A new chapter for Creative Writing at Kent

Creative Writing at the University of Kent is celebrating book industry recognised student achievements whilst also hosting a popular reading series featuring a diverse range of critically acclaimed and prize-winning writers.

As part of the Creative Writing Tuesday Reading series, author Magnus Mills will talk at the University on Tuesday 30 October.

Hosted by the School of English, Mills will talk at Darwin College Staff Common Room, on the University’s Canterbury Campus, at 6pm in a popular series that includes bestselling authors such as Iain Sinclair, Joe Dunthorne and the School’s own Alex Preston. The series runs until early December, and will resume in the spring term. Previous guests have included Will Self, Ali Smith, and Elaine Feinstein.

Magnus Mills’ first book The Restraint of Beasts was shortlisted for the Booker and the Whitbread prizes in 1998; Thomas Pynchon called it ‘a demented, dead-pan comic wonder’. His novels, including All Quiet on the Orient Express, The Scheme for Full Employment, and The Maintenance of Headway, have been critically lauded for their unsettling humour and Kafkaesque worlds of repetition and constraint, punishment and reward. His most recent book is A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In.

The School of English has also seen Creative Writing MA student, Sarah Quinn’s novel Where Skateboards Go To Die shortlisted for the Impress Prize 2012. The winner of the prize is announced in late November and provides unpublished authors the opportunity to win a publishing contract.

Fellow Creative Writing MA student, Catherine Hummel, who writes under the pseudonym Hummel C.Addams, also recently won the HG Wells Festival Prize for her short story ‘Beneath’.

Amongst significant student success, Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing, Roopa Farooki has been long listed for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013 for her fifth novel, The Flying Man, also long listed for this year’s Orange Prize. The DSC prize aims to bring South Asian writing to a new global audience and celebrate the achievements of South Asian writers.

The School of English has amongst its staff many nationally and internationally acclaimed authors and poets, including Scarlett Thomas, Abdulrazak Gurnah, David Herd and Patricia Debney.

Amy Sackville, Lecturer in Creative Writing, said: ‘We have a fantastic programme for the Tuesday Readings this term, and we’re thrilled to welcome Magnus Mills, who is a favourite on our Creative Writing reading lists.’

Professor Peter Brown, Head of the School of English, commented: ‘The Tuesday readings are a must for people wanting to see what makes Creative Writing at Kent tick. They showcase local talent, attract stars from around the country, and have a great atmosphere.'

Contact: pressoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 3:15pm 29 October 2012