Litcom 1: A Conference on Literature and Communities
Norwich Writers’ Centre, Dragon Hall, King Street, Norwich
Thursday 2nd March 12.30pm – 5.30pm
& Friday 3rd of March 9:30am – 5pm
Free Event (registration essential)
Keynote speakers
Ava Chalkiadaki, Vice-Chair, Organisation of Culture, Sports and Youth, City of Athens; member of the Organising Committee, City of Athens World Book Capital 2018
Dave Ward, Co-ordinator, The Windows Project, Liverpool – writing in the community since 1976
What is the relationship between literature and communities? This conference aims to take issue with a conception of literature as an individualistic arts practice (solo writer, solo reader), to offer a critical space for those projects and activities that have been engaging with literature, and to co-produce research questions which will inform further events and a planned edited book around the topic.
We wish to consider how literatures emerge from given communities and in turn contribute to their co-creation. Do differing contexts produce distinctive literatures? What is the role of the writer in these communities? Do roles alter at different scales, i.e. local/national/international? Is the act of creative writing itself of value to communities as well as the act of reading? How can the production of literature be thought a negotiation with community?
We take as our beginning the view that all individuals are inextricably interwoven into wider complex communities. How does writing from within and with alter the practice of the literary arts? Yet also is it really possible to even ‘write with’ a community and what shifts in thinking and doing are required to understand more clearly the activity of the writer in a community?
This event is funded by the Connected Communities programme, from the University of East Anglia. Although Connected Communities has engaged extensively with community arts practices arguably there has been less exploration of the literary arts in relation to communities..
Registration
You can register for Litcom 1 via Eventbrite.
Conference Programme
A full Conference Schedule will be available here shortly.
Further information
Further information is available from Rachel Daniel, Connected Communities administrator, r.daniel@uea.ac.uk
Conference committee
- Eleanor Rees Creative Writing, Liverpool Hope University
- George McKay AHRC Connected Communities Leadership Fellow, UEA
- Ross Hair Lecturer in American Studies, UEA
- Jonathan Morley Programme Director, Writers’ Centre Norwich
- Simon Popple Senior Lecturer in Photography and Digital Culture, University of Leeds
- Jos Smith Lecturer in Contemporary Literature, UEA
- Rachel Daniel & Connected Communities administrators, UEA.
- Jess Knights
