News from Centre for New Writing students, staff and alumni – November 2018

Marie Naughton and Laura Webb launch new poetry collections, Susan Gee has her debut novel published, Roma Havers performs for UK Young Artists, Alex Allison’s first novel has been acquired by Dialogue Books and Alicia J Rouverol and Honor Gavin perform at recent poetry readings. 

Tuesday 6 November sees the launch of the début collection, A Life, Elsewhere, by Centre for New Writing graduate Marie Naughton. Marie’s debut poetry collection has been published by Pindrop Press and the launch event takes place at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

On 29 November Laura Webb launches her inaugural poetry collection Pickles at Keats House in London. Laura’s collection is being published by Templar Poetry, who awarded Laura the 2018 Straid Award. Laura’s work frequently celebrates the lives and work of women throughout history.

Graduate Susan Gee’s novel Kiss her Goodbye has been published by ‘digital first’ fiction publisher Aria. This ‘dark, psychological crime’ story is Susan’s début novel.

2017-18 Masters student Roma Havers has turned her MA dissertation into a one-woman show, Boltedwhich she will perform at UK Young Artists’ biennial festival New Collectives 2019 in Nottingham in February 2019. Roma staged a debut performance of the work in October in NIAMOS in Hulme as part of a student-led arts and mental health event InSane.

Alex Allison’s 'stunning' début novel The Art of the Body has been acquired by Dialogue Books publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove. The Art of The Body is about a woman who works as a carer for a fine art student with cerebal palsy, and is described as an "original, intimate and unflinching account of caring for a broken body, one that expresses both rage and tenderness and is incredibly powerful and arresting".

In October, graduate Alicia J. Rouverol read her poetry alongside Centre for New Writing lecturer Honor Gavin at the University of Sheffield’s Humanities Research Institute, as part of University’s Centre for Poetry and Poetics’ autumn programme. Honor also gave a reading in October as part of Murmur, a reading series at Common in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, which combines poetry, prose and music.