Watch back: Novel Voices series 2

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The latest series of the online Novel Voices events welcomed a host of debut authors in conversation with Centre for New Writing Senior Research Fellow Ellah P Wakatama. Each author discussed their respective debuts, craft, and journeys to becoming published.

You can catch up on each Novel Voices conversation via the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures YouTube channel. Each was hosted by the Centre for New Writing, in partnership with Creative Manchester and Blackwell’s Bookshop.

The events included:

• Heba Hayek in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama: Heba discussed her debut novel Sandbac Beneath Unlikely Skies, a tender yet brutal depiction of girlhood in Gaza, Palestine. Heba is a London-based writer, born and raised in Gaza. She completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Miami University, Ohio, and is studying for an MA in Social Anthropology at SOAS University of London. Heba has been involved in several activist movements, including for BDS, prison abolition, and demilitarisation.
  
  Watch the Heba Hayek event
   
• Micaiah Johnson in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama: Micaiah discussed her debut novel The Space Between Worlds, a multiversal and intimate character story, exploring themes of identity, disparity, and love. Micaiah received her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside, and her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction from Rutgers-Camden. She now studies American Literature at Vanderbilt University where she focuses on critical race theory.
  
  Watch the Micaiah Johnson event
   
• Nicola Garrard and Joan Deitch in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama: Nicola discussed her debut novel 29 Locks, an unflinching depiction of urban teen life, based on the tragic murder of one of Nicola’s own students. 29 Locks was shortlisted in the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition. Joan is Nicola’s editor at Hope Road Publishing.
  
  Watch the Nicola Garrard and Joan Deitch event
   
• Femi Kayode in conversation with Ellah P Wakatama: Femi discussed his debut novel Lightseekers, the beginning of a series of crime thrillers based on the investigations of Dr Philip K. Talwo. Femi considers this to be a ‘love letter’ to his home country Nigeria.
  
  Watch the Femi Kayode event

All events displayed the sheer talent of each author and offered welcome insights into their own unique journeys, inspirations, and challenges for getting published. Thank you to all involved for delivering such a wonderful series of events.

For further information please visit:

• Centre for New Writing
• Creative Manchester