billylinguist creative writing, English, Uncategorized

Solace for Salem

Tiegan English tells us about her experience as a BA English Literature and Creative Writing student and her poetry collection, Solace for Salem, which will be published on halloween this year.

Gothic literature has always been something I’ve been obsessed with, from the harrowing tales to the macabre settings combined with the complexity that the characters within the genre seem to evoke. So, when I found a degree that let me enhance my reading and writing, including the choice of Gothic modules, I was thrilled. My English Literature and Creative Writing degree introduced me to the vast world of literature, whilst cementing my interest in the Gothic, introducing me to my newfound interest of fantasy and historical fiction. I first started writing novels when I was 8, as you can imagine my first novel was…interesting to say the least. I’d like to think I’ve had a bit of development in regard to my literary talent between then and now, but I must admit that ‘The adventures of Spotty the Dog’ will forever remain close to my heart.

Over time, my literature started to take shape, and my love for heartbreak novels started to replace the wonderful adventures of multi-coloured companions, such as faithful Spotty. But even at 17, I was never confident about my writing and often hid my drafts in the deep abyss of my OneDrive. I’d dipped my toe into a vast amount of genres but could never figure out where my writing would fit. Eventually I learned that not all writing has to have a specific genre and it is much better to be confident in your own voice and it wasn’t until my undergraduate degree that I really saw the potential in my work. I’d always been a bit insecure, but I definitely have my degree to thank for my newfound confidence. Being in a classroom surrounded by likeminded individuals in an environment full of creativity is every writer’s dream and, as a result, I felt I’d found a safe space to take my writing wherever I wanted it to go. No matter how dark or twisted or absurd my work seemed, everyone lent an ear and appreciated my work for the uniqueness it possessed. Likewise, it was incredibly beneficial to hear my peers’ creative projects and the techniques implemented into each of their respective works. Subsequently, I began to experiment with my own work and the literary devices I could employ.

The staff were incredibly supportive. Dr Joanne Clement for instance became a major inspiration for me during my studies, leading one of my final year modules. Thanks to her amazing support and advice, I feel like I have finally found my literary voice and established a professional love for the Gothic genre. It was through her encouragement that I felt I could employ my personal relationship with witchcraft into my work. After receiving a first on my creative assignment within the module, I decided to take these poems further and turn them into a full collection. Despite not having him as a module lead directly in my second term, Dr Richard O’ Brien reached out to me and showed me some remarkably valuable articles and works to further support my dissertation and assignment so it could reach its full potential. As a result, I felt incredibly supported by both members of staff and owe them all the thanks in the world for making that little girl, who dreamt of being an author, dreams come true.

Now a bit more about the work that emerged:

The previously mentioned collection, titled ‘Solace for Salem’ is an anthology of poems intended to tell the stories of each and every victim of the famous Salem witch trials. Most people know of the witch trials, with Salem being one of (if not the most) notable locations. However, it tends to be the perpetrators that are remembered at the expense of the victims. This collection seeks to change that! Here, each and every victim has a voice and a chance to speak out against the malicious crimes committed against them. Everyone who knows about witches knows of the Salem witch trials and with this collection, everyone will know why their tales haunted history for so long.

Solace for Salem by Tiegan English will be published on 31st October 2023 by Salpe Publishing (available for pre-order on Kindle)

billylinguist Creative Writing, English, Uncategorized, writing, literature and cultural studies

Fiona Shaw: ‘Outwalkers’, ‘Tell It To The Bees’ and Yaddo

 

fionashaw

We are delighted that our colleague Fiona Shaw has been nominated for 2019 CILIP Carnegie Medal for her novel Outwalkers  You can find the full list of nominations here

To add to this, Fiona has also been awarded a month’s residency at the prestigious Yaddo artists’ retreat, whose prior residents have included James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Katherine Anne Porter and Jeffrey Eugenides: https://www.yaddo.org/about/history/

tellittothebees

Meanwhile, the film version of Fiona’s novel Tell It To The Bees has been appearing at festivals, including at Cannes and the Toronto film festival

We are very happy about this well-deserved recognition of Fiona’s work

billylinguist English

Clearing Day 2018

It’s clearing day at Northumbria. Several colleagues are helping answer calls from applicants for our BA courses in English Language, Literature and Creative Writing and also our Foundation Year in Humanities.

The clearing hotline number here is 0800 085 1085

If you’re not involved in clearing and/or would like to read some thoughts from colleagues in English at Northumbria, here are some recent articles which appeared in The Conversation:

Tony Williams on the story Cat Person and #metoo

Claire Nally on graphic novels

Katy Shaw on why the novel is not dead

Sarah Duffy on how we think about time

Claudine van Hensbergen on Hamilton

Here also is a piece by colleagues at Bradford and Swansea on how students use social media in making decisions about university applications

billylinguist English Language and Literature

Writers and intellectuals on Britain and Europe, 1918–2018

Here again is the call for papers for a major conference coming up in November.  The deadline for abstracts is 30 July 2018.

. . .

CALL FOR PAPERS

Writers and intellectuals on Britain and Europe, 1918–2018: 

An international conference 

Northumbria University | Newcastle upon Tyne | 1-2 November 2018

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Prof. Jason Harding (University of Durham)

Prof. Bob Eaglestone (Royal Holloway, University of London)

(For additional confirmed speakers, please see https://europeanconversations.com/programme/)

The British EU Referendum on 23 June 2016 once more threw into relief Britain’s conflicted relationship to and with the rest of Europe. While newspaper discourse and political rhetoric have been the focus of much popular and critical attention, debates around the referendum and its likely consequences have not been limited to journalists and politicians. Writers and academics were among those publicly commenting on Britain’s position in Europe, from J.K. Rowling, whose vocal tweets courted controversy among her fans, to EU law expert Professor Michael Dougan (University of Liverpool), whose videos on the subject of the Brexit campaign and its impact have been viewed by millions of people in Britain and abroad. 2017 also saw the emergence of what was quickly dubbed ‘BrexLit’, including high-profile titles such as Ali Smith’s Autumnor Adam Thorpe’s Missing Fay.

This conference seeks to connect the diverse literary and scholarly interventions in current and recent Brexit debates with earlier interventions by British writers and intellectuals into the relationship between Britain and Europe. It aims to bring together creative writers and researchers in literary and cultural studies with an interest in Britain and Europe to facilitate an exchange of ideas and encourage cross-period and cross-disciplinary exchange. The central questions and concerns to be addressed by the conference – Britain’s relationship to Europe and the place of writers and intellectuals in the process of defining this relationship – are likely to remain topical for some time to come, as Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union progresses through the negotiating stages.

The conference sessions will cover three main strands: (1) European debates of the inter-war years and the 1940s, (2) literary interventions in the wake of the 1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, and (3) present-day writers and intellectuals and the Brexit debate. The conference will offer a space to address any kinds of interventions, both for and against closer ties between Britain and Europe.

Three central questions will be addressed by the conference: 

(1) What contributions did/do writers and intellectuals make to debates about Britain’s integration into Europe in the public sphere? 

(2) How did/do writers and intellectuals reflect privately and in correspondence with each other on matters relating to Britain’s integration into Europe?

(3) What motivations drove/drive writers and intellectuals’ involvement in these debates, and how are these articulated? 

The conference looks at writers’ and intellectuals’ contributions to Anglo-European debates over the past century, seeking to draw out parallels and to establish challenges and opportunities. A public round table event will serve to articulate some of the lessons to be drawn from such a comparison, and will look at the experience of writers and academics who have themselves intervened in debates around Brexit.

We invite proposals for papers from researchers and writers that speak to any one of the conference strands and/or questions. Please send abstracts of up to 300 words, accompanied by a short biographical statement and contact details, to Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus at ann-marie.einhaus@northumbria.ac.uk. EXTENDED deadline for submitting abstracts: 30 July 2018.

Thanks to generous support from UACES, there will be some support available for postgraduate speakers without institutional travel funds. Please indicate on your proposal whether you wish to be considered.

The conference website is www.europeanconversations.com