MDX students and graduates help pull off a criminally good North London Story Festival.
On the 19th of February, the North London Story Festival; an annual literary festival was held at MDX - embracing all aspects of storytelling. This year’s theme was crime.
The Grove Atrium was cleverly given over to a life-size game of "Human Cluedo", with a playing board and crime scene-style outline figures marked out. Other activities included a VR game and an escape room in the kit room of the Grove Building.
Speakers included Stephen Kelman, nominated for the 2011 Booker Prize for Pigeon English, and Martin Rowson of the Guardian, who talked alongside fellow Professional Cartoonists' Organisation members Glenn Marshall and The Surreal McCoy about satire's power to shock.
Sky Drama Commissioning Executive Paul Gilbert advised aspiring scriptwriters,
"if you want to get into writing, just write. The more material you generate, the more attention you'll get... all companies are looking for hot new writers doing something new and special".
What happened at the speaker sessions?
PD Viner, whose first novel The Last Winter of Dani Lancing was bought by Warner Bros and sold to Showtime for a big screen adaptation but has yet to receive the green light, spoke candidly about dealings with publishers, and authors' feelings of failure.
Stephen Kelman talked about developing empathy as a writer.
Martin Rowson ranged over controversies, such as over the 2005 Danish Mohammed cartoons, said he was exasperated at how "everyone seems to need to be constantly offended", and that he thought the Grenfell Tower tragedy was "the most important political event of the last 20 years, we’re just too arrogant to realise it".
Barbara Nadel, creator of the "Turkish Morse" Çetin İkmen thought that because of the advance of technology, "there really isn't a perfect murder" in crime fiction any more - but "it's still worth trying".
Andrew Pepper, from Queen’s University, Belfast was interviewed by MDX Professor Paul Cobley about his series of historical crime novels the Pyke Mysteries, and his critical work on crime fiction which examines how the genre is closely concerned with the development of the modern bureaucratic state.
MDX Professor in Professional Practice Yasmin Alibhai-Brown spoke about the discourse around Islamic terrorism and the pressures on young British Muslims.
BBC investigative journalist Ceri Jackson, talked about her work on Shreds: Murder in the Dock, a hit BBC podcast about the 1988 Lynette White murder case. Jackson described her journalistic approach to covering communities impacted by crime of "really investing in people, genuinely caring about it".
There where various writing workshops including by MDX Creative Writing Master's graduate Ivy Ngeow.
Ngeow wrote her first novel, Cry of the Flying Rhino, while she was at MDX in 2005-6, and it was eventually published three years ago. Her third novel, Overboard, is out next month.
Ngeow commented that the festival ‘ was a good opportunity to meet a variety of writers of different ages – providing different perspectives.’
Students also gave warm feedback from the day:
Third year BA Journalism student Shawazullnoor Ahmad said - "A fantastic opportunity.. to put interview skills into practice. The event made me step out of my comfort zone and interview someone with an audience, I enjoyed the experience of being on the panel and working with a great team."
Third year BA Creative Writing and Journalism student Lydia Webb said - “With such a welcoming team, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and gained experiences I can take with me into my future career."
Senior lecturer in Media James Graham who took part in organising the event ‘was honoured to be able to work so closely with students and colleagues from a range of programmes in planning and delivering this year’s Story Festival.'
"It provides an invaluable platform for our students to gain experience in managing events and showcasing their own talents alongside the opportunity to learn from and network with prominent writers, producers and journalists."
What happened at the North London Story Festival?
The Grove Atrium was cleverly given over to a life-size game of "Human Cluedo", with a playing board and crime scene-style outline figures marked out. Other activities included a VR game and an escape room in the kit room of the Grove Building.
Speakers included Stephen Kelman, nominated for the 2011 Booker Prize for Pigeon English, and Martin Rowson of the Guardian, who talked alongside fellow Professional Cartoonists' Organisation members Glenn Marshall and The Surreal McCoy about satire's power to shock.
What happened at the speaker sessions?
PD Viner, whose first novel The Last Winter of Dani Lancing was bought by Warner Bros and sold to Showtime for a big screen adaptation but has yet to receive the green light, spoke candidly about dealings with publishers, and authors' feelings of failure.
Stephen Kelman talked about developing empathy as a writer.
Martin Rowson ranged over controversies, such as over the 2005 Danish Mohammed cartoons, said he was exasperated at how "everyone seems to need to be constantly offended", and that he thought the Grenfell Tower tragedy was "the most important political event of the last 20 years, we’re just too arrogant to realise it".
Barbara Nadel, creator of the "Turkish Morse" Çetin İkmen thought that because of the advance of technology, "there really isn't a perfect murder" in crime fiction any more - but "it's still worth trying".
Andrew Pepper, from Queen’s University, Belfast was interviewed by MDX Professor Paul Cobley about his series of historical crime novels the Pyke Mysteries, and his critical work on crime fiction which examines how the genre is closely concerned with the development of the modern bureaucratic state.
MDX Professor in Professional Practice Yasmin Alibhai-Brown spoke about the discourse around Islamic terrorism and the pressures on young British Muslims.
BBC investigative journalist Ceri Jackson, talked about her work on Shreds: Murder in the Dock, a hit BBC podcast about the 1988 Lynette White murder case. Jackson described her journalistic approach to covering communities impacted by crime of "really investing in people, genuinely caring about it".
There where various writing workshops including by MDX Creative Writing Master's graduate Ivy Ngeow.
Ngeow wrote her first novel, Cry of the Flying Rhino, while she was at MDX in 2005-6, and it was eventually published three years ago. Her third novel, Overboard, is out next month.
Ngeow commented that the festival ‘ was a good opportunity to meet a variety of writers of different ages – providing different perspectives.’
Students also gave warm feedback from the day:
Third year BA Journalism student Shawazullnoor Ahmad said -
"A fantastic opportunity.. to put interview skills into practice. The event made me step out of my comfort zone and interview someone with an audience, I enjoyed the experience of being on the panel and working with a great team."
“With such a welcoming team, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and gained experiences I can take with me into my future career."
Senior lecturer in Media James Graham who took part in organising the event ‘was honoured to be able to work so closely with students and colleagues from a range of programmes in planning and delivering this year’s Story Festival.'
"It provides an invaluable platform for our students to gain experience in managing events and showcasing their own talents alongside the opportunity to learn from and network with prominent writers, producers and journalists."
To find out more about Creative Writing and Journalism at MDX, click here