LANGUAGE CLUB XMAS MEETING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.