As you may well know, I'm both the founder and director of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival.
It's been a bit quiet on that front lately but that is all about to change, as today I embark on a four-month writer's residency at Bristol's Spike Island.
Funded by Arts Council England, the residency is both for me to work on my novel and other writing projects, as well as to foster public engagement with literature in Bristol.
Over the next four months, I'm therefore running a series of salon events at Spike Island, bringing together emerging and established talent from Bristol and the UK to share their work and prompt discussion.
The first takes place on Thursday 16 February at 6.30pm and feature Miles Chambers, Vera Chok and Shagufta Iqbal.
The second is an all-woman affair for Women's History Month and features Bidisha, Tania Hershmann and Holly Corfield-Carr.
The final event is on 29 April and speakers include Ben Gwalchmai, Amy Key and Eley Williams. Tickets will be available nearer the time.
Each event will feature me sharing some of the work I've created during the residency. We'll then hear from each invited guest. After a short break, attendees will be invited to share their own work.
The events are inspired by the great Gertrude Stein's salons in 1920s Paris, where writers and artists gathered together to share their work and support one another's publishing ventures.
And there's more!
Throughout the residency, I'll run workshops for children and for adults. The first, on 11 February, is a drop-in session for kids. The second, on 11 March, is for ages 16+ to develop their short fiction.
And there's more!
The BWLF website will be a portal to an online reading group for those interested in discovering and sharing thoughts on modernist women's writing. Every fortnight I will share a piece of work with you from the period. Go and read it, then come back and discuss in the comments section. First up... Gertrude Stein.
To find out more and book tickets for events, visit Spike Island.
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