travel writer, memoirist, children's author, PhD student, academic, teacher (in all sorts of different contexts, and at all levels), tutor, publisher, performance poet, stand-up comedian, events manager, arts manager, festival manager, arts programme coordinator, literature development officer, public relations manager, human resources manager, advertiser, politician, journalist, literary magazine editor, commercial magazine editor, game designer, radio producer, radio presenter, voice-over artist, TV presenter, producer, web content creator, publicist, marketer, film producer,  accountant, literary agent, editor, copy editor, commissioning editor, copywriter, web designer, solicitor (through a conversion course), doctor (through a conversion course), civil servant, librarian, archivist, financial manager, administrator, counsellor, bookseller, actor, reviewer, arts organisation director ... and so on and so forth. 

Recently, though, I've been thinking a lot about "employability," and about how we should perhaps understand the term much more broadly. Given the state of the world, I've been thinking about the other invaluable (yet more intangible) roles Creative Writing graduates often take up, whether as writers or in their lives as a whole. Ideally, employability shouldn't just be a matter of "training" for particular roles in the capitalist world; it might also be about changing those roles, dreaming up new ones, maybe even dreaming of changing the world itself (however slightly). After all, Creative Writing, by definition, encourages you to re-imagine the world, or to imagine new worlds. In that regard, I think employability in Creative Writing is also about roles that have never seemed more vital in our society - such as dreamer, idealist, utopianist, magical thinker, empath, mentor, radical, creative, artist, activist, communitarian, critical thinker, social critic, optimist, pessimist, optimistic-pessimist, pessimistic-optimist, visionary, prophet, poet, storyteller, "unacknowledged legislator of the world" (as Shelley puts it). 

Five Years of Publishing Beyond the Mainstream: On Setting Up and Running Renard Press

By Will Dady

An unknown wit of years past asks, "How do you make a small fortune in publishing?" Of course the answer is, "Start with a large one!" 

I’m afraid I have to report that when we set up Renard Press we didn’t have a large fortune, just bags of passion, and somehow that, and stubbornness – and the book community’s kind support – has helped us make it to our first big milestone: five years of making books. We’ve not yet amassed that small fortune – but our bookshelves have grown rich indeed with tales from all corners of the globe. 

Setting up an indie press in April 2020 felt for a while like one of those acts which, viewed one way is a stroke of genius, viewed another is utter madness. In case you missed it, there was a pandemic on, and we were all confined to barracks – but as our first print rep said, "If you can get through this, you can get through anything." 

Despite the isolated nature of those months – years – of Covid, which I’m sure we’re all only too keen to try to forget, it was in some ways a good time to be stepping out in a new and positive light. Somehow we chanced on authors who trusted us with their words before we had a track record; and then readers, who were happy to pay good money for these little paper miracles. 

Over these five years there have of course been some hurdles, speedbumps, calamities – it’s famously difficult to keep a small press running and to achieve some sort of publicity cut-through without the huge budget that the Big Five enjoy, and let’s not even get into the disaster Brexit has wrought on exports and politics, and the turmoil of social media under new ownership. But there have also been such positives – a thriving bookish community, recognition through awards, lasting relationships with book lovers. 

At the end of last year we celebrated our fifth birthday with a wonderful, warm event in St Mary’s Islington, in a by turns hilarious and moving series of author readings, raising the rafters with lines from those first five years of publishing. 

The stats surrounding these years are quite startling. In total in our first half-decade we have published 165 books across our imprints, including 650 (living) writers, published in both single-author books and a shelf-full of anthologies, including many debut authors, and we’ve also planted some 2,500 trees. (Perhaps the last of these sticks out a bit here, but humour us – sustainability is a huge part of what we do).

Of course any press could – and will, in the age of AI – publish 165 crap books, regurgitating stolen words endlessly for the amusement and profit of the smug billionaires whose platforms promote such rot to the detriment of literature and the environment. But I’d like to think that Renard’s books are literary gems, soulful and unique, and each books sits proudly on the shelves in my office, as well as in countless bookshops and homes. There are points when a publisher stands at a crossroads, I think – most will counsel to follow the money; but a big part of what makes us different, in my eyes, is that we’re looking for different, and this means looking beyond the mass of published voices – for stories and writers who have fallen through the cracks, who aren’t flavour of the month, who aren’t seen in the mainstream. And when I talk to our subscribers, who receive a book every month, they talk about the joy of reading books they would never have found otherwise – and this is what keeps me going. "Variety is the soul of pleasure," said groundbreaking seventeenth-century writer and sometimes spy Aphra Behn – words to live by!

So it’s important to us that the list remains a broad church – from the outset we committed to gender equality in our commissioning, opting to avoid becoming another stale, male-dominated list, and I’m proud to see great and natural diversity in the shelves, be that religion, class, sexuality or cultural or ethnic context. Reading is, after all, one of the best ways to explore, to meet people and places we might otherwise not; so, like any diet, it should be varied. 

We celebrated our first five years with that Islington evening event, with crates of beer and a whole lot of authors – but we marked the occasion too with a thoughtful meditation in our Renard Press: Five Years anthology. This is a very special, limited edition of excerpts, which I hope will enchant readers, but also be lovingly preserved on bookshelves of book lovers. It is not designed to sit on a bookshop’s till point – or, indeed, in a nameless distribution city by the M1, ready for the space-going tech bro to peddle for peanuts. Even better, proceeds go to the phenomenal Bookbanks charity, who, by bringing books to foodbanks, are doing the really important work that the National Year of Reading aims for: breaking down barriers of privilege. Our partnerships with charities have been key to our work, and we strongly believe that there’s room for empathy in this big commercialised book world.

So if you’re reading this – thank you! – I hope you now know a bit more about Renard Press, and perhaps even about independent publishing – which, I remain convinced, is the antidote to our times. In an industry that is so busy navel-gazing that sales figures are considered the only important metrics in publishing reportage, how vital, how joyous, then, to be doing something different. Our first five years have been so broad in content and creativity, inspiring  and thought provoking, and we sit on the shoulders of our authors; for our part we shall continue to hold ourselves to account and aim to be a force for good, using our platform to publish beyond the mainstream, bringing together new worlds and voices that no longer have to hide their light. 

About the author
Will Dady grew up in the wonderfully named Great Snoring in North Norfolk, and now lives in London. He is the Publisher at Renard Press, and the founder of the Indie Press Network.

Summer News 2025

Our last News post was back in April. You can read it here. Since then, lots has been happening in the Centre for New Writing in the University of Leicester, so here is an update on student and staff news. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who helps make this such a vibrant place to be!

 

General News from the Centre for New Writing

Above all, we're sad to announce that Nick Everett, Associate Professor of American Literature and Creative Writing, has now taken early retirement from the University. Nick has worked at the University of Leicester for thirty-four years. He has been the cornerstone of Creative Writing, and its founder as a subject here. He introduced the original MA options in Creative Writing, undergraduate modules, and the PhD programme. His contribution to the University and to students over the years has been immeasurable. It goes without saying that he will be hugely missed by students, graduates and staff alike. He will continue as an Honorary Fellow at the University. He will also be continuing his work as co-editor of the hugely successful New Walk Editions. Thank you for everything, Nick!

Our acclaimed MA in Creative Writing is still open for late applications for October 2025. You can find information and apply here. For more detailed information, or to talk about the course, email Jonathan Taylor on jt265@le.ac.uk. 

This blog, Creative Writing at Leicester, has recently passed 450,000 readers, while our review blog, Everybody's Reviewing, has now had over 700,000 readers. Thank you to everyone - reviewers, readers, editors, authors, interviewers, interviewees - involved!

The Centre for New Writing, in conjunction with Everybody's Reviewing, recently ran its first ever student Book Review Competition. The competition was open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Arts, Media & Communication at the University of Leicester. Congratulations to all the winning entries, from Lee Wright (1st prize), Mellissa Flowerdew-Clarke (runner-up), Iain Minney (runner-up), Wiktoria Borkowska (honourable mention), Kathy Hoyle (honourable mention), and Kimaya Patil (honourable mention). You can read more about the competition here. 

Student and Staff News

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Joe Bedford, who passed his viva in June! Joe has also had a short story published in issue 3 of Ragaire Magazine, available here.  

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Laura Besley, whose new collection, sum of her PARTS, has just been published by V. Press. You can read more about it here. Laura's story "The Tilting World of Lotte Janssen" won Morgen Bailey's May 50-Word Short Story Competition, and her story "Playing at Dinner for Two" won the April Competition. You can read the stories here and here. Her story, "It's All So Unexpected," won second prize in the 500 Flash Fiction competition. You can read it here. Laura was also shortlisted for the prestigious Scratch Books Short Story Competition. You can read her story, "Every Winter Solstice," here. 

Congratulations to Constantine, MA Creative Writing graduate, whose new book, Alien Boy: Wasteland (sequel to Alien Boy) has been published by Coalville CAN Community Publishing. Read more here. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Sam Dawson whose story "Set in Stone" was published in the inaugural issue of The Bournemouth Journal. His story "Statues" has also been published by Crow & Cross Keys. You can read it here. He originally drafted both stories during his MA. 

Congratulations to Kit de Waal, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, on the publication of her new novel, The Best of Everything. You can read more about the novel here. Kit was Chair of Judges for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2025. There is a video of the awards here, and more information on The Women's Prize website here. She was on BBC R4 Bookclub talking about My Name is Leon - available on BBC Sounds here. Kit has also become Ambassador of the charity Bookbanks. You can find more information on the charity's website here.

New Walk Editions, which is co-edited by Nick Everett, Associate Professor of American Literature and Creative Writing, published two new pamphlets in June: D. A. Prince’s Continuous Present and Richie McCaffery’s Skail. You can see more details on New Walk Editions' website here.

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Tracey Foster, who is guest poet on Mad Swirl here. Tracey has written a review for Everybody's Reviewing of Spring Cannot Be Cancelled, by Martin Gayford, here.

Congratulations to new PhD Creative Writing student Cathy Galvin, whose poetry collection Ethnology will be published by Bloodaxe Books in 2026. You can read more here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Beth Gaylard, who passed her PhD viva in June!

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle, whose story "A Diner Full of Nothing'" is published by FlashFood here. 

Sabyn Javeri, PhD Creative Writing graduate, gave a public talk at Newcastle City Library with the NMC (North Modern and Contemporary Network), on the personal challenges of writing, on Thursday 3rd July.

Creative Writing student Grace Klemperer won both this year's G. S. Fraser Prize (for best undergraduate poetry submission) and the John Coleman Prize (for best undergraduate non-poetry submission). Honourable mentions for the G. S. Fraser Prize were given to Mahnoor Raja and Keeley Zappia. An honourable for the John Coleman Prize was given to Sarah Moritz. Congratulations to all!

The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Diary by Kate Loveman, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture, was recently published by Cambridge University Press. You can read more about it here. 

Congratulations to Creative Writing student Dave Marston, whose poem "They" is published in a new anthology Salt in the Wound, published by Underland Review. You can read more here. 

Amirah Mohiddin, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Birdy Arbuthnot's Year of "Yes" by Joanna Nadin for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Sally Shaw, MA Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of The Two Keisukes by Brian Howell for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

PhD Creative Writing graduate, Hannah Stevens, has been interviewed about her writing for Pukaar Magazine. You can read the article here. 

Congratulations to Karen Stevens, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Chichester University and also our External Examiner for the MA in Creative Writing (2020-2024), whose short story collection, Brilliant Blue, has been published by Barbican Press. You can read more about it here. 

Shauna Strathmann and Anna Walsh, MA Creative Writing students, recently performed at Leicester Quaker Meeting House as part of a series of "Green Talks." The event, which took place in June, was entitled "Changeable" and involved a poetry reading and discussion about Creative Writing and the climate crisis. 

Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, won the Arnold Bennett Prize for his book of short stories, Scablands and Other Stories, in May. The prize is awarded bi-annually by the Arnold Bennett Society to the author of a book with connections to North Staffordshire. Jonathan's memoir, A Physical Education, was also longlisted for the award. You can read more about the award here and on the Society's website here. Jonathan's article, "Arnold Bennett, Stoke and Me," is on Chainlink Magazine here. In July, Jonathan was writer in residence for the day in Trentham Library, Stoke-on-Trent, as part of a project to mark 100 years of Stoke-on-Trent as a city. You can read more about the project here. Jonathan has also written reviews for The Times Literary Supplement here and The Morning Star here. His story "Bubble Man" was published in The Morning Star, and you can read it here. 

Paul Taylor-McCartney, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has written a review of Brilliant Blue by Karen Stevens, for Everybody's Reviewing here. He also reviewed raw content by Naomi Booth here. A short fiction title, "Twelve Stories for Twelve Sections," that Paul commissioned, co-edited, published and launched as a collaboration between Hermitage Press and Cornwall National Landscape was a first place winner at the prestigious Holyer an Gof Publishers’ Awards in July. Paul has also been busy promoting his children's novel, Sisters of the Pentacle, at various bookshops and retailers around Cornwall, having completed a draft of the second book in the series.

Nina Walker, PhD student, has written a review of sum of her PARTS by Laura Besley for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Harry Whitehead, Associate Professor of Creative Writing, recently returned from a month's artist residency with the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation (LAMO) in Ladakh, India. He was there to research and write his next novel, about a film crew coming unstuck while shooting a tyre advert in the Himalayas. While he was in Ladakh, he also gave a series of workshops and talks about Creative Writing. Harry's new novel, White Road, will be published in September by Claret Press. He will be launching the novel at the University of Leicester on Wednesday 1 October, 5.30pm-6.30pm, in the David Wilson Library. All are welcome, and details are here. Harry also wrote a review of Syllables of the Briny World by Georgina Key for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Harry with the LAMO team in Ladakh, India

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Lisa Williams, whose story, "Dad's Shed," was published in the new issue of Blink Ink Magazine. 

As well as winning first prize in our book review competition (see above), PhD Creative Writing student Lee Wright has written a review of On Writers and Writing by Henry James for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

November News 2024

We're now well into the second half of the Autumn term, and heading at full speed in the direction of Christmas, so it feels like a good time to share news from students and staff in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester. Lots has been happening, as you can see below, since our last news round-up which you can read here. 

Student and Staff News

Firstly, if you haven't done so already, do have a look at the guest readings and masterclasses we're hosting this Autumn. All of them are free to attend and are open to everyone - staff, students and public alike. You can see the full list here. 

The dates for this academic year's Literary Leicester Festival have now been revealed: this year's amazing festival will take place 19-22 March 2025. All events are free and open to everyone. 

As many of you will know by now, THREE of our current PhD Creative Writing students were successful in this year's prestigious Bridport Prize. Joe Bedford won first prize for the Bridport Short Story Prize 2024. Jane Simmons was shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize 2024, and Laura Besley was shortlisted for the Bridport Flash Fiction Prize 2024. This is an amazing achievement, and congratulations to them all! You can see the full results here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kirsten Arcadio who passed her viva in October. You can read more about Kirsten's PhD on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Elizabeth Chell, MA Creative Writing graduate, has reviewed two new poetry pamphlets by Cathi Rae, PhD Creative Writing student, on Everybody's Reviewing here. 

The Mad Road by Laurie Cusack, PhD Creative graduate, has been favourably reviewed in The Morning Star. You can read the review here. Laurie originally drafted the short stories in The Mad Road as part of his PhD. 

New Walk Editions, which is co-edited by Nick Everett, has published two new pamphlets: Polly Walshe’s Silver Fold and Graeme Richardson’s Last of the Coalmine Choirboys. You can see more details on New Walk Editions' website here; and you can register here for the free online launch reading by both poets at 7pm on Wednesday 27 November.

Tracey Foster, MA Creative Writing graduate, has reviewed The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers for Everybody's Reviewing here, and The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience by Jennifer Higgie here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle whose story "Cockleshell Girl" has been nominated for Best of the Net 2025 by South Florida Poetry Journal. You can read the story here. 

One of the key remits of the Centre for New Writing is an interest in interdisciplinary approaches. Felicity James is currently working both for the Centre for New Writing and the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare to investigate how reading and writing can encourage and maintain empathy. Her role is to help embed Creative Writing and reading literature in the medical curriculum at Leicester. With Marianne Scahill-Pape from Attenborough Arts, she ran a special subject for fifth-year medical students in 2024, featuring art, Creative Writing, and Romantic, Victorian and contemporary literature. Their report on the course, "Creative Approaches to Empathic Healthcare: The Polyphony," has now been published, and you can read it here. 

Welcome to Maisie Ridgway, who has recently joined us as a Leverhulme post-doctoral research fellow. Her project is entitled "Coal Ecologies: Inscription, Inheritance and the Anthropocene."

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Karen Rust, who is now Festival Curator of the Oundle Festival of Literature. 

Sally Shaw, MA Creative Writing graduate, has reviewed Ghost Town by Jeff Young for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Jonathan Taylor's memoir, A Physical Education: On Bullying, Discipline & Other Lessons, was published by Goldsmiths Press in September. You can read more about it on Creative Writing at Leicester here. Jonathan has also recently published related articles about bullying in The Times Higher here and The Morning Star here. Sally Shaw, MA Creative Writing graduate, has reviewed Jonathan's book for Everybody's Reviewing here. Jonathan will be reading from and talking about his memoir, along with author James Scudamore, at Five Leaves Bookshop Nottingham, on the evening of Monday 25 November from 7pm. Everyone is welcome. You can see more details about this event and book a place here. Jonathan also interviewed poet Louise Peterkin for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Congratulations to Harry Whitehead, whose novel White Road has been contracted to publish in September 2025 in print by Claret Press and audiobook by WF Howe. 

 

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. 

Some Useful Online Resources for Creative Writers

By Jonathan Taylor

Recently, I've given a couple of short talks - one as a guest at Loughborough University, one as part of our own MA Creative Writing Dissertation Day - introducing online resources that might be useful for Creative Writing students. So I thought I might also share some of the main links here. 

There are, of course, huge numbers of useful websites on writing, publishing, and opportunities in the arts sector. What follows are just a few key starting-points. They include sites which feature listings of writing opportunities, sites which have useful electronic newsletters, and sites which list jobs in the arts sector. There are many more out there. It's worth noting that some of these sites are time-specific, so may well change in the (near-)future. 

Useful online resources for writers: a selection

Everybody's Reviewing, our very own review site, is always looking for book and event reviews.

Creative Writing at Leicester has a dedicated strand about writing in professional contexts, with lots of articles on the subject. 

Creative Writing at Leicester University Facebook group is constantly updated with news, opportunities, calls for submissions and job opportunities. 

NAWE Writers' Compass is an excellent listing site for writing opportunities, submission calls, events and jobs. 

Writing East Midlands is the public writers' agency for the region. They produce a newsletter, give advice, provide mentoring and training services, and run lots of events and competitions.

Leicester Writers' Club is a vibrant community of writers in and around Leicester. 

Arts Council England provide funding to arts organisations, as well as individual writers. You can apply for an individual grant to develop your work via the "Developing Your Creative Practice" scheme. Details of the DYCP scheme are here. 

Arts Jobs is run by Arts Council England, and lists job opportunities in the arts sector across the UK. 

Jobs.ac.uk is the central resource for all jobs in Higher Education, including postgraduate opportunities. 

BBC Careers is the central hub for all job opportunities and work experience in the BBC. 

BBC Writersroom is the first port of call for writers interested in writing for the BBC. The site includes lots of resources, information and opportunities. 

The Bookseller has listings of job opportunities in publishing. 

The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, both online and in hardcopy form, includes lots of advice alongside listings of publishers and literary agents. 

The Dots lists lots of current freelance writing opportunities. (Thanks to MA Creative Writing student Ayan Artan for this suggestion). 

Sian Meades-Williams provides a useful weekly freelance writing newsletter, including jobs and opportunities across the UK. (Thanks to MA Creative Writing student Kristy Diaz for this suggestion). 

Wordbox blog has monthly listings of writing opportunities, and lots of other information about publishing. 

Published to Death is an excellent resource which includes listings of agents, publishers and magazines looking for submissions. 

Short Stops website is no longer being updated, but includes excellent listings of literary magazines and other resources. 

Neon Magazine also has an excellent list of literary magazines in the UK and beyond. 

CLMP has a big directory of (primarily US) publishers. 

Spring News from Creative Writing at Leicester

It's been a few months since our last news post (which you can read here), so we thought it was time for an update, now we're at the end of the Spring term. There are some great news stories to share from Creative Writing and the Centre for New Writing. Wishing everyone a great Easter break!

General News from Creative Writing at Leicester

There have been some great events, guest talks and masterclasses at the University over the last few months. You can read about some of them here - and there are still more to come next term. Do take a look.

As part of this year's amazing Literary Leicester Festival, we ran our third annual Creative Writing Student Showcase. It was a lovely event, featuring brilliant readings from BA, MA, PhD Creative Writing students and graduates, including Beth Gaylard, Grace Klemperer, Hannah Mitchell, Lisa Williams, Kathy Hoyle, Jack Peachey, Laurie Cusack, Daneil Hibberd, Tracey Foster, Rob Reeves, Isobel Copley, Alexander Osani, Oleksandra Korshunova and Laura Besley. 

The final results of the "Nature, the Environment & Sustainability" Short Story Competition were also announced at Literary Leicester Festival. Congratulations to joint winners Lee Wright and Sophie Sparham, as well as Alice Newitt who was specially commended, and runners-up Sam Dawson and Carol Rowntree Jones. Joint winner Lee Wright is a current PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, and Sam Dawson is one of our MA Creative Writing graduates. You can read about the final results on Creative Writing at Leicester here.  

Congratulations to Creative Writing graduates Sam Bouch, Matt Walton, Nina Walker and all those involved in the writing and publication of the inaugural issue of Amateur Hour, a zine of poetry and prose by members of the eponymous writing group in Leicester. You can read more details about the zine on Creative Writing at Leicester here. 

Thank you to all the Creative Writing students and graduates, Kristy Diaz, Georgia Sanderson, Kathy Hoyle, Laura Besley, Hannah Mitchell and Grace Klemperer, all of whom came to talk to our External Examiners, Chris Jones and Karen Stevens, on Monday 18 March. It was a really insightful and fascinating discussion. 

Recently, our review website Everybody's Reviewing passed 375,000 readers and Creative Writing at Leicester is about to hit 250,000 readers. Our Facebook group has over 1,600 members. Thanks to all our contributors, authors, reviewers, editors, members, designers and readers! 

Student News from Creative Writing at Leicester

On Tuesday 23 April, PhD Creative Writing student Joe Bedford will be appearing at Waterstones Cardiff, and again on Wednesday 24 April at The Tabernacle, Mumbles (Swansea), promoting his novel A Bad Decade for Good People (Parthian Books, 2023).

MA Creative Writing graduate Laura Besley's story, "Conditions for Living," has recently been published by Gone Lawn here. 

MA Creative Writing graduate Constantine is continuing his work as editor and co-founder of Coalville C.A.N. Community Publishing. The organisation is a resource for local writers, with special consideration given to neurodiverse and disabled writers and those from under-represented backgrounds. You can read a blog by Constantine here and can view Coalville C.A.N. Community Publishing's website here.  

PhD Creative Writing graduate Laurie Cusack has had a beer (6.5%) named after his book, The Mad Road. The beer was sold at the Ale Stone Pub on Aylestone Road, Leicester, over Christmas. Proceeds went to the Emerald Centre in Leicester. Cheers, Laurie!

MA Creative Writing student Kristy Diaz will be co-authoring An Untold History of UK Emo (working title), to be published through independent record label Big Scary Monsters, anticipated release in 2025.

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing graduate Tim Hannigan, whose book The Granite Kingdom was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2024.

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle whose story "Cockleshell Girl" is published in South Florida Poetry Journal 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 on March 23rd-24th. The festival was a showcase of talent from working-class artists and academics in the UK, USA and Australia.

Congratulations to Grace Klemperer, BA English with Creative Writing student, who performed her poetry at the "Run Your Tongue" open-mic poetry evening in Leicester. This regular open-mic poetry evening is run and compered by PhD Creative Writing student Rob Reeves. 

Congratulations to Creative Writing graduate Amrita Manku, whose play The Incident was performed at the Discovery Showcase Event at The Curve Theatre in Leicester on Friday 1 March. You can see more details here.

Amirah Mohiddin, PhD Creative Writing student, recently presented a conference paper at the Historical Fictions Research Annual Conference (2024), in Malmo, Sweden. Her paper was entitled "A Thousand and One Nights Meets Morocco’s Fight for Independence in a Historical Fantasy," and explored how Young Adult fantasy can be a powerful mode to decolonise history. The paper is linked with her practice-based research, where she is writing a YA fantasy novel interrogating storytelling as a mode of heroism and salvation. You can read more about Amirah's PhD here. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing graduate Karen Powell-Curtis, whose poem "Mary Wilson" has been published in the new issue of Allegro Poetry Magazine. You can read the poem here.  

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Jane Simmons whose poem "The Poet Writes an Abecedarian for her Maiden Aunt" won third prize in the Mslexia Poetry Competition. 

Congratulations to Charlie Wilkins, MA Creative Writing student, whose latest novel, History Is a Haunted House, was recently published. You can read more about it here. 

Christmas News from Creative Writing at Leicester

A lot has been happening during the Autumn term, since our last news post (which you can read here), and we thought the run-up to Christmas might be a good time for an update of student and staff news. There have been some great public events, guest lectures and masterclasses over the last few weeks. You can see a list here. We'll be running more events next term, and this will include our annual Creative Writing Student Showcase as part of Literary Leicester Festival 2024 - details to follow. In the meantime, here's this term's news from the Centre for New Writing ...  

News

Congratulations to University of Leicester students and graduates Joe Bedford, Tracey Foster, Bridie Granger, Georgia Sanderson (winner of the inaugural Belvoir Poetry Prize) and Lisa Williams, all of whom have been published in the new issue of the Leicester Literary Review. Micro-reviews from Everybody's Reviewing are also featured in the magazine. 

PhD Creative Writing student Joe Bedford has continued his excellent series of interviews with authors, "Writers on Research," interviewing Victoria Richards here. 

Laura Besley, MA Creative Writing graduate, has interviewed Roppotucha Greenberg for Everybody's Reviewing. You can read the interview here. Laura's micro-story, "A Real Dog," is in the new issue of Streetcake Magazine here. Her story "Fragments" is published by Fictive Dream here. Her story "Against the Grain" was shortlisted for the 2023 Subbub Prize for flash fiction. Laura has also been awarded a grant by the Arts Council's DYCP scheme, to write a collection of short stories. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Constantine, who has just published his book of short stories, And Things Begin to Change ... & Other Stories. You can see more about it here. We'll be featuring the book on Creative Writing at Leicester next week. 

Congratulations to MA Creative Writing graduate Isobel Copley who has won third prize in the Anthology Short Story Prize 2023. 

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing graduate Laurie Cusack, whose collection of short stories, The Mad Road, has just been published by Roman Books. You can read about the book here, and you can read a review of it by Gus Gresham on Everybody's Reviewing here. The book was launched, alongside Jonathan Taylor's Scablands and Other Stories (Salt, 2023) and Charlie Hill's Encounters with Everyday Madness (Roman Books, 2023), as part of a Triple Book Launch at the Emerald Centre, Leicester, on Tuesday 21 November. Both Laurie's and Charlie's books are part of Roman Books's Stretto Fiction Series, which is edited by Jonathan Taylor. 

Sam Dawson, MA Creative Writing graduate, has had his story, "Shelly and Shelley," published by Litro Magazine here. Sam was also longlisted for the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2023. 

Kit de Waal has written a piece, "Quiet Violence," for the Cold War Steve Annual 2024. You can see details here. 

New Walk Editions, which is co-edited by Nick Everett, has published two new pamphlets: Derron Sandy's The Chaos and Blake Morrison's Never the Right Time. You can see more details on New Walk Editions' website here. 

Everybody's Reviewing, our book review blog, continues to be read by thousands of people every month, and has now had well over 300,000 readers. 

Beth Gaylard, PhD Creative Writing student, has been working as editorial coordinator and co-organiser for the inaugural PGR Arts Conference at Leicester University, "Reimagining World Views Across Space and Time." The conference took place in November. It attracted speakers from the UK, India, China and the USA, eighteen in all, on many aspects of the literary arts and social science. Topics in Creative Writing included reimagined worlds of family migrations, recent social history and solastalgia. Kit de Waal made the keynote speech on cultural appropriation in contemporary writing. The aim is for the conference to be repeated in future years as a regular PGR event. If you missed it, look out for the special edition of Frontier journal early next term, which will contain some of the presentations in article form. Congratulations to all concerned!

Congratulations to PhD Creative Writing student Kathy Hoyle, whose work "North East Lass" is overall winner of the Hammond House International Writing Competition 2023. You can read the piece here. Kathy's story "Fish Sands, 1984" was also highly commended in the Free Flash Fiction Competition 2023. You can read it here. Kathy's story "Humbug Shark" was highly commended in the Oxford Flash Fiction Competition 2023. 

Amirah Mohiddin, PhD Creative Writing student, presented a conference paper at the Pacific Ancient Modern Language Association (PAMLA), in Portland, Oregon. At a panel dedicated to "Young Adult Literature and Culture," she presented a paper titled "A Thousand and One Nights Meets Morocco’s Fight for Independence in a Historical Fantasy," exploring how Young Adult fantasy can be a powerful mode to decolonise history. The paper is linked with her practice-based research, where she is writing a YA fantasy novel interrogating storytelling as a mode of heroism and salvation. You can read more about Amirah's research on Creative Writing at Leicester here.  

Karen Powell-Curtis, PhD Creative Writing graduate, has had her poem "Passing" published by Thanatos Review here. 

Lee Wright, PhD Creative Writing student, has written a review of The Mirror and the Road by William Boyd and Alistair Owen for Everybody's Reviewing here. 

Congratulations and thanks to all, and wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year from Creative Writing at Leicester!