The Personal as Political: Creative writers on form, theme, and practice [PLEASE NOTE: this event has been cancelled]

The conference will take place at Friends House, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ on 24 April 2020, 10.00 – 15.30. Registration from 9.30.

The conference will consider the strategies writers use to engage with personal or public politics in today's restless world.

Tickets cost £10 which includes entrance, and tea and coffee. Lunch is not included.

Spaces are very limited, and booking is essential.

The day will consist of talks, panels and Q&A discussions.

Speakers

The keynote speaker is Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, whose writing and projects are based around her interest in the African diaspora. She is the award-winning author of eight books including, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, a Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the 2019 Booker Prize with Margaret Atwood. Bernardine will be in conversation with Derek Neale, author of 'The Book of Guardians', and editor of 'Writing Talk: interviews with writers about the creative process.'

Other speakers include:

Tanika Gupta, MBE, a multi award-winning playwright whose extensive work for stage, screen and radio, includes her play ‘Lions and Tigers’ (produced at the Sam Wannamaker Playhouse) which won the James Tait Black Prize for Drama in 2018, and tells the true story of her great uncle and freedom fighter Dinesh Gupta.

Paul Sirett, an Olivier-nominated, award-winning playwright and dramaturg whose writing includes plays for disabled-led theatre company Graeae and work about drug trails in Africa and immigration to the UK. As a dramaturg, Paul has worked on numerous productions for companies including the RSC, Soho Theatre and the Ambassador Theatre Group. Tanika and Paul will feature on a panel chaired by Joanne Reardon - poet, fiction writer, and dramatist - whose plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio.

There will be additional panel discussions: ‘Imagination and the Natural World’ with Sally O’Reilly, Siobhán Campbell and Sarah Butler; and ‘Writing Talk: interviews, oral history and creative writing’ with Emily Masserano, Emma Sweeney & Shanta Everington.

For further information email the organisers at ccwritingou@open.ac.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter - @OU_Writers

Tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-personal-as-political-creative-writers-on-form-theme-and-practice-tickets-89590151555