Somerville writers are renowned all over the world and on Saturday 23 November we plan to celebrate – and perhaps stimulate – Somervillian creativity.
Alumni are invited to spend the day in the company of established and up-and-coming Somerville authors, and to meet others interested in reading and/or writing fiction.
There will be talks about recently published books, a discussion of how popular novelists go about their craft, and the opportunity to meet current MSt Creative Writing students to hear about their work. Lunch will be a less formal affair than usual (enabling plenty of book recommendations!) and The Woodstock Bookshop will offer books by College authors for purchase. Finally, at the end of the other sessions, there will be smaller workshops for those who would like to write, and for those who would like to find out more about how publishers and literary agents work.
Full Programme for Somerville Creates
10am – Arrival and tea/coffee (Brittain-Williams Room)
10.30-11.30 – Session 1: Introducing recent books by Somervillian writers (Flora Anderson Hall)
- Rosie Oliver (1976) – A Truth Beyond Full (science fiction)
- Jane Robinson (1978) – Trailblazer (social history)
- Jane Anstey (1973) – Priest Hole (historical mystery)
- Sarah Bax Horton (1987) – Arm of Eve: Investigating the Thames Torso Murders (true crime/historical biography)
- Fiona Stafford – Time and Tide: The Long. Long Life of Landscapes (literary and natural history)
11.30-12.00 – Tea/coffee (Brittain-Williams Room)
12.00-1.00 – Session 2: Meet Somerville’s MSt Creative Writing students(Flora Anderson Hall)
1.00-2.00 – Browsing lunch (Hall)
2.00-3.00 – Session 3: Panel Discussion, ‘Writing the Past’, with Francesca Kay (1975) and Michèle Roberts (1967), two of Somerville’s best-loved, award-winning literary novelists, chaired by Professor Annie Sutherland (Flora Anderson Hall)
3.00-3.30 – Tea/coffee and pastries (Brittain-Williams Room)
3.30-4.30 – Session 4: Parallel Workshops
- Writing Poetry
- Writing Fiction
- Getting Published: Clara Farmer (1992), Alysoun Owen (1987) and J. S. Watts (1979)
All sessions are, of course, offered with the generous support of our alumni body and current students.
If you have recently published a book and haven’t yet told College about it, please email Jackie Watson (jacqueline.watson@some.ox.ac.uk).
Booking for this event are now closed, if you have any enquiries please contact
alumnievents@some.ox.ac.uk
This event will be recorded and will be available afterwards through our YouTube channel.