Six talents

On Tuesday 29th February, De Montfort was treated to a reading by six highly-talented creative writers.

First was Daniel O'Donnell-Smith, who completed his MA in Contemporay Poetry at DMU in 2010. The language of O'Donnell-Smith's poems, with successions of evocative words such as 'shot, sparrow, shiver' suggested he placed even more importance on sound than on meaning.

Next came Claire Baldwin, a DMU graduate with an MA in Creative Writing by Independent Study. Her short story 'Frank' uses repetition and surprising shifts in content. She read only the first half, leaving the audience more than a little anxious about the speaker's actions and state of mind.

After this there was Richard Byrt, a postgraduate student of Creative Writing by Independent Study. The three poems he read included the comical 'Dear Professor Auden' and 'Typical Bloke in a Woolly Hat,' which ended with Byrt pulling woolly hats from his own bag.

Bhagwant Kaur, who has moved from her 1st class degree to M.A. studies, amused the audience, which included many students of creative writing, with her short story 'Reasons For Divorce.' The narrator's second reason was summed up in the sentence, 'He's a writer'.

Penultimately, Pam Thompson, one of the organizers of Word!, read a collection of short poems taking a fim about Leicester as their inspiration. All were dark in theme.

Finally, Alexandros Plasatis, a co-editor of the third volume of literacy magazine, Hearing Voices, gave us a story about a young Greek man seeking friendship with Egyptians working in Greece. His Greek accent provided a short cut to the heart of the story.

The six writers set a high standard which many of us in the audience plan to attain.

Grant Cole

An exploration of creativity

This presentation gave postgraduate students at DMU and opportunity to showcase some of their latest work. The prose and poetry performed were excellent pieces, displaying the talent that was cultivated in the Creative Writing course.

The speakers were Daniel O’Donnell-Smith (poet/musician), Claire Baldwin (writer/poetry blogger), Richard Byrt (retired lecturer/mental health nurse), Bhagwant Kaur (writer), Pam Thompson (poet/performer) and Alexandros Plasatis (editor/writer/performer).

The presentation displayed a wide array of compositions to appeal to all tastes. This ranged from unusual and vivid poetry, a short fiction which imaginatively used repetition and explores identity, an amusing poem assisted with crowd-pleasing props, an elaborate joke narrated in fictional form, a powerful description of city nightlife and a deep insight into the conversations between hashish smokers.

Each reader's work demonstrated that time spent in creative writing at DMU was far from wasted.


S. M. Knight

A look to the future

I was given a look into the future today as I attended a reading postgraduate creative writers at De Montfort. Three of the six readers were previously members of the undergraduate Demon Crew, who decided to pursue their writing further at M.A. and Ph.D. level.

The six speakers shared work which was varied stylistically, yet all pieces were of a high standard. I particularly enjoyed the poetry of Richard Byrt, who combined humour with linguistic vibrancy, and fiction from both Bhagwant Kaur and Claire Baldwin, with the latter creating a narrative voice which was strikingly fresh and unique.

As well as inspiring the undergraduates in attendance, there was plenty of entertainment for the rest of the audience.

I hope to be in the position of those writers in just a couple of years' time, and also hope that their work will be visible on a much wider scale in the very near future.


Jack Arkell

Half-way thoughts

So, here we are half way through the 2011 Cultural Exchanges at DMU, and what a week it's been so far!

The Postgraduate creative writing event has definitely been my favourite to date, with five varied but uniformly enthusiastic writers coming together in a mix of humour, reality, refection, gore, sex and ... more sex, it really wasn't an event to be missed; the entire audience was engaged from start to finish, which is exactly what I look forward to at such an occasion.

Having had such a brilliant experience so far, I've certainly geared myself up for the rest of the week, holding high hopes for the 'Arts in Prison' event tomorrow evening in particular, and to finish the week with a dash of Alan Moore, what more could I want?


Samantha Inglis

Big, bad wolf

Well I can certainly say that I will never read Little Red Riding Hood the same again. Not that I’m complaining of course - it caused more than a few laughs.

I don’t think there was one straight face in the lecture room after the five performers had reeled off their poetry and prose to us during the short hour.

I'm not going to explain the many-faceted comedies involved. I'll just say they involved something wiggling, a phone, a throne, a stalker and a job that involved catering to clients with some very specific demands.

The only disappointment was that time went so fast. I wished I could have rewound the whole presentation and played it again.

To speak plainly, it was simply brilliant.

Sophie Price

Now I'm scared

When I first signed up for the creative writing course, I had some level of understanding at how hard it is, but I've always been interested in writing, so I figured that if I worked really hard, I'd do OK. After attending the postgraduate creative writing event, I fully appreciate how naive I was about this.

Listening to the work that has been produced completely blew me away. These people aren't even professionals and the standard of work heard was above and beyond. Well written, engaging and highly amusing pieces were read, and I could only sit there in awe of the work that they had created in their time spent studying at DMU.

I think that I'm definitely going to have to work even harder than I planned if I have any hope of being at that standard in three years time.


Sarah Methold

That will never be me

When I saw the title 'Postgraduate creative writing', I thought to myself, 'Worth a look, but that's never going to be me.' I didn't really consider how the performances might affect me, or my expectations for the future. I just thought it would be something to enjoy.

The readings kicked off with a tale of a 'trouser ferret.' Laughter rippled across the room creating a great atmosphere for our next readers. We were treated to cleverly worked poems that at the same time felt effortless - I could not help but be envious; provocative, gripping pieces of prose written with such clarity I was left wondering if they were in fact biographical (which I sincerely hoped they were not); humour executed perfectly; lashings of dark wit; and vividly painted imagery.

I left the room knowing which direction I wanted to take with my writing - that direction. In years to come, I want to be like them, crafting work that will make others stop, think, imagine and enjoy. The clear thing about all of those performers was how much they had relished creating those pieces - it poured from their performances. Five very different people, five different lives - and pehaps those writers sat thinking the same things as me years ago.

Since attending their reading I've changed my mind. That could be me.


Terri Baker

A trip into creative minds

Laughter, sarcasm, romance - that was not what I was expecting from the Postgraduate Creative Writing Event in which five writers read out their works of poetry or prose.

The vivid descriptions made it feel like we were transported into the minds of the writers. It was not just a talk - it was a journey.

All the pieces were different: personal experiences, monologues and romance. But they were all as effective as each other, whether they left the audience in tears from laughter or in amazement.

Hearing the work being read aloud gave the pieces more depth and allowed the audience to understand exactly what the writer intended - something which is hard to do when you read in your head.

More, please.



Leonni Secondino

Post-graduate success

As a first-year student, I was both inspired and awed by the talent and confidence presented by five post-graduates, who shared their varied works today.

In just an hour, a packed-out audience wsas treated to poetry, prose and dramatic monologue. The writers explored themes of birth and death, reflections, sexual fantasies and snow hysteria, all handled with a wit and talent that were evidence of the students’ hard work and dedication.

It was a privilege to meet five very promising students, who I would not be surprised to see become very successful in the future.

Lauren Simmonds

Postgraduate Spectacular

Five students combined prose and poetry in a small reading that had a big impact on its audience.

I speak for the whole of the audience when I say the perfomances were riveting, satirical and promising. Not only was the quality of writing at a professional standard but the readings were executed in a confident way that captured the audience immediately.

We were warned at the start that there would be strong language and adult themes. And oh boy, there were but all played out in a highly amusing way.

A man with a 'wiggle' in his trousers, cross-dressing, gore, sexual fantasies, stalkers and 'floppy' stories are just glimpses of what the Postgraduates had in store for us. Humour - the trickiest technique for a writer to grasp - was integrated superbly.

The climax of the event was topped with stories of a seventy-five year old with the body of a Greek God, funny bedroom noises, the 'Prince of Fantasies' and the wonders of enjoying a relationship over the phone. All these came from a single story that gave rise to fits of laughter and stunned expressions.

Excellent event, definitely people I would look out for in the future. Not only were the pieces imaginative and fun, they were of a high standard and their dedication to the art shone through.

Right, better be off! Now going to see Maggie O'Sullivan and Sean Bonney perform!


Leonie Sturman