We’re delighted that so many of our staff and students will be contributing to the York Literature Festival 2018, 15th-26th March! Here’s a check-list of all the places you’ll be able to find us during the festival!
To see the full programme of amazing events taking place throughout the festival click here, where you will also be able to find further information about tickets and venues.
Launch of the York Centre for Writing + interview with MAN Booker Prize nominee Fiona Mozely, 15 March, 7.30-9.30pm (York St John University, Temple Hall), £8
York St John University,will be launching the York Centre for Writing with a selection of readings from authors and lecturers on the Creative Writingstaff team. This will be followed by an interview with York-based author Fiona Mozley. Fiona has had an incredible year, including being shortlisted for the MAN Booker prize for her debut novel Elmet.
Fiona will be interviewed by Rob O’Connor, Director of the York Literature Festival.
Little Nephews: The Literary Offspring of 1984’s Big Brother with Dr Adam Stock, 19 March, 6.30-7.30pm (York Explore), £5
Sales of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four spiked following the 2016 US Presidential election, but interest in dystopian fiction has been growing for some time. Our very own Dr Adam Stock suggests this continued fascination isn’t just about themes like surveillance and manipulated information. It’s also down to common techniques and storytelling methods writers use in literature, film, TV and graphic novels to create nightmare worlds.
The Third Figure, a new (short) play performed by the YSJ English Literature Society, 19 March, 6-7pm (York Theatre Royal), £3
The Third Figure is a new audio drama, read here for the first time. Set in a not too distant future, this dark comedy explores a world where social media has spawned a new industry of extremely life-like self-replicas. Expect titillating discomfort as the play exposes and explores provocative questions about robots, humans, sex, gender, capitalism, community, individuality and autoeroticism. The script will be performed by volunteers from the YSJ English Literature Society.
If you’re a SF fan, you may want to stick around for ‘Future Echoes II – The SF Open Mic’, which also takes place in York Theatre Royal the very same evening, 7.45pm-10pm.
Beyond the Walls Launch and Showcase, 21 March, 6.30-8.30 (De Grey 017)Â
Join York Centre for Writing and Valley Press for the launch of Beyond the Walls, an annual anthology showcasing the writing of York St John University’s Creative Writing students. The evening will feature readings by York St John University students and special guests from Valley Press. Poet Nigel Forde’s latest poetry collection is Trace Elements, which deals with the darker side of childhood and throws light on the sinuous intricacies of music. Novelist Nora Chassler’s most recent book is Madame Bildungsroman’s Optimistic Worldview, a collection of ‘fragments, pensées and table-talk’ on the great questions of contemporary life and literature
Launch of Pollination Project Anthology, 22 March, 6.30-8.30 (Quad South Hall)
Special guests: Beekeeper Julia Smith and Dr Debbie Maxwell, Lecturer in Interactive Media, University of York. Plus an exhibition of photography from Wherever the Wings Take Us, images of urban beekeeping by Jim Poyner. Last Spring students from York St John University and members of the local community took part in The Pollination Project, in collaboration with York Buglife, to create an anthology and website archive of art, poetry, fiction and design inspired by bees.
This evening we celebrate the launch of this anthology alongside Julia Smith, local beekeeper, and Dr Debbie Maxwell, lead on AHRC funded project Telling the Bees. Contributors will read from the anthology and our special guests will present their work and the ways in which creativity raises our awareness of the importance of bees to our environment. A celebration of interdisciplinary research, creativity and community. Presented by our very own Professor of Creative writing, Abi Curtis.
Riverain Book Launch and River Cruise starring Abi Curtis, 23 March, 23rd March, 6.00-8.00 (on the River), £10
With Robert Powell & guests Abi Curtis, Ian Duhig, and Ben Crosthwaite. What better way to dip in to poet Robert Powell’s new collection Riverain than with a riverboat launch party? Inspired in part by York’s two rivers, this diverse collection is a dream-like journey through reality and metaphor, the present and the past. Join Robert with guest writers, musicians and others, for a creative water-themed evening on the River Ouse!
