Voice and video - a winning combination

After the Postgraduate Creative Writing Showcase was over, I was really glad that I'd been there. Listening to Emma Conway, Laurie Cusack and Pam Thompson was very pleasant, but for me it was Emma's work that stayed in my imagination. Her voice was beautiful and the use of video in the background was outstanding. I was simply hooked by this combination.

Alexandros Doschoris

A glimpse of the future

 Reading creative work is difficult so I have great respect for the three DMU postgraduates who took part in the showcase at Cultural Exchanges. 

 

Emma Conway's thoughtful readings evoked a fantastical SciFi world of 3-D printing where humanity is eventually overrun. Laurie Cusack gave an impassioned and flavoursome recitation of various scenes of distinctly Irish origin; the refrain of “Burn the Bastards” really stuck with me. Finally Pam Thompson gave us a glimpse of her ekphrastic poetry (including a gripping pantoum) which revolved around a holographic timepiece and a ship in a giant bottle.

This eclectic group of writers was a great reflection of the literary world. 


Matthew Budge

Inspired to write

Three cheers for the postgraduates who displayed their fantastic work today in the Postgraduate Showcase!

After five minutes of listening to the poetry and short fiction Emma Conway, Laurie Cusack and Pam Thompson had to offer, I was hooked. Exploring a range of ideas and demonstrating their passion for writing, the postgraduates definitely showcased their individual talents.

It was a pleasure to listen to their work and has inspired me further to pursue my ambition for writing.

Praise for the Creative Writing course at DMU and for the postgraduates who made the showcase a must see event. I hope they make an appearance again next year, and I’ll definitely be looking out for their work in the future.

Lauren Ingham

Postgraduate showcase

Three postgraduates, all studying for Creative Writing Ph.D.s at De Montfort University, presented their work in a single and varied showcase.

Emma Conway read from her poetry with a video backdrop and her use of her voice was very strong. But while I could see that some audience members appreciated the mix of video and voice, I sometimes found it hard to take everything in; my brain was sometimes trying to decipher three moving images while listening to the poems. For me a greater emphasis on the words is more important. 

Laurie Cusack's two flash fictions had a focus on Ireland and the Irish people. I happen to be half-Irish and I particularly enjoyed these stories, especially the second with its football theme as I come from a football crazed family. Laurie brought his work to life through tone and expression.

Pam Thompson gave a long introduction to her poems. Personally I would have liked more poetry and less explanation because it was the poems that I really liked.
 
Overall, this was an enjoyable experience with friendly people and I would definitely like to attend another reading by DMU's Creative Writing postgraduates

M.S. Gray

Inspiration comes with free juice

When I tell people my degree is in Creative Writing I can tell from their expressions (and words) that they imagine us all sitting around on beanbags, flowers in our hair, talking about how totally deep our poems are, man. They have no idea how much craft, research and painstaking editing goes into the work we do. 

How I wish I could have taken all of these doubters to see the work of third year and postgraduate Creative Writing students at today’s Demon Crew event and the Postgraduate Creative Writing Showcase earlier this week. 

The talent I saw made me more proud of my degree than ever. Seeing where I could be in a few short years was as inspiring as it was daunting.

The postgraduate work was of an insanely high standard, my favourite piece was a hilarious, enthusiastically-read extract from story that reminded me a little of Hunter S Thompson’s work. There was also funny and thought-provoking poetry at a standard I'm certain I could never reach. 

The Demon Crew event was a presentation of third year publications – small books, websites, vlogs and audio drama were among the creative ideas showcased. Many of which got a lot of laughs. (There was also free juice and crisps!)

These events have inspired me to push myself so much harder in the hopes that soon I will be up there reading out my work for some poor first year to write an inadequate blog about.

Hannah Maggs

Poems. stories and more

As soon as I walked the familiar lecture theatre, there was a buzz in the atmosphere; everyone who wanted to be there was there. My fellow-students weren't texting under the desk but fully attentive to the postgraduates' work.  The witty, charismatic individuals in front of us gave us an insight into what we could achieve.

Their work showed me that, at a reading, it's not just what you write, but how you perform it that is the key to success. My favourite moment was the ending of the poem based upon fictional prison baths. The line "you shouldn't believe everything we read" led everyone to break out in laughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed work from all seven writers, and look forward to hearing more from them soon.

Veenali Shah

Calm confidence, and a roar of applause

During this hour long showcase of original literary pieces, I was struck by how calm and confident all of the readers presented themselves whilst expressing their own work. It takes a lot of will power to share something that you have created, pouring hours of time into each individual piece, and even more so in front of an audience of strangers.

Works ranging from poems about the ridiculous and the fantastic to stories dealing with rage, frustration and empathy were showcased.  One performer even strolled up the steps to interact with the audience. It felt as if the personalities and personae of each individual author/poet were carried through into the delivery of their pieces, making their stories feel that much more engaging.

Even though the event took place in a raked lecture theatre, seats were filled from front to back, adding to the atmosphere.  It was wonderful to be part of an experience where writers and readers could come together and silently bounce off of each other while performing or listening. Every person in that room genuinely wanted to be engaged within the story-telling and, judging by the roar of applause at the end, that was exactly what happened.

The dark comedic final poem: ‘I didn’t mean to...’ was a personal highlight. At the final words, the entire room erupted into laughter.

Great Job to all seven writers!

Graeme Tait

Conjuring words

“I'm tall, quiet and logical, so my poetry is short, loud and nonsense.”

In pink tinted glasses and bohemian beanie, James G. Laws has a vivacious stage presence as he strolls confidently up and down, eyeing the audience and addressing its members directly. His poetry is powerful and I enjoy the way his words flow freely as though effortlessly conjured in an instant.

In the next moment, a short story begins with such a strong character presence that its author, Laurie Cusack, becomes the protagonist, yelling words like “Bring it on” and “bastards” with so much vivacity I almost believe he's a recounting a personal event instead of offering us a work of fiction. He impersonates each character, even embodying the not-so-perfect nun as she enters the tale. His tone of his voice varies to convey the shifts in mood and character.

The works that follow bring different cultures to life. In Zeandrick Oliver's wonderful South-African accent, the rhymes fall in a new and appealing manner. A trip to Uganda is told using the dialect of its people by Emma Conway in her tartan skirt and round rimmed glasses. I love that I can understand words she uses - and the broken manner of her poetry illustrates perfectly the struggle of speaking an unfamiliar language.

To close, we’re treated to a rather morbid, but highly amusing piece by Richard Byrt.  The poem plays on rhymes, becomes fairly strange and ends simply with: “I didn't mean to kill you”, leaving the audience applauding between fits of laughter. 

May Ouma

A sadistic conclusion

I was really looking forward to attending the Postgraduate Creative Writing Showcase, and to experience the kinds of writing that have developed from the very same place in which I find myself. I knew dozens of other students felt the same as seats quickly filled in the small lecture theatre.

It certainly didn’t disappoint. Seven authors performed a great variety of works; poems, short stories and extracts from longer ones; each piece unique, each with a strong voice, wonderful plots and strange, engaging characters.

We heard the fast-paced chaos of the self-proclaimed ‘nonsense’ poems, the formal monotone voice of Warden in the prison bath rules poem, a beautifully constructed poem conveying a charming tale of first meetings in Africa, the short tale of a sorrowful man, and the brash, powerful screams of a violent criminal in an extract from a story. Each author made the work come to life and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing them. What really struck me was how each speaker conveyed the tone of their writing perfectly in their recital, sometimes becoming their characters before us. They really got into it, and we benefited because of it.

It was exciting to hear all these writers reading their precious work, and a wonderful event to attend, but for me, the highlight of the event came right at the end, with a hilarious poem which ended with the sadistic line ‘I didn’t mean to kill you’. The whole audience erupted into both laughter and applause.

 

J.Wedgbury