Lost and Found in Leicester

Short stories are like overlooked diamonds in an ocean of jewels. Writing them is a skill that must be honed, for writing a novel and writing a short are two very different forms. Short stories are making a resurgence, and to make the most of this, the Dahlia Press gathered writers from Leicester to create an anthology of shorts. 

Based on the theme of Home, the collection took a variety of approaches to this. Whether it was the destruction of home, leaving one's home, or someone making a house a home, these stories are all emotive and powerful, drawing on a word that is heavily loaded with emotional baggage ready to exploit. 

A particularly notable piece came from writer Jonanthan Taylor, who created a character failing to recognise her own home due to a medical condition, as told from a doctor's perspective.

All writers observed the value of each word in a short story and one compared short stories with a shot of vodka, giving you more of a hit than a novel could achieve with so few words. 

Walking away from such an event, I realised that although a short story might be described as a sprint, and a novel a marathon, both Mo Farah and Usain Bolt have to train for months in order to compete. Just because one is shorter, doesn't mean any less effort can go in. 

 

Dominic Gilmour

I overheard a rumour about free wine

The final event I attended was the East Midlands launch of Overheard: Stories to Read Aloud and despite what you may suspect, I didn’t go just for the free wine. 

(Although that was a fantastic bonus! I advise the powers that be to supply free wine at all future events. Maybe some whiskey too...) 

I may have digressed...

The book was edited by DMU Creative Writing tutor, Jonathan Taylor, and contributed to by our other tutors Kathleen Bell, Will Buckingham and Simon Perril, among many others. Although I was sure the other writers would be excellent, I was most interested to hear my tutors’ work. Of course, it did not disappoint.

The idea of stories written for the purpose of being read aloud took me back to telling ghost stories, by torchlight, as a child and ‘story time’ in primary school, gathered in front of the teacher. It reminded me of what first excited me about stories - the facial expressions for emphasis; the whispers and the shouts; the pauses that feel eternal and the look of intrigue in the listeners' eyes. That strength of suspense, humour and involvement can’t be matched when I read text from a page.

The writers brought their stories to life and it was easy to see that the audience was hanging on their every word as the wine stood, neglected, at the back of the room.

If you missed the event, don’t miss the book!

Hannah Maggs

An evening with Blake Morrison

Before this evening I had only heard of Blake Morrison when he'd been praised by Dr Jonathan Taylor, a lecturer in creative writing at De Montfort University. And it was Dr Taylor who opened the talk with a short introduction on Morrison's impressive career.

Morrison began by reading from his latest novel The Last Weekend. It follows Ian, a primary school teacher, who is deeply jealous of his friend from university, Ollie. Morrison took Shakespeare's Othello as a starting point as indicated by the character's names: Ollie, Daisy, Ian and Emily. He boldly states "If you're going to plagiarise anyone, plagiarise Shakespeare!

Morrison then gave tips about writing, which was no doubt welcomed by the budding writers in the audience. He explained that getting the voice of your narrator is important, and gave an example of this by reading The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper, a poem he'd written about the notorious murderer. The poem was written in Yorkshire dialect and shocked the public, as it was written not too long after the event.

I hope to purchase a couple of his books in the future, especially his most famous work And When Did You Last See Your Father? Mr Morrison, you have yourself a new fan.

Sarah Beckley

A Degree of Creativity

When you're being served apple juice in a wine glass, you know you're in for a treat. And I'm not just talking about the selection of toffee eclairs, cupcakes and - Will Buckingham's personal favourite - pink shrimps, that were on offer.

Demon Crew's Student Publications Launch at Cultural Exchanges showcased some of the finest work produced by the Universities third year students. With a wide selection of performances on offer - poems on puzzles, post-it notes and in concrete form, audio performances from radio to song, not forgetting extracts of prose and general talks about the publication process - the turn-out was tremendous.

Each performer was received heartily by the crowded audience and the atmosphere was buzzing with electricity. The Creative Writing team (Kathleen Bell, Will Buckingham, Simon Perril and Johnathan Taylor) have clearly built a great rapport with their students across the board; humour, jibes and jabs were well-receive.

Laughs aside, the event was a great success and, for me personally, an insight to my future. As a first year student, I attended the event with certain expectations. These were surpassed; beyond any doubt each piece performed was a credit to the creative staff at De Montfort University and a to the high level its students have achieved.

Cultural Exchanges is one of De Montfort's biggest yearly events and already I look forward to the next one for more 'posh' apple juices, free cakes and hopefully a pink shrimp or two, if I can get there before Will! And I'm also looking forward to more performances and inspiring works from DMU's most talented creative writers.


(Thanks to Pamela Hallam & Alex Bliss for the authorising use of the photo above.)


Holly Hookway

The Demon Crew dazzle in launch

Today, I looked into the future . . . well, sort of. As the final year Creative Writing students presented their projects, I saw what I'd be doing in two year's time. And I was intimidated.

DMU lecturer Jonathan Taylor kicked off the event by introducing the group, who then took a few minutes each to share their ideas, and read from their work. Each student expressed their ideas with clarity and confidence, and I was impressed with the variety of publications: poetry, short prose, radio drama - even a jigsaw puzzle!

It was clear that every writer had put time and effort into their work, and had come up with interesting, modern ideas. Copies of the projects were displayed around the room, giving the audience a chance to have a closer look.

The event ended with a talented acoustic performance by Morton Piercewright, and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I wish all the students good luck in the coming months, and success for the future.

Lauren Simmonds

Incomplete novels and attack dolphins

I could wax lyrical about the quality of the readings at the "Work in Progress" evening, but for the sake of sanity (yours) and dignity (mine) , I won't. The idea for the event was simple: three authors - Michelene Wandor, Jonathan Taylor and Will Buckingham (the last two are DMU lecturers) - gave readings from books they are in the process of writing as well as talking about the process of coming up with ideas, shaping them, and setting them to paper.

In the midst of a sea of "How To Imagine" books that set out the rules of inspiration with firm, patronising hands, the event took a refreshingly open-minded approach. The three authors were very specific about their own methods, but made little attempt to push them on to the audience as the Only Method.

It's an approach which would rub some people the wrong way: "What's the point if they're not going to tell you how to write a novel? If I wanted to hear people talk about what they personally do, I'd go read a blog," they might say in rather nasal tones.

But they aren't the target audience: The target audience is writers, who chafe at being told how they should find inspiration. Attempts at setting down hard and fast rules for imagination result less in delighted cries of "Thank you! I wouldn't have known how to get an idea otherwise" and more in low snarls of "Release the attack dolphins."

Or perhaps that's just me. Either way, the three authors earned their applause at the end of the evening.


Phillip Dobson