22 October 2012
Festival reaches out to ambitious new writers
Aspiring novelists, playwrights, and poets will get advice on how to take their writing to the next level during a series of events taking place at this year’s Dundee Literary Festival.
Events helping budding scribes to develop their talent and creativity feature heavily in the programme for this year’s festival, which takes place from Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th October.
Fittingly, the festival will be opened with the launch of Anywhere’s Better Than Here, the debut novel from Zoe Vendetozzi, a graduate of the University of Dundee’s Creative Writing programme. The launch takes place in Bonar Hall at 7pm on Wednesday.
Zoe owes much of her success in securing a publishing deal to the teaching she received on the MLitt Writing Practice and Study degree, and a showcase of work by the latest batch of poets and prose writers to graduate from the course will take place at 11am on Thursday, 25th October.
"Zoe is the perfect example of what talented writers can achieve when given the correct support and guidance," said Festival Director Anna Day. "We’re delighted she’ll be launching her novel here, and it will certainly prove an inspiration to other budding writers we work with.
"There is an immense array of talent out there and we are dedicated to doing all we can to nourish and encourage it. From showcases of emerging work from Dundee to workshops aimed at a variety of writers and the unveiling of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize, there’s a lot going on in this area."
The value, or otherwise, of literary festivals and prizes will be debated by experts from the publishing industry at two events taking place on the same day. ‘What’s the point of literary festivals?’ will be held at 10am, while ‘What’s the point of literary prizes?’ is the question to be answered at 1pm.
Thursday 25th October will see a workshop, hosted by staff from the new Theatre Studies degree programme at the University and from Dundee Rep theatre, take place. Those who wish to try their hand at directing, stage design or playwriting will be able to receive professional guidance, including actors who will perform extracts of the work developed during the event.
A group of writers, musicians and painters with their roots in the far north will take part in the Caithness Writers Session on Friday, 26th October.
The showpiece event of the festival is the unveiling of the winner of the Dundee International Book Prize, and the debut novelist who scooped £10,000 and a book deal with Cargo Publishing will be announced at a ceremony on the evening of Thursday, 25th October.
Two publications promoting new writing will be launched during the festival. Dundee Writes is a magazine of creative writing from students, staff, and recent graduates of the University of Dundee, produced and edited by postgraduate creative writing students. It now has quite a reputation for discovering creative writers in all corners of the university - from Law to Medicine to Town and Regional Planning.
The launch of the fourth edition takes place at 5pm on Wednesday, 25th October, replacing the scheduled event with Juliet Gardiner, who has had to pull out due to illness. All tickets will be refunded automatically if bought online, but anyone who bought their ticket in person should call 01382 384413.
The 2012 edition of New Writing Dundee, a University book that champions new writing from around the world, will be launched during the festival. Writers seeing their work in print for the first time appear in the anthology alongside much-published authors.
The launch event for NWD takes place at 7pm on Saturday, 27th October, when contributing writers come together to celebrate the publication.
All events take place in Bonar Hall, unless otherwise stated, and all workshops are free, but ticketed.
The 2012 Dundee Literary Festival is the biggest to date, with a total of 42 events scheduled to take place from October 24th-28th. Leading figures from the world of fiction, poetry, journalism, comics and the publishing industry will take part in a series of workshops, talks, book signings, and readings.
For more information about all Literary Festival events, or to buy tickets, please visit www.literarydundee.co.uk Tickets are also available from Literary Dundee, 6th floor, Tower Building, University of Dundee, tel 01382 384413.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
