‘Educating Susan’: Decolonisation and Inclusivity in Creative Writing Pedagogy and Publishing

  • Thursday, 12th September 2024, 08:30 – 18:00 (BST)

  • College Building, City, University of London

  • Public

  • £30-£50

Registration deadline: September 1, 2024. Limited space, register now.

A one-day, in-person event that will include presentations, panels, and networking, featuring writers, academics including Professor Sunny Singh and Professor Deirdre Osborne, researchers, and publishing professionals. The conference will be an avenue to discuss inclusive approaches to teaching creative writing from around the world. You will also hear from celebrated writers such as Diana Evans and Leone Ross, and from agents and editors about whether British publishing has become more inclusive. A panel in partnership with the literary magazine Wasafiri will discuss the future of small magazines. The organisers, Dr Deepa Anappara and Farhana Shaikh, hope to create a network for academics, researchers, and writers of colour through this event, to continue these conversations after the conference

Conference Schedule (Subject to change)

8.30 – 9.20 am        Registration

9.20 – 9.30 am        Welcome & Housekeeping   

9.30 – 10 am           'Black Words and White Pages: A Dialogue in Decolonial Futures,' Professor Deirdre Osborne & Angelique Golding

10.00 – 11.30 am    Stream 1: Decolonising Creative Writing Pedagogy

(a)  Flipping the Table: Creative Writing as Call to Action, Dr Sabrin Hasbun, Cardiff Met University

(b)  Critical Fabulation as Counterstory: Writing Away from Susan Instead of Towards Her, Celine Marie Aenlle-Rocha, Sarah Yukiko Ng, Columbia University

(c)  A Soviet Plot?: Journeys Beyond the Anglophone Model in the Creative Writing Classroom, Dr Harry Whitehead, University of Leicester

(d)  Rethinking the Hero’s Journey: An Exploration of ‘Good Writing’ that Loses the Plot, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, The Open University

11.30 – 11.45 am    Break   

11.45 – 1.15 pm      Stream 2: Inclusivity in Publishing & Creative Writing Pedagogy & Practice

(a)  Literature Ecosystems and Diversity: This,That, and The Other, Melanie Abrahams FRSA FRSL., Literature Curator, Arts Consultant and Mentor

(b)  Ubiquitousness of ‘Chai’: A Culturally Cozy Battleground for British-Indian Identity, Twishaa Tandon, University of East Anglia

(c)  Cities of Stolen Histories: Writing and Teaching Decolonial Children’s Historical Fiction, Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, University of Exeter

(d)  Decolonising Autofiction, Durre Shahwar Mughal, Queen Mary University, London, and Cardiff University

(e)  Towards Disabled Postcolonial Travel Writing, Sonia Hunjan, University of York

(f)   Decolonising the flash fiction market: South Asian voices in micro fiction, Farhana Khalique, Flash Fusion project

1.15 – 2.10 pm        Lunch  

2.15 – 3 pm Centring Justice: Reimagining the Future of Creative Writing Pedagogy and Publishing, Professor Sunny Singh

3 – 3.45 pm Educating Susan: Inclusivity in Publishing, panel with Commissioning Editor at Bonnier Books, Serena Arthur; Commissioning Editor at Chatto, Kaiya Shang; literary agent Kemi Ogunsanwo; and founder, Paper Literary Agency, Catherine Cho

3.45 – 4 pm Break  

4 – 4.45 pm            The Future of Literary Magazines, in partnership with Wasafiri magazine. Wasafiri editor Sana Goyal in conversation with Amy Baxter (Bad Form Review), Livia Franchini and Lucy Mercer (Too Little / Too Hard), and Naush Sabah (Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal)

4.45 – 5.30 pm        The Writers’ Studio: Diana Evans and Leone Ross in conversation  

5.30 – 6 pm            Plenary

Abstracts and speaker biographies

Conference fees and booking

Full price - £50
Concessions* - £30

* Students, unemployed, unwaged

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