Happy New Year and welcome to the January Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA) e-newsletter. We will be keeping you up to date on events, reviews, opportunities and news from NCLA on a monthly basis.
NCLA is
delighted to announce that two AHRC awards are available for MA or PhD
Creative Writing students starting at Newcastle University in September 2010. Full awards
cover both fees and maintenance payments. Applicants may also be
eligible for an internal bursary. For further details visit the website.
The
closing date for applications is 5th March 2010. We strongly
recommend that you start work on your funding application well in advance of
the deadline.
Please
contact w.n.herbert@ncl.ac.ukor linda.anderson@ncl.ac.uk if you require any further information.
The
NCLA events programme 2010 begins on Thursday 21st January with Julia Blackburn and Blake Morrison at 7pm in Culture
Lab. Both Julia Blackburn’s novels, The Book of Colour and The Leper’s Companions’, were shortlisted for the Orange Prize.
She has also written four
books of non-fiction: Charles Waterton, The Emperor’s Last Island, Daisy Bates
in the Desert and Old Man Goya. Blake Morrison is a novelist,
playwright, memoirist, journalist and critic. His latest novel is South
of the River and a new book, The Last Weekend, is expected this summer.
As part of the new reviews
section of our website you will be able to read reviews of Julia Blackburn’s memoir about
her troubled relationship
with her parents, The Three of Us, and Blake Morrison’s
chronicle of his relationship with his father, And When Did You Last See Your Father,
by the end of this week.
Joan Bakewell will appear in conversation with Jackie
Kay on Thursday 4th February at 7pm in the King’s Hall in
association with the Changing Age Programme. Recently appointed the
Government’s Voice of Older People, she writes for The Independent and The Times. She shot to national
fame in the 1960s on television’s Late Night Line-Up and has written
several non-fiction books and three volumes of autobiography.
A review of Joan Bakewell's new novel All The Nice Girls will appear on the website.
Further events coming up in February include a talk from Ronald Harwood followed by a showing of The Pianist and readings from Colette Bryce Daljit Nagra, Jo Shapcott, Yang Lian and Brian Holton. Full details of all events are available on the website. Tickets are available from the online shop.
NCLA has launched a book club in association with Blackwells, offering a discount on books related to the events programme.
Receive a £2 discount on Julia Blackburn’s The Three of Us on production of a ticket for the Julia Blackburn and Blake Morrison event on Thursday 21st January and on Joan Bakewell’s The View from Here: Life at Seventy on production of a ticket for the Joan Bakewell event on Thursday 4th February.
A full list of discounted titles (all available on
production of a ticket for the relevant NCLA event) is available on the
website.
Details
of online discussion notes on the featured titles and the launch of discussion groups is forthcoming in the next e-newsletter
Places are still available on the Writing & Health short course with tutor Cynthia Fuller, starting on 28th January 2010.
The next round of short courses begins on 22nd April and is now open for booking. Details are available on the website.
The Spring
School (22nd March – 26th March 2010) is
enjoying a distinctly international theme this year and is also open for
bookings.
Alternatively, to book a place on any of the short courses or the Spring School call
0191 222 7619 or email melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk
South
African writer Sindiwe Magona has been awarded a University Visiting
Fellowship with NCLA from 8th March - 8th April 2010.
She
will also be part of the British Council South African Writers tour and will
be appearing at the London Book Fair.
On Thursday 25th March she will be giving a reading of her work with Newcastle University PhD
student Kachi A. Ozumba. Details are on the the website.
NCLA is
pleased to announce that acclaimed Somali novelist, Nuruddin Farah, has been
awarded a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship to spend four months with the Centre
in 2010 / 2011.
One of
the greatest African novelists writing today, Nuruddin was the winner of the
Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998 and is currently resident
in South Africa, having spent many years as a political exile from his own
country.
His
novels, which include Sardines, Maps, Gifts, Secrets,
and Knots, are distinguished by the lyricism with which
they explore both a wide-ranging politics and intimate family relationships.
During
his time in Newcastle Nuruddin will give a reading of
his work and a series of lectures on
‘Exile and Imagination’ and will be working on his version of the play, Antigone.
NCLA is
pleased to announce the inaugural International Student Writing Competition. The
first of its kind to be sponsored by NCLA, the competition aims to attract outstanding work
that captures the day-to-day
lives of international students living and studying in the UK.
Students
from anywhere in the world can enter, providing they are studying at a UK
university or have graduated within the past two years. Entrants can write
about any aspect of their experience of studying abroad, such as the
challenges of adapting to life in a different climate and culture, the ups
and downs of ‘international living’, culture clashes, coping with food / cuisine in
a new country, homesickness, love (or the lack of it), social lives, job
hunts and struggles to make ends meet.
The
winning story and a shortlisted selection will be published in a collection
exploring international students’ experience of studying in the UK in 2010.
Deadline
for submissions is 19th April 2010.
For
competition rules and further information about making a submission, please visit the website.
Become
a Friend of NCLA in our inaugural year for an annual membership of just £15
and enjoy the following benefits:
·
10% discount on tickets for NCLA events
·
Priority booking for NCLA events
·
10% discount on NCLA publications
·
A voice in planning NCLA’s future direction and programme through
Friends Only events
Visit the website for further details on becoming a Friend of NCLA. If you would
like a greater level of involvement with NCLA, please have a look at our Patrons scheme.
We are currently looking for students to review future
NCLA events. Please drop us a line at ncenla@ncl.ac.uk for further
details if you would be interested.
Thank you for reading the first Newcastle Centre for the
Literary Arts e-newsletter. We leave you with an acrostic from Bill
Herbert:
NCLA
Nexus for
texts' most inventive inks
Cloister for clusters of roistering letters
Labyrinth where lyrics blink
Apse where type may face its begetters.
All comments and suggestions on the NCLA e-newsletter are welcome. Please do let us know what you would like to see more of in future issues.