Come along and hear Joe Dunthorne and Ross Raisin talk about their writing and read from their novels on March the 18th at 6.15pm. Booking is essential. Everyone welcome! 

 

Brunel’s second short story anthology by Creative Writing students.

BOOK LAUNCH 11th March 2015, 7pm, Antonin Artaud building.

Book launch will be part of Arts @ Artaud.

EVERYBODY WELCOME

Advanced Bookings: brunelanthology@gmail.com

BOOKS will be ON SALE at £5 each.

Load your shopping trolley with a supermarket full of characters: some deranged and others (almost) normal. These innovative, risk-taking writers have created a supermarket full of stories that explore the world we live in and pick apart the human psyche. Explore death, madness, nightmares and dysfunctional behaviour through stories that are not afraid to show a dark reflection of our world. Discover the inner workings of a nineteenth century ‘freak show’, hear about the horror of supermarkets when you are anorexic, learn the best ways to kill off your pesky husband and meet the man who transports semen for a living!

See you at the checkout!

 Writers

Munifah Alwi, Lauren Anderson, Marie-Teresa Hanna, Fatin Haris, Jonathan Harris, Grace Hill, Thu-Ha Hong, Marsha Hutchinson, Shrai Jamwal, Oliver Jarvis, Verity Jones, Hadiyah Khan, Esther Lewis, Natasha Madahar, Mafaal Faal-Mason, Kate McKim, Aidan Milan, Lena Mistry, Kelly Pells, Mehdi Punjwani, Tyrone Rajapaksa, James Schubert, Halimat Shode, Cara Sullivan, Katijah Wellings Thomas, Ziyue Wen, Thomas Willett, Erica Wilson, Chris Winn.

Kelly Pells is an English with Creative Writing student here at Brunel University.

What writer(s) influenced you most and why?

I’m influenced by historical writers like Karen Maitland and Philippa Gregory. They manage to capture a sense of history in their stories, transporting you to a different time and place, whilst also creating characters that you can relate to.

What’s your favourite genre and why?

My favourite genre is historical fiction because it’s a chance for escapism. For a little while you can lose yourself in a story that takes you away from all the stresses of everyday life.

Can you give us a brief insight into your writing process?

Usually I’ll spend some time brainstorming ideas because I like to know what the ending will be before I start writing. If it’s a short story, I’ll get the first draft done fairly quickly just so that I have a foundation to work with, before I go back and make it into something worth reading.

What are your interests when you’re not writing?

I’m part of the dance club at Brunel and it’s proved a great distraction from the stresses of university work. When I’m not working on coursework or reading something for lectures, I’m usually dancing in the Isambard studio.

You can read Kelly’s short story, alongside many others, in the ‘The Psyche Supermarket’ released on the 11th of March.

You can also find her on Twitter at @PellsKelly

Katijah Wellings Thomas is a Game Design and Creative Writing student here at Brunel University.

What writer(s) influenced you most and why?

The writers that most influenced me were William Nicholson, Malorie Blackman and Mark Robson because their stories were contextual. The different worlds they wrote about came to life and were completely believable.

Can you give us a brief insight into your writing process?

My writing processes have changed substantially during my time at university and I’m still approaching creative writing from different angles all the time. Usually, my most inspiring ideas come to me at times I’m not looking for them. I try to develop my stories slowly and consistently over periods of time so the overall feel doesn’t alter too much.

What are your interests when you’re not writing?

When I’m not writing I’m playing the piano or trampolining. I’m a part-time coach at a trampolining club and really enjoy teaching others. I find it fulfilling to keep busy with different sports; this year I’ve taken up pole dancing, swimming and yoga.

What do you want to do after university?

I want to do a post graduate course in writing the novel before I leave university and then get some good experience within game or other creative industries, hopefully publishing some good pieces of work I’m truly proud of. In the long term I hope to do a PhD and become a lecturer in one of those fields.

You can read Katijah’s short story, alongside many others, in The Psyche Supermarket released on the 11^th of March.

You can also find her portfolio at https://katijah.carbonmade.com/

Thomas Willett is an English Literature with Creative Writing student here at Brunel University.

What writer(s) influenced you most and why?

After attending a recent reading event, Thomas Glave has been a big inspiration. I admire his ability to articulate controversial and painful topics of sexuality and repression in a way that strikes the reader to their core. His writing is not only hard-hitting, but also beautifully infused with imagery, which produces an original and striking voice; this is what I want to achieve.

What are you currently reading (or what was the last thing you read)?

Due to studying English Literature I read a lot of different works over the course of a term. Academically, I am currently reading Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and have just read Affinity by Sarah Waters. The last book I read in my own time was American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Can you give us a brief insight into your writing process?

Honestly, a lot of procrastination. Until I have a strong concept I will often do other work or activities; I find that inspiration often hits when I am not concentrating on what to write. When I have overcome my writers block I will often write brief notes on the plot and create a few character biographies; these often change dramatically from my first ideas as I get down to writing.

What are your interests when you’re not writing?

Music is my main interest: I have played the flute for about nine years now and have played in a variety of orchestras and wind bands. Currently, I am a member of the Brunel Film Orchestra and Choir and part of its committee.

You can read Thomas’ short story, alongside many others, in The Psyche Supermarket released on the 11^th of March.

You can also find him on Twitter at @JustAScribbler

Shrai Jamwal is currently in his third year at Brunel University doing Games Design and Creative Writing.

What writer(s) influenced you most and why?

I have always admired the work of Gabriel García Marquez, Aldous Huxley, Isabelle Allende and Harper Lee. These writers always play with characters and ideas in a distinct way, whether it be with a Latin American flair or through introspective perceptions of reality. I have always found those aspects interesting and enjoyable to read.

What’s your favourite genre and why?

That’s a hard one. It would have to be historical fiction, magic realism or bildungsroman. These genres tend to involve a sense of wonder, displacement and imagination that allow the narrative to be expressed in creative and whimsical ways.

Can you give us a brief insight into your writing process?

I usually start of by thinking of a scenario, whether it be an observation a character will make, a point of distinct change or the climax, which forms the base of my story. I try to build the characters with certain traits that make them individualistic and then try to assemble the story with them. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but mostly it helps start the physical process of writing.

What do you want to do after university?

I am really interested in a career in the media industry, whether it be in games, publishing or video entertainment. I would love to work with like-minded individuals in a creative environment.

You can read Shrai’s short story, alongside many others, in The Psyche Supermarket released on the 11^th of March.

You can also find him on Twitter at @shrai_j

Last year Dr. Bernadine Evaristo and a team of Creative Writing students brought us ‘The Voices Inside Our Heads’, Brunel’s first anthology of student-written short stories and thanks to its success, they’ve decided to do it again this year!

‘The Psyche Supermarket’ will introduce readers to yet another wave of young and creative student writers. There’s no boundary on what they can write which, mixed with their variety of backgrounds and personalities, will make for an eclectic collection of stories that range from the colourful to the downright bizarre. Love, comedy, fear and intrigue; these are just a few of the things you can expect to find down the aisle of ‘The Psyche Supermarket’!

The anthology will also be edited by a student team consisting of BA students Marie-Teresa Hanna, Kate McKim, Kelly Pells, Chris Winn and MA students Emma Jeremy and Romany Stott (who were also editors on the first anthology).

The launch of the anthology will be on the 11^th of March at 7pm in the Antonin Artaud building as part of the monthly Arts @ Artaud event. As well as selection of readings from students in the anthology there will also other performances, not to mention the possibility of free wine. At some point in the night the anthology will go on sale at £5 but you’ll have to be quick because there’s a limited supply!

Something like this is a great opportunity for an aspiring writer and it deserves all the support it can get so please, if you get the chance to, drop by for a drink and watch some amazing new talent being showcased, maybe even grab a copy of the anthology.

For more updates on the anthology then check out the official Twitter account @CWBrunel or look no further than this blog where we’ll be hosting daily interviews with the writers featured in ‘The Pysche Supermarket’ starting the 16^th of February!

Hope to see you there.

Kate McKim – Science Fiction in Literature

When considering the craft of writing a Science Fiction piece, there are two crucial aspects to explore to develop your work of fiction. The first, of course, is a world in which your plot exists, commonly referred to as ‘worldbuilding’. Before writing a short story or novel within the Science Fiction genre, the explorative journey of creating and researching a world will inevitably create plot points. One example of this might be a world in which rules and regulations dictate the way your characters and act and communicate, such as the stifling society within Hugh Howey’s novel Wool.

The post-apocalyptic world Hugh Howey has created in his series titled Wool depicts a community who are living in an underground silo due to the toxicity levels in the atmosphere of the outside world. The society are divided by their job positions as each floor on the silo is dedicated to a different area of work, for example the professionally influential members of the society operate within the upper levels of the silo. Occasionally members of the community are sent outside in a protective suit to clean the dirt off the sensors, which reveal the outside world to the silo’s inhabitants, although they never return.

When reading Wool, the static world Howey creates within his novel has been created as a fragmented environment in order to hide the truth about the silo. In order to visit different levels within the silo, the characters must travel up or down a large flight of stairs because there isn’t a lift. This immediately indicates that the community live separate lives to one another and rarely communicate with people from other lines of work.

Another crucial element to consider when writing a piece of Science Fiction is the novum (a Latin phrase for ‘new thing’). In Science Fiction, the novum is the new idea that will be explored in your story. In Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One, the novum is the immersive virtual reality called the OASIS which provides a utopian escape from the world in which the characters live.

The novel is set in 2044 where people live and seek refuge in the OASIS, created by the eccentric James Halliday who is obsessed with 80s pop culture. After Halliday passes away, many OASIS users embark on a competition rife with 80s pop trivia and questions which Halliday designed himself in order to find a winner for his fortune and the OASIS itself.

Wade Watts, the novel’s protagonist, becomes involved in an epic journey to uncover Halliday’s riddles and the novel follows his progression in the competition and his personal development. As the novel is written in first person, readers explore Wade’s world and the OASIS through his perspective. One of the ways in which Cline contextualises the world is the explanation of the items required for a user to enter the OASIS: visors, haptic gloves and the console itself. When Wade places the visor over his eyes, readers are only able to explore his actions and communications within the OASIS.

Chloe Sizer – Science Fiction in Film 

There’s more to science fiction cinema than great hulking aliens and epic space wars. As a whole, the genre has helped to shape the film industry as a vehicle for social commentary, as well as lead the way in special effects technology. However, it took a few decades before the genre was taken seriously.

Science fiction films appeared early during the silent film era. Initial attempts were of short duration often with a technological theme and humorous tone. Le Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Méliès is considered to be the very first science fiction film with its ground-breaking special effects pioneering the way for future films.

But it was the 1970’s which changed science fiction cinema forever. The emergence of George Lucas’s Star Wars pushed the genre to new extremes by mixing fast paced action with drama and romance. This ultimately made the film more marketable to a wider audience. On the other end of the spectrum, Ridley Scott’s Alien envisaged something far more sinister with some of the most horrific creature design ever seen on the big screen.

After Star Wars, there was a resurgence of interest and science fiction became bankable as a cinematic genre. Star Trek was now reborn as a film franchise and some of the greatest films ever made were produced as a direct result. Below are three sci-fi films which are my all time favourite.

1. E.T the Extra Terrestrial
In my opinion, this is one of Spielberg’s finest. It’s a film I was enamoured with as a child and something which I can re-watch over again. It was a widely successful film during the 1980’s telling the story of Elliot, a lonely boy who befriends an alien stranded on earth. It is thought that Spielberg drew the main plot of the film from his parent’s divorce with major references to his childhood interwoven throughout the film: Elliott fakes illness by holding a thermometer to the bulb in his lamp while covering his face with a heating pad, a trick frequently employed by the young Spielberg. Overall the film stands alone as a family classic, but you don’t need me to tell you that much.

2. Ex Machina
A fairly recent addition to sci-fi cinema, released in 2015 by writer and director Alex Garland. Ex Machina tells the story of Caleb, a young computer coder, who wins the chance to spend a week in the house of Nathan, the CEO of the company whom he works for. Whilst he is there, Nathan asks Caleb to test his new experiment, an A.I humanoid named Ava. It is a typical ‘man vs machine’ sub-plot, but the cinematography is beautiful and the acting is on point with Oscar Isaac portraying the sociopathic Nathan down to a T.

3. Black Mirror
Okay, so I may be cheating slightly here. Black Mirror isn’t ‘technically’ a film, but it is a TV series which is most definitely worth a watch. Charlie Brooker challenges societies obsession with digital culture with a wholly horrific ‘what if’ type scenario. What if you could re-create deceased loved ones using their past tweets and statuses? What if you had a chip behind your ear which recorded each and every event in your day to day life? Although a very harrowing series, it is still definitely entertaining and if you like dark, satirical comedy it is most definitely up your street.

Brunel’s first poetry anthology, newly titled Crush, is hosting a cover competition for Brunel students! The winner of the competition will win an invitation to the launch event and a free copy of Crush. This a great opportunity to add something a little different to your CV!

As there ins’t a singular theme that unites all of the poems apart from the expression of new talent, we are looking for original designs that display the student’s own interpretation of the title.

If you have any questions relating to the cover competition then don’t hesitate to contact us!

Kate McKim

Would you be interested in taking part in Interflora’s Valentine’s challenge and create romantic verses for Valentine’s Day? Interflora are hosting a competition where writers could have a poem published in Interflora’s Little E-Book of Verse on their website. One participant could also win a new iPad Air 2!

Their ‘Verses for My Valentine’ campaign seeks to encourage people to create thought provoking poetry when writing messages to their loved ones.  Rather than writing a clumsy Valentine’s Day message or borrowing cheesy lines from a favourite RomCom, they are challenging people to craft a beautifully thought-through verse that expresses their emotions concisely. The verses can be created in any genre, from a traditional romantic verse to a witty rhyme.

If you would like to enter the Interflora Valentine’s challenge, all you need to do is construct a creative verse in less than 150 words and send it to Laura Sephton whose email address is included at the bottom of this post. Submissions must be emailed before midnight on Tuesday the 27th of January.  All entries will be judged by a panel of leading experts, including the Poetry Society and a well-known TV psychologist.

Interflora are also running a separate Twitter competition starting on Friday the 13th of February where they are challenging budding Twitter poets to create a romantic verse in 140 characters.

If you are interested in receiving further information about either of these opportunities, please contact Laura Sephton at Laura.Sephton@interflora.co.uk.

Laura Sephton

Kate McKim