Keynote delivered by Isabel Waidner
Goldsmiths winning author of Sterling Karat Gold, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility and We Are Made of Diamond Stuff.
Isabel Waidner is a London-based writer, author of Corey Fah Does Social Mobility, Sterling Karat Gold, We Are Made of Diamond Stuff and Gaudy Bauble. They are the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize 2021 and were shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2019, the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction in 2022 and the Republic of Consciousness Prize in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
They are a co-founder of the event series Queers Read This at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and they are an academic in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London.
They are a co-founder of the event series Queers Read This at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and they are an academic in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London.
Panel 'Building your Readership'
Ever wondered how you can better grow your audience and market yourself as a writer? This panel discussion and Q&A provides valuable insight.
James Spackman is a publisher and consultant, freelancing in marketing, presentation and strategy. He speaks regularly at publishing conferences, on trade marketing, cover copy and Reader Experience among other topics. He started out in the post room at Bloomsbury, then became their London rep, before moving on to John Murray, Hodder and Osprey Group, in sales, marketing, editorial and management roles. In 2016 he founded the Spare Room Project to help non-Londoners make a start in publishing.
Christopher Hamilton-Emery is a poet and director of Salt. He has published three collections of poetry as well as two chapbooks, a writer’s guide, and an anthology of art and poems. He has edited selections of Emily Brontë, John Keats and Christina Rossetti, and was editor of the The Salt Companion to Maggie O’Sullivan. His poetry has been widely published in magazines and anthologised. Together with his wife, Jennifer, he founded and has run Salt since 1999. He has worked in publishing for the British Council, Cambridge University Press, Polity Press and Cavendish Publishing and is currently on the Advisory Board of Inkandescent – a London press committed to ideas, subjects and voices underrepresented by mainstream publishing.
Christopher Hamilton-Emery is a poet and director of Salt. He has published three collections of poetry as well as two chapbooks, a writer’s guide, and an anthology of art and poems. He has edited selections of Emily Brontë, John Keats and Christina Rossetti, and was editor of the The Salt Companion to Maggie O’Sullivan. His poetry has been widely published in magazines and anthologised. Together with his wife, Jennifer, he founded and has run Salt since 1999. He has worked in publishing for the British Council, Cambridge University Press, Polity Press and Cavendish Publishing and is currently on the Advisory Board of Inkandescent – a London press committed to ideas, subjects and voices underrepresented by mainstream publishing.
Panel 'Expanding your Practice'
How can we, as writers, think beyond the novel and expand into other formats such as film, theatre and videogames? Join this panel discussion and Q&A to find out more.
Laura Barnett is an author, journalist and teacher of creative writing. As an arts journalist and theatre critic, she has written regularly for The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph and Time Out London. As well as novels, she writes short stories, and teaches creative writing – she’s a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, she teaches for Curtis Brown Creative and is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. She has also worked as a mentor for the charity Arts Emergency, and the writers’ development agency Spread The Word.
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author of Harmless Like You, Starling Days and The Sleep Watcher. Rowan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has won The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award and has been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Her work has been a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and an NPR Great Read. Her short work has appeared in several places including Granta, Guernica, The Guardian, The Harvard Review, and NPR’s Selected Shorts. She is the editor of the Go Home! anthology and Dog-Hearted. She has received residencies/fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, The Millay Colony, Hedgebrook, Gladstone’s Library, The Asian American Writers Workshop, and Kundiman.
Eli Goldstone is a graduate of the City University Creative Writing (Novels) MA. She is the former prose editor of Cadaverine, and is the author of Strange Heart Beating (Granta 2017), for which she won the Betty Trask Award in 2018.
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author of Harmless Like You, Starling Days and The Sleep Watcher. Rowan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has won The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award and has been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Her work has been a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and an NPR Great Read. Her short work has appeared in several places including Granta, Guernica, The Guardian, The Harvard Review, and NPR’s Selected Shorts. She is the editor of the Go Home! anthology and Dog-Hearted. She has received residencies/fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, The Millay Colony, Hedgebrook, Gladstone’s Library, The Asian American Writers Workshop, and Kundiman.
Eli Goldstone is a graduate of the City University Creative Writing (Novels) MA. She is the former prose editor of Cadaverine, and is the author of Strange Heart Beating (Granta 2017), for which she won the Betty Trask Award in 2018.
Poetry and Performance Workshop with mandla rae
In this workshop, led by performer and curator mandla rae, you’ll learn some top tips on how you can infuse your writing with physicality and performance.
mandla rae is a queer Zimbabwean writer, performer and curator. mandla is agender and has no pronouns. mandla’s work typically explores an intersectional existence enforced on the artists’ body as a result of the world we live in. mandla has been commissioned by many organisations across the country including the BFI, Journeys Festival International and Hope Mill Theatre to make written works. mandla is an Associate Artist for Outbox Theatre.
Like the Back of Your Hand: Developing Place in Prose with Sophie Parkes-Nield
Get ready for your primer into place writing - one of the fastest-growing literary movements of the last few years.
Sophie Parkes-Nield is a writer, a researcher, an associate lecturer, a project manager and a community artist, working primarily within creative writing, folklore and heritage. Her PhD research explores how the English calendar custom operates as a narrative device within contemporary fiction, while her teaching brings creative writing to all kinds of educational settings, including higher education and within the community.
Writing Autofiction with Zoe Lambert
Join writer Zoe Lambert at the exciting intersection where autobiography and fiction writing collide.
Zoe Lambert is a writer from Manchester. She lectures in Creative Writing at Lancaster University, teaching undergrad and postgrad modules in the short story. She publishes short stories in a variety of publications, and is currently working on a speculative novel, The New Humans. Her collection of short stories, The War Tour, was published in 2012 by Comma Press, and was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize for short stories.
Your Rights as an Author with the Society of Authors
Learn how to legally protect yourself and your work as an author with Theo Jones, senior contracts advisor from the Society of Authors.
The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors.
Agent and Editor 1-1's
You will have the opportunity to meet with two agents or editors for 1-1's. The purpose of these 1-1's is to discuss your work in progress, to seek advice and discuss your next steps.
Meet the Agents and Editors
We will be joined by the following agents and editors with the following specialisms:
Aoife Inman from Felicity Bryan Associates specialises in Novel (Literary), Short Stories (inc. flash fiction) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Olivia Bignold from Curtis Brown specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary),
Novel (Historical) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Flo Sandelson from Curtis Brown specialises in Novel (Literary), Poetry, Short Stories (inc. flash fiction) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Grace Robinson from Curtis Brown specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical) and Short Stories (inc. flash fiction).
Christopher Hamilton-Emery from Salt Publishing Ltd specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Poetry and Short Stories (inc. flash fiction).
Susan Yearwood from Susan Yearwood Agency specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Middle Grade Children's (8 - 12), Young Adult (12+) and Novel (Crime).
Sarah Stamp from The Soho Agency specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical), Novel (Crime), Science Fiction/Fantasy and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose)
James Keane from Northodox Press specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical), Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical), Novel (Crime), Science Fiction/Fantasy.
Amandeep Singh from The Good Literary Agency specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial)
Novel (Literary),Novel (Historical), Poetry, Short Stories (inc. flash fiction) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Jonathan de Peyer from HarperNorth (HarperCollins) specialises in Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Patricia Dixon from Bloodhound Books specialises in Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical), Novel (Crime) and Psychological Fiction including Mystery and Thrillers.
Rebecca Carter from Rebecca Carter Literary specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial), Novel (Literary), Novel (Historical), Novel (Crime), Short Stories (inc. flash fiction) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Lauren Howard from Hachette UK specialises in Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Katie Ellis-Brown from Penguin Random House specialises in Novel (Historical) and Novel (Crime).
Kerry-Ann Bentley from The Good Literary Agency specialises in Novel (Trade/Commercial),
Novel (Literary), Young Adult (12+) and Creative non-fiction (biography, autobiography, any other prose).
Please be aware that while we are hosting the 1 to 1 sessions in person at this year's NCWID, we may need to switch these agent sessions online at short notice should issues (e.g rail strikes, inclement weather) arise. We can provide computers for online 1 to 1s should the need arise, and we will attempt to rearrange any meetings missed due to unforeseen circumstances at a mutually convenient time. Whilst we don’t expect this to be an issue, we will be sure to inform you immediately should any issues arise. Thank you for your understanding.
