Winners of City Writes Autumn 2018 Competition announced

Photo by Phyllis of bright dots on Unsplash

Delighted to hear the winners of City Writes latest competition announced this week. Joining City tutor Cherry Potts and her Solstice Shorts team on Thursday 13th December will be Meera Betab, Angelita Bradney, Kate Henderson and Debz Hobbs-Wyatt. City Writes founder and judge, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, said the competition was ‘really strong’ this term. Having worked with both Meera and Kate, I can vouch for the strength of these winning writers!

City Writes was set up by Rebekah as a way to showcase the fantastic work being produced by both City writing short course alumni and tutors and provide an opportunity to read their work to an invited audience. Each term the winners get to share the stage with one of the published tutors for an evening of readings. This one promises to be suitably festive with musicians accompanying some of the writers’ work. Tickets are £10, which includes wine. Book here now for an alternative Christmas event.

How to manage your time to be more creative

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Many of us would like to be more creative in our lives. But how do we find the time? Acclaimed author and Book Edit associate editor Emma Claire Sweeney is leading an intensive one-day workshop on managing your time at City, University of London this month, drawing on the lessons she has learned as a professional writer and self-employed creative. Areas looked up will include how harness inspiration, carve out time, intensify productivity, build stamina and develop resilience. By clarifying your creativity goals and identifying habits that help and hinder, you’ll devise blueprints for commencing, continuing and completing creative projects to challenging yet achievable deadlines. Highly recommended for all those dreamers and procrastinators out there!

Deepa Anappara

Portrait of author Deepa Anappara

Absolutely thrilled to hear the news that Chatto & Windus have won UK and Commonwealth rights to Deepa Anappara’s debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. The book has now sold in a total of 14 international territories. Deepa was a student on City’s Novel Studio some years ago and has since gone on to do a masters and a Phd in Creative Writing at U.E.A. She’s had an astonishing year already, winning the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award, the Deborah Rogers Award and the Lucy Cavendish Prize. And now this! Congratulations, Deepa. We cannot wait to read this novel!

Kiare Ladner sells debut novel in pre-emptive bid from Picador

Portrait of author Kiare Ladner

Absolutely delighted to hear the news that Novel Studio alumna Kiare Ladner has sold her debut novel. Nightshift, to Picador. Associate publisher Ravi Mirchandani, who acquired world rights to the book, has described it as "an immensely exciting debut, a novel of nights and shifts, between gay and straight, sober and carried away; of how it is possible both to find oneself in the city or to become lost entirely; of obsession and the sheer mysteriousness of ourselves and others”.

Kiare's star has always shone bright. After graduating from City's Novel Studio with flying colours, she secured a place at UEA to do their prestigious MA in Creative Writing and subsequently won the David Higham award for her writing. Her short stories have appeared in Wasafiri, Lightship Anthology 1, New Contrast and Eclectica, and she was recently awarded an HW Fisher scholarship for her place on the Curtis Brown novel-writing course. 

Nightshift will be published in 2019 and we cannot wait to read it. Congratulations, Kiare!