Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
(Re)Writing Yorkshire
Lecturers from the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities will examine new representations of Yorkshire in Literature, Television, Film, Music and Art to consider how the county has been re-presented since the year 2000. The seminars, to be held at the library, are free, open to the public and will run from October to December. Places are limited and must be booked in advance at http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/#events.
The series comprises of three lectures: ‘Next Generation Yorkshire Poets with Tara Bergin, Helen Mort and Dr Lucy Burnett’, ‘Mapping Leeds’s fictional landscape with A J Kirby, Richard Smyth and Dr Rachel Connor’ and ‘Look North - Writing Yorkshire in Contemporary British Fiction with Sunjeev Sahota and Dr Katy Shaw’. Each event will unite academic researchers, established writers and creative practitioners, who together will forge an original dialogue between the creative and the critical to encourage new conversations and considerations of Yorkshire in the teenage years of the new millennium.
Dr Rachel Connor, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies and Humanities and organiser of the event, said: “We established the (Re)Writing Yorkshire series because there’s a real need for a live event that connects Leeds Beckett with the wider reading and writing community in Leeds and beyond - collaborating with The Library, which shares our democratic approach to reading and literature, also cements our accessibility in the heart of the city. The other reason for setting up the events is that we’re fascinated by representations of Yorkshire in the 21st century across the creative and critical domain and we wanted to be able to share our passion with like-minded people.”
The first event presents Helen Mort and Tara Bergin, two Yorkshire-based poets who, in 2014, were part of a 20-strong cohort selected by the Poetry Book Society as those expected to dominate the poetry landscape in coming years. Dr Lucy Burnett, a poet and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Leeds Beckett, will chair the event. Dr Burnett added: “It’s a real privilege to welcome Helen Mort and Tara Bergin, the Yorkshire contingent of the Next Generation Poets 2014, to the opening event of (Re)Writing Yorkshire. Every 10 years the Poetry Book Society asks a high-profile judging panel, led by Ian McMillan, to identify those 20 writers whom they expect to dominate the next decade, and on this occasion Helen and Tara are part of the select bunch.
“In addition to readings from both poets, discussion points will include whether and how Yorkshire influences their writing, and where they see poetry going in the next 10 years – in their dreams, or in reality!”
‘Next Generation Yorkshire Poets with Tara Bergin, Helen Mort and Dr Lucy Burnett’ will take place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 6 October at The Leeds Library.
Details of all the seminars in the series and other events hosted by Leeds Beckett can be found at http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/#events.