Writing at Plymouth

Plymouth Language Club to close?

2011-12-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping Tim Allen won't mind me quoting from his recent email:

Hi everyone,

Please note that the Language Club event planned for December 8th at Plymouth College of Art is cancelled.

Due to lack of support we are going to have a rethink about the Language Club in the new year.

If you have any thoughts regarding this please feel free to get back to me with your comments.

All the best

Tim Allen

Fifth Issue of Short FICTION

2011-12-01T06:37:00.001-08:00

You are invited to the launch of Short FICTION, 'The Visual Literary Journal', this Thursday, 1 December, 7 pm, Roland Levinsky Building, Jill Craigie Cinema, Plymouth University.

The event is free and features a reading by Carol Mavor, with a wine reception to follow.

Carol Mavor is Professor of Art History and Visual Studies at the University of Manchester, and the author of four major books including READING BOYISHLY. A review quote: "My book of the year is 'Reading Boyishly'...I have never read a book like it...my mind was set free to dance and flit by this thrilling mix of philosophy, photography and much more. It touched something very deep in me about what it is to be a creative man" (Grayson Perry, artist, 2003 Turner Prize winner, London's 'Sunday Observer'). Carol's first fiction appears in this fifth issue of Short FICTION.

Romanian Writers Book Launch

2011-12-01T06:36:00.000-08:00

Following on from the successful conception of the Romanian Festival in November 2009, heralding the publication of 20 Romanian Writers and Associated Artists Series, Peninsula Arts presented the Romanian Festival 2011, focusing on performing arts with a Book Launch, Theatre and Dance.

Running from Thursday 24 November to Saturday 26 November at Plymouth University, this festival was a celebration of Romanian culture, as well as the on-going partnership between the University and the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Rosie Goldsmith, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Open Book’ introduced four of Romania’s leading authors, Mircea Cartarescu, Ion Muresan, Nicolae Manolescu and Razvan Petrescu. Each interview was accompanied by readings performed by Romanian actress Cristina Catalina, bringing their words to life.

University of Plymouth Press Manager Paul Honeywill commented: ‘This is the third year that Romanian writers have come to Plymouth, Nicolae Manolescu is the Romanian Ambassador to UNESCO and is one of the foremost authorities on Romanian Literature. Ion Muresan is seen as a cultural celebrity and actively takes part in festivals, debates, readings and panels on his quest for literary perfection.’

New Short Fiction Website

2011-11-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

Short FICTION appears annually in November. Some of our authors are long celebrated, others we'll take credit for as our discovery. Within our 192+ pages, we take special care to prepare each writer's work with front-illustration and within its own chapbook of space. See our back issues for stories by Kevin Barry, Helen Oyeyemi, Brad Watson, and Marina Warner.

Our new issue is our most visual yet, featuring a graphic novel by Tony Barnstone and Dorothy Tunnell as well as the fully-illustrated, first two sections of Joe Wenderoth's Agony.

For more information please visit:

www.shortfictionjournal.co.uk

OF WHALES

2010-07-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Anthony Caleshu's new book of poems Of Whales: In Print, In Paint, In Sea, In Stars, In Coin, In House, In Margins, is just published by Salt. It's a collection based on Melville's great American novel Moby Dick, using episodes and ideas from the novel and from Melville's sources, and criticism written on Melville, to dream up new poems haunted by seafaring and whaling, by drinking and voyaging in the literary imagination, and by relationships. It's a frankly obsessive book, maybe not quite so much so as Melville's, but completely literary in a witty and sometimes touching way. I read it right through with pleasure the first time and it grows on you, the enjoyment of an idea augmented and thoroughly developed in many different poems. The formal range of the poems is terrific and never fussy, as befits a humane book with a long literary memory. Plymouth is there in the Gin Factory and watery bars of the Barbican, in the night time imagination, alongside Bulkington, Ishmael, Hawthorne, Olson, Owen Chase, Thomas Beale, Starbuck, and all sorts of dodgy Melvillean characters, some of them born yesterday. You can find out more about Anthony Caleshu's books on his Salt page.

FORWARD FIRST COLLECTION

2010-07-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Steve Spence's book A Curious Shipwreck has been shortlisted for the Forward 2010 best first poetry collection prize. It's great that Steve's book has been recognized among the best debut poetry collections this year. You can find more information about Steve's work on the Shearsman website here.

THE LANGUAGE CLUB

2010-06-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

The Language Club will be meeting on Saturday 3 July at 7.30 pm at Plymouth Arts Centre for their open mic evening of new writing in performance. Entry is £5 / £3, there is a bar and readers, musicians, singers and audience are very welcome. Special guest this time is Liverpool poet Scott Thurston, author of three Shearsman collections: Hold, Momentum and Internal Rhyme. You can find out about Scott's Shearsman publications here. He is co-curator of The Other Room reading series in Manchester and co-edits The Journal of British & Irish Innovative Poetry with Robert Sheppard. I got this photo of Scott from Tony Trehy's blog, (thanks Tony) all the others seemed to be earlier photos of Scott with Iggy Pop.

POETRY FROM THE THIRD FLOOR

2010-04-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Plymouth poets Kenny Knight and Steve Spence will be reading at Plymouth College of Art and Design, in the Library, Tavistock Place, Thursday 29 April, 5PM, entry is free. Kenny Knight's most recent publication is The Honicknowle Book of the Dead, Steve Spence's new book is A Curious Shipwreck; they are both published by Shearsman of Exeter.

THE LANGUAGE CLUB

2010-03-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

The next meeting of The Language Club, Plymouth Arts Centre, 38 Looe Street, Plymouth, is on Saturday 3 April at 7.30 pm with guest poets Susan Taylor and Simon Williams. Susan has published five collections, including The Suspension of the Moon and The Complete Bearded Stranger. Simon Williams' third collection Quirks was published by Oversteps in 2006. The dancer Katerina Kyriacou (photo T. Williams and K Kyriacou) will be accompanying Susan.

The Language Club is Plymouth's regular open mic poetry event with artists' bar. Entry £5 / £3, poetry performers, musicians, everyone welcome. Open mic slots available on the night. Contact Tim Allen on 01752 661339, tallentw@aol.com

SCOTT PRIZE WINNER

2010-03-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

I just heard that Tom Vowler is a winner in the Scott Prize run by Salt Publishing for new short story collections. Tom's collection They May Not Mean To But They Do was one of four winners in this open competition to find new talented fiction writers for this highly successful publisher of poetry and fiction. Tom's winning book will be published in hardback in UK and Australia and paperback in USA. Congratulations to Tom and to all the prizewinners in the competition.

A CURIOUS SHIPWRECK

2010-02-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

If you're at the Language Club you might want to get a copy of this new poetry title now available from Shearsman Books of Exeter. It's Plymouth poet Steve Spence's first collection A Curious Shipwreck. Steve's work has appeared in Stride, Tears in the Fence, Tenth Muse, Great Works, Shearsman, and The Rialto. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth in 2007. Steve has been performing poems from this book for some time now; he's a regular at the Language Club and I saw him read a while back at Exeter Phoenix with Kenny Knight. Michael Mackmin of The Rialto writes: 'I think these poems are likeable, funny, intelligent, their satire exact for these times'. Good luck with the book, Steve.

McCABE AT THE LANGUAGE CLUB

2010-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

The next meeting of the Language Club is Saturday March 6, 7.30-10.00PM at the Plymouth Arts Centre. The guest reader will be Chris McCabe, author of The Hutton Enquiry and Zeppelins, both from Salt publishing, who supplied the photo. The usual open mic and bar: readers, singers, musicians, everyone welcome. Tickets £5 and £3 concessions at the door. Contact Tim Allen tallentwataoldotcom.

SCOTT PRIZE SHORTLIST

2010-01-13T01:33:00.000-08:00

Tom Vowler's short story collection 'They May Not Mean To But They Do' has been shortlisted for the Scott Prize for Short Fiction. Four of the shortlisted collections will be published by Salt. Tom is a Plymouth graduate MA in Creative Writing; I posted a previous story last year about his award from Arts Council England. He works on the editorial team of the journal Short Fiction. Tom's blog about writing is here.

TAKING FLIGHT

2009-12-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

Rose Cook's poetry has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Devon and has appeared in many magazines but Taking Flight from Oversteps Books is her first full length collection. Rose co-presented the Totnes poetry performance platform One Night Stanza with Matt Harvey. Good luck with the new book, Rose. Take a look at her site here.

LANGUAGE CLUB XMAS MEETING

2009-11-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

The Language Club will hold their Xmas meeting at Plymouth Arts Centre on Saturday 5th December, 7.30 to 10pm. There will be the usual open mic and the special guest for December is Plymouth poet Steve Spence, one of the Language Club organisers. Steve's poetry and reviews have appeared in various magazines including Great Works, Stride, Tears in the Fence and The Rialto. He completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth in 2007; his first poetry collection will be published by Shearsman in 2010.

The Language Club is a friendly and tolerant writers performance platform that meets regularly at Plymouth Arts Centre. Readers and musicians and audience are all welcome. Entry is £5, £3 concessions, your first glass of wine is free, xmas meeting with mince pies.

TAKING FLIGHT

2009-11-19T02:45:00.000-08:00

Catching up with recent publications by performance poet and MA Creative Writing graduate Rose Cook, I found this pamphlet Everyday Festival from HappenStance press, and discovered that Rose has recently launched her first full-length collection of poetry Taking Flight published by Oversteps Books. Rose Cook co-founded and co-presented the Devon poetry and performance forum One Night Stanza. She is one of the Apples and Snakes poets. Find Rose Cook's site here.

SHORT FICTION 3 LAUNCHED

2009-11-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

The third issue of the literary journal Short Fiction was launched on wednesday 11 November with a reading by Irish author Mike McCormack to a good crowd at the Roland Levinsky Building in Plymouth. The third issue of Short Fiction features new stories from award winning writers such as Brad Watson, Melanie Rae Thon and Andrew Cowan and also New Writers Competition Winner Peter Deadman. To order a copy see the Short FICTION website.

MA DEGREE SHOW READINGS

2009-11-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

The Plymouth 2009 MA Degree show will take place from the 2nd to the 5th November in the Roland Levinsky Building.

Graduating MA Creative Writing students will be taking part with 20 minute readings of their work, either at Crosspoint (the middle of the ground floor) or in the Peninsula Arts Gallery.

2 November 12-1pm

Abi Alao and Philippa de Burlet

3 November 12-1pm

Hana Sklenkova and Sam Farley

4 November 12-1.30pm

Carolyn Eddy, Bill Eaton and Jean Grimsey

MA Fine Artists and others will have their work showing in the Levinsky Building through the week, so do make a point of looking around.

These events are free and open to everyone.

TINA PEPLER APPOINTED / RECEPTION

2009-10-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

Screenwriter Tina Pepler has been appointed Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the University from October 2009. Tina was born in Baghdad and during her childhood lived in the Middle East, USA and France. She originally established her reputation as a leading radio dramatist but now works mainly in TV and film. Recent TV credits include the drama documentary, The Princes in the Tower (RDF for Channel 4) and three scripts co-written with Julian Fellowes for the series A Most Mysterious Murder (Touchpaper / BBC1): The Case of Charles Bravo (2004), The Case of George Harry Storrs (September 2005) and The Case of the Earl of Erroll (December 2005). Her latest radio broadcasts include Aftershock (BBC Radio 4, August 2009) a drama documentary ten years on from the Istanbul earthquake, and The Presence (BBC Radio 4, March 2009), a dramatisation of Dannie Abse's moving memoir following the death of his wife Joan. She has several film and TV projects in development.

The RLF fellowship is established to help the whole University community to develop their writing by providing access to confidential guidance and advice from a professional writer. Tina Pepler will be available on campus two days a week in term time and can be contacted via Learning Development.

A special Royal Literary Fund reception has been arranged for Monday 19 October, 6pm, in the Sherwell Centre at the University. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Purcell will introduce new RLF fellow Tina Pepler and celebrate the work of the first RLF fellow, novelist Babs Horton. There will be readings from both writers. The event is open to all, booking is essential, click here for the link to book your place.

THE BIG WHEEL

2009-10-11T05:54:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! to MA Creative Writing graduate Andrew Nightingale who was recently awarded a three year full time research studentship to work on a PhD in Creative Writing at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, beginning in 2010. Andrew's latest poetry collection is The Big Wheel published by Oversteps Books in 2009. I know that he was working in Italy for a while after finishing his MA, and lately I've found his work published online in Great Works, The Argotist, HQ, Poetry Salzburg, and Nth Position. I understand that his more recent poetry is forthcoming from The Text and Neon Highway.

SPOKEN / WRITTEN SW

2009-10-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Shane Wolfland, who publishes as S. V. Wolfland, must be among the most enterprising and productive graduates of the Plymouth MA Creative Writing programme. Shane runs the Spoken/Written Bulletin SW, a regional e-newsletter serving spoken and written word artists, promoters and venues in the South West. The free newsletter gives information on performance opportunities, magazines seeking contributions, travel writing, competitions, courses, workshops within the South West region and beyond. Shane is a member of the Cartwheels Collective which supplies all kinds of arts events, from storytelling by performance duo Widsith and Deor, to stand-up philosophy, poetry performance, willow art, and workshops in puppetry, musical instrument making, mixing music and sound, and many various kinds of arts activity.

Cartwheels Collective has published her poetry including The Book of Contentions, The Book of Indictments and The Book of Offences, and a children's fantasy novel Porlock the Warlock. All four books are available from the Cartwheels site here. Spoken/Written Bulletin SW was set up with the aid of a grant from Arts Council England, and Shane is currently seeking patrons and supporters for this useful writers' and spoken word artists' resource.

GILES GOODLAND IN PLYMOUTH

2009-09-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

The next guest reader at the Language Club, Plymouth Arts Centre, Looe Street, at 7.30pm on Saturday 3rd October, will be Giles Goodland, author of highly original poetry collections conceived as coherent books rather than arbitrary collections. His most recent books are What the Things Sang just published by Shearsman, and Capital, published by Salt in 2006. Giles works in Oxford as a lexicographer and lives in London. The Language Club is a tolerant and friendly performing writers' scene, a Plymouth open mic event with a bar. Musicians, poets and singers, and their friends are all welcome.

GERARD DONOVAN JOINS PLYMOUTH

2009-08-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

Gerard Donovan is an acclaimed Irish-born novelist and poet who has just been appointed Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth. Gerard's main UK publisher is Faber. He will be joining the Creative Writing programme in Autumn 2009. His career as a novelist took off when his debut novel Schopenhauer's Telescope was long-listed for the Man Booker prize in 2003. Since then he has published Doctor Salt (2005), Julius Winsome (2006) and Country of the Grand (2008). His 3 books of poetry are Columbus Rides Again (1992), Kings and Bicycles (1995) and The Lighthouse (2000). Gerard joins the English and Creative Writing team at Plymouth having recently been working in New York. Read more about Gerard Donovan in the Irish Times.

Martin Goodman is leaving Plymouth for Hull, where he is taking up a chair in Creative Writing. Martin has made a terrific contribution to writing at Plymouth, and he is a much-loved teacher in English and Creative Writing.

KENNY KNIGHT

2009-06-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Among the new books from Shearsman of Exeter is The Honicknowle Book of the Dead, a first collection by Plymouth writer and Language Club regular Kenny Knight, the editor of the Plymouth magazine Tremblestone. Kenny has been working on this book for years and I have heard some of the poems at readings in Exeter and Plymouth, they are entertaining and unpretentious, zany and intelligent, definitely his own original and idiosyncratic voice. I recommend this collection as a necessary purchase. Kenny is an excellent poetry performer with a great sense of timing and very funny delivery, he ought to be more widely known.

BABS HORTON IN GERMANY

2009-06-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the cover of Babs Horton's latest book published in Germany. Babs has been the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the University for two years and she has helped many writers develop their skills. I want to publicly thank Babs here for her really terrific contribution to writing at Plymouth, her tutorials with students from all parts of the University, the talk she gave for Peninsula Arts, the recent research seminar on writing a novel, and the contribution she made to the Beryl Cook exhibition catalogue. Babs lives close to the University and we know she will continue to keep in touch with the writing community in the future. Her main publisher is Simon and Schuster. We will have a new Royal Literary Fund fellow at the University in September 09.

COLLABORATIVE COMMISSION

2009-06-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Alexis Kirke and Hannah Silva have been awarded a collaborative commission to make new work for the Summer Sundae festival, held at De Montfort Hall and Gardens in Leicester. Alexis is a research student working on a University of Plymouth project in contemporary music and Hannah is an Exeter research student in drama who performs both poetry and dance. For more information on the Summer Sundae festival look here.

Alexis is pictured here playing drums and Hannah at the beach.

MORE ON THE WRITERS' PARTY

2009-05-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Writers' Party on 26 May 09 was packed, we had to get extra chairs to seat everyone who came to the Roland Levinsky Building for drinks and live performance. There were four-minute readings with excellent stories and works-in-progress by Tom Vowler, Abi Aloa, Paul Southwood and Hana Sklenkova. Tony Jones read a chapter of his autobiography set in Wales, Jack Gardner read some of his aphorisms from his bestselling book Words Are Not Things (published by Foulsham) and we had poetry performances from Shane Wolfland, Steve Spence, Jean Grimsey and Gordon Read.

Ann Gray read a moving and often funny sequence from her new book At the Gate which is published by Headland. There was quite a bit of trade at the book table and Jack Gardner's new range of cards and mugs with his provocative slogans and aphorisms caused quite a stir. There were a range of books by Shane Wolfland, Ann Gray, Anthony Caleshu, Gordon Read and others. I was really delighted with the turnout and the atmosphere, with all kinds of people attending and obviously enjoying the show. I've had lots of enthusiastic messages from people who were there and we'll try to make this a regular summer event for Plymouth writers.

WRITERS' PARTY and NEW EXHIBITION

2009-05-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

Right now there's a free exhibition of Christopher Cook's graphites showing in the Peninsula Arts Gallery in the Roland Levinsky Building at the University. Christopher Cook makes extraordinary images using a suspension of graphite pigment on aluminium. His work incorporates landscape imagery and other elements but arranges them in imaginary compositions that have great poetic resonance. If you're coming to the Writers' Party at 6pm on Tuesday 26 May 2009, room 008 in the same building you might want to arrive early and see this stunning art show while you can.

We have a full schedule of readers for the open mic, together with guest poet Ann Gray who will be reading from her new book At the Gate published by Headland.

The Writers' Party is a free event hosted by the University and open to all. We particularly welcome students and visitors who want to find out about the Plymouth MA in Creative Writing. Wine and soft drinks will be served.

WRITERS' PARTY

2009-04-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED

We're organizing a celebration of writers associated with the Plymouth MA in Creative Writing: Tuesday 26 May 2009, 6-8pm, room 008 in the Roland Levinsky Building at the University of Plymouth. This will be a booked open mic event hosted by Plymouth staff. Opening the evening for us will be Ann Gray whose book At The Gate was recently published by the specialist poetry publisher Headland. Ann graduated from the programme three years ago. An award winning poet, she has been living and working in Cornwall and publishing poetry in journals internationally for some time.

Some of the current MA students will read from their work and our graduates are especially welcome to take part. Non-readers are equally welcome! Where appropriate, readers will be asked to say something about their writing career since graduating from Plymouth. We will have a book table where participants can show and sell their publications.

We would be glad to welcome any current Plymouth students or graduates who are interested in writing, and anyone in the region who would like to find out about the MA in Creative Writing at Plymouth.

Last time we organized such an event we were over subscribed. So please contact t.lopez@plymouth.ac.uk if you would like to have a four-minute slot. There will be wine and soft drinks and time to just mingle.

JOHN HALL EXHIBITION

2009-03-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Three photos from John Hall's recent exhibition Artifice and Candour at the Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art. The photos show John Hall and Lee Harwood, John Hall and Peter Hughes, and some of the frames with texts designed for domestic display. Photos by Anthony Caleshu and John Hall. Copyright text works by John Hall, used by permission of the artist and poet, all rights reserved.

2009 INK LAUNCH

2009-03-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

CHURCHTOWN SOUTHERN GOTHIC

2009-03-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Anthony Caleshu's latest book is Churchtown: the Tale of Suzy Delou and Faye Fiddle, a novella published in paperback by new publisher Roastbooks in their series 'great little reads'. It's a southern gothic tale of sexual jealousy and religious deception, of absent fathers, country and western music, epic hatred and small town feuding. Anthony says that Churchtown was written when he was a teaching fellow at the University of Alabama in the 90s. Roastbooks are located in Albert Embankment, London, and specialize in shorter fiction. See their 'great little reads' series here.

JOHN HALL EXHIBITION

2009-03-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Artifice and Candour is a poet's exhibition by John Hall, currently writer in residence at Plymouth College of Art. He describes it as 'an exhibition that sees the look of letters as a part of the play of meaning, that responds to the way that printed words, far from being rendered obsolete in visual culture, are central to its means and displays'. See for yourself at the Viewpoint Gallery, Plymouth College of Art, Tavistock Place, Plymouth, PL4 8AT from Thursday 12 March to Saturday 21st March, admission free. The text artwork that heads this item is copyright John Hall 2009, and used by permission of the poet.

NEW WRITERS COMPETITION

2009-03-06T07:56:00.000-08:00

A great opportunity for emerging writers to compete for a new prize and see their work printed in this journal edited by Anthony Caleshu and published by University of Plymouth Press. Get the details here.

BABS HORTON IN HOLLAND

2009-03-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Babs Horton's latest novel is coming out in Holland this spring. Recipes for Cherubs, published in paperback in the UK by Simon & Schuster in May 2008, is a mystery story with a 13 year old heroine, set in the 1960s at an old hotel on the Welsh coast. Dutch and German translations are in progress so far.

Babs is the Royal Literary Fund fellow at the University and she spends part of her time each week helping students with their writing. She sees students one to one and has helped many of them cope with essay crises and various kinds of writing block. A professional author with 4 novels published, Babs is in the second year of her fellowship at the University. See her author's page on the Simon and Schuster website. Copyright photo of Babs Horton used by permission of the author.

THE LANGUAGE CLUB with Contemporary Music Preview

2009-01-24T05:58:00.000-08:00

The Language Club is collaborating with the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival on a preview event Poetry in Performance at Plymouth Arts Centre, Saturday 7 February at 7.30pm. Guest readers: Simon Jenner and Norman Jope, with open mic and bar, tickets £5 and £3.

Simon Jenner edits Eratica magazine. His latest poetry book About Bloody Time was published by Waterloo Press in 2007. Plymouth writer Norman Jope's The Book of Bells and Candles is also just published by Waterloo. Norman will be performing a contemporary music collaboration with Alexis Kirke.

The Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival this year is themed for the Darwin 200 celebrations with special Darwin related commissions and performances. Composers, sound artists and writers in attendance will include: Michael Stimpson, Ian Pace, Maggini Quartet, Rebecca Stott, Karen Wimhurst, Eduardo R Miranda, John Matthias, Jane Grant, Nick Ryan, Miso Ensemble and Miguel Azguime, Sam Richards, Simon Ible, Ten Tors Orchestra, Roland Perrin.

PLYMOUTH READING BY MARK FORD

2009-01-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

LATEST ARTS COUNCIL AWARD

2009-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

Tom Vowler is the latest in a cluster of MA Creative Writing graduates to be awarded an Arts Council grant. In Tom's case, £5000 to develop his writing and work on a novel by extending a short story 'Old Enough' that was originally written for an MA workshop. He's writing a blog about his progress with the project and hoping to interact with other writers at Old Enough Novel. Tom was an editor of Ink magazine.

His stories have been published in the journals Brand, Words and Riptide. Last year he won first prize in the HappenStance short fiction competition.

POET AND PAINTER

2009-01-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

MA Creative Writing graduate Rupert M Loydell has had two poetry collections published by Shearsman Books of Exeter, the most recent is An Experiment in Navigation with a beautiful cover painting by the artist and poet. Jane Routh writes: 'More than ever, Rupert Loydell's new book reminds me that he is a painter. I don't mean that his writing is primarily visual, but that he rejoices in discovering what his medium is capable of . . . Echoes, alphabets, series and collage are part of the sense of play and pleasure with which Rupert Loydell makes order from disorder. These are mixed media poems. They are serious and they are full of games. Running through them all is a quiet and open-hearted voice.'

Rupert is editor of Stride magazine, a wide ranging online compendium of new writing and reviews, worth checking for both. He is Lecturer in English with Creative Writing at University College Falmouth and lives in Cornwall.

BOOK LAUNCH for TIM ALLEN

2008-12-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Tim Allen read to a large and appreciative audience at THE LANGUAGE CLUB, Plymouth Arts Centre, on Saturday night, December 6, to launch his new book Settings, which is just published by Shearsman of Exeter. Tim read from his new book for the first half and was followed by Plymouth regulars Steve Spence, Kenny Knight, Philip Kuhn, James Turner, Jean Symons and others for the open mic set. Tim Allen is co-editor (with Andrew Duncan) of Don't Start Me Talking: Interviews with Contemporary Poets, Salt, 2007.

MARY JACOBS ON MI5 SURVEILLANCE

2008-12-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

On December 3rd, Mary Jacobs gave an apparently lighthearted and entertaining talk on the twenty-year long MI5 surveillance of writer Sylvia Townsend Warner and her companion and lover Valentine Ackland. It was great fun to hear about the ludicrous mismatch between senior MI5 officers and local police investigating a couple of leftist literary women (members of the British Communist Party) living in remote rural Dorset. The information came from recently released MI5 archives. Despite the humour of class and lifestyle incomprehension, it was moving to learn of this radical writer's sustained and practical political commitment: working in Spain for the Red Cross during the Civil War, attending the congress of anti-Fascist writers there, and organising accommodation and financial help for Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Mary's most recent article on Warner appears in the Journal of the Sylvia Townsend Warner Society, she is Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University and teaches Life Writing on the MA.

AT THE GATE

2008-12-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

MA Creative Writing graduate Ann Gray's latest poetry book At the Gate is just published from Headland publications. Ann has published three previous collections. Her work has appeared in many magazines and anthologies including The Forward Book of Poetry (Faber, 2008) and Making Worlds: One Hundred Contemporary Women Poets (Headland, 2003). Clive James has written: 'Ann Gray's poetry is a measured but sumptuous revelation, like the sun coming up a few inches at a time. Very few women and no men at all, can write from a good soul and bad conscience with quite her combination of tact and recklessness. This collection is the garden of the heart laid bare'. Ann Gray lives in Cornwall. The cover image for the book is 'The Lovers' by Michael Scott (copyright, 2005).

MARTIN GOODMAN WINS BMA PRIZE

2008-11-29T05:10:00.000-08:00

At Super Saturation, a Centenary Celebration of Modern Diving, on Saturday 1 November 2008 in the Roland Levinsky Building at the University, Martin Goodman (on the left of this picture, with Richard Dawkins) gave a talk on the remarkable life story of scientist and inventor John Scott Haldane, the world's greatest serial self-experimenter who first put canaries into mines. In 1908, Haldane's diving tables were adopted by the Admiralty and modern diving began, allowing divers to reach much greater depths in a controlled and safe way, without suffering 'the bends'. Martin's biography of Haldane, Suffer and Survive (now in paperback from Simon & Schuster, 2008), which got rave reviews from both specialist medical journals and the national press, recently won the British Medical Association's Basis of Medicine prize. Martin Goodman is Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth.

SHORT FICTION LAUNCH

2008-11-27T01:46:00.000-08:00

More than a hundred new writing and art enthusiasts turned out for the launch of the second issue of Plymouth based journal Short Fiction in the Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth, on Wednesday 19 November. There was a reading by Luke Kennard of his story 'How I Lost My Job' and a screening of Anya Lewin's powerful short film With Heartfelt Gratitude for the Painless Treatment, which provides images for the magazine. Short Fiction is edited by Anthony Caleshu, Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University.

THE LANGUAGE CLUB

2008-11-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

Plymouth poet and poetry activist Tim Allen will be appearing at THE LANGUAGE CLUB at the Plymouth Arts Centre, Looe Street, 7.30pm on Saturday 6th December. Tim will be reading from and launching his new book Settings just published by Shearsman of Exeter.

The Language Club is a tolerant and friendly performing writers' scene, a Plymouth open mic event with bar, seasonal food, first glass of wine free.

This book launch is a free event open to all.

Singers and musicians are especially welcome for the open mic.

Further information from Tim on 01752 661339 -- tallen@aol.com

MA Creative Writing students

2008-11-19T04:25:00.000-08:00

Hana Sklenkova is a finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition and her short story will be published in an Aesthetica anthology this December.

Bill Eaton has been appointed Plymouth City Council's writer in residence and is running creative writing workshops at the Efford library on thursday afternoons. The residency is funded by Arts Council England, South West.

Abimbola Aloa won the BBC 24 Degree competition, which is a partnership between between BBC Writersroom and the Royal Court Theatre, giving emerging writers access to and experience of theatre and the BBC.

MACW graduate Tom Vowler has recently had stories published in Brand, Words, and Riptide. He won first prize in the HappenStance short fiction competition and fourth place in the Cadenza competition.

2008-11-19T03:42:00.000-08:00