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Join us on Instagram for daily writing prompts
inspired by cities around the world
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Meet our UNESCO City of Literature Virtual Writers
in Residence
We are delighted to welcome five writers from UNESCO
Cities of Literature around the world to Norwich for a virtual
residency this month. Their main focus will be exploring
connections between Norwich and their own city, linking up with
local writers, running workshops for young people in Norfolk and
working on a range of commissions.
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Liz
Breslin – Dunedin, New Zealand
Liz plans to explore Norwich and Dunedin
through webcams and reflect on how we can experience
connection during the pandemic. A poet, playwright and
storyteller, she recently co-created Dunedin UNESCO City of
Literature’s Possibilities Project. Her second poem
collection, In bed with the feminists, will be
published by Dead Bird Books in 2021.
Liz says: 'I’m looking forward to looking
closely, to having the luxury of time to form prompts and
responses, and to really enjoying the liminal space that
has been created by Norwich City of Literature in opening
up these virtual residency projects.’
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Lynn
Buckle – Dublin, Ireland
Lynn is an author and artist. During her
residency she will explore the watery hinterlands of
Norwich and Dublin and the eradication and re-emergence of
the waterways leading into, and out of, the two cities –
looking at gender, power, and place through the lens of
fictional nature and climate writing, from her own disability
perspective. Lynn's literary novel, The Groundsmen,
was nominated for the Republic of Consciousness Prize and listed
as Eason's 'Best of Irish Literature'.
Lynn says she is honoured and excited at the
opportunity to work with authors from other literary
cultures, while promoting Irish authors abroad, creating
connections, and sharing writers’ worlds
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Vahni
Capildeo – Edinburgh, Scotland
Vahni's project will look at Lighthouse and
Anchorage and they will produce daily poems inspired by
their walk to the lighthouse in Newhaven while reading
Julian of Norwich. Vahni's background in medieval studies,
lexicography, translation theory and culture for
development underpins their non-fiction and poetry. Their
work has been recognised with awards including the Forward
Prize (Best Collection) and the Cholmondeley Award.
Vahni says: 'Norwich and Norfolk have been a
core part of my imagination throughout my entire writing
life [...] I am committed to continuing to explore this
inhabitation by place that is my relationship with Norwich,
and should be grateful of a forum, community and resources
in order to develop this relationally.'
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Valur
Gunnarsson – Reykjavík, Iceland
Valur plans a literary walk along the coast in
dialogue with W.G. Sebald and Icelandic literature. He is
best known as a writer of creative historical fiction; his
first novel was a Viking fantasy and his third an
alternative history where the Germans invade Iceland in
World War II. His fourth book is expected in March 2021.
Valur says: 'Having studied literature both at
the University of Iceland and at UEA, I want to explore how
the history, and the landscape, have impacted writers such
as Sebald and Laxness who wandered these respective coasts
and mused about their heritage.’
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Marcin
Wilk – Kraków, Poland
A writer, journalist and blogger, Marcin will
connect with independent bookshops in Norwich and explore
their role in the city and discuss in relation to the book
scene in Kraków. For many years he was the curator of the
Przemysły Książki ('Book Industries') at the International
Literary Festival – Conrad Festival in Kraków. He is the
author of two biographies on famous Polish women, and
an editor of Wyliczanka.eu – a portal about books and literature.
Marcin says: 'In examining the functioning of
bookshops in Norwich, I want to learn about their local
history, find out who the people who run them are, and also
look through the prism of the bookshops at the local
community, the book market, and the city.’
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Join us on Instagram for daily writing prompts
inspired by UNESCO cities
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Join us on Instagram
throughout February for Imagining the City: a series
of daily writing prompts inspired by our residents' UNESCO
Cities of Literature. From bookshops to beaches, our
writers have devised a series of images and written prompts
that reflect the concerns they're exploring throughout
their virtual residency. Check in with us each day and see
if any of our mini exercises spark your creative
imagination!
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Coming soon – UNESCO City of Literature book
bundle from independent bookshop The Book Hive
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Independent Norwich bookshop The Book Hive
will be curating a special UNESCO City of Literature book
bundle: featuring a book each from Dunedin, Dublin,
Edinburgh, Reykjavík and Kraków. Stay tuned for news of
their release!
In the meantime, you can explore existing book
packs such as Fiction in Translation and books published by Propolis over on The Book Hive website!
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More
coming soon...Our virtual writers in residence will be running
workshops with young people on our Lit From the Inside programme,
making an appearance on The Writing Life podcast,
sharing curated book lists and taking part in online events. Look out for
projects involving webcams, independent bookshops, Vikings,
climate writing, waterways, medieval heritage and our very own
Julian of Norwich!
This programme is part of
Ambition for Excellence and is supported by Arts Council England.
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Registered
charity number: 1110725
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