Writers’ Kingston
is Kingston University's literary cultural institute dedicated to creative writing in all its forms, with an annual programme of events from talks to workshops and festivals.
The programme consists of a dozen events – some themed, with speakers responding to that concept with a new reading or talk or performance - and others celebrating a festival or regular reading series. The speakers are both guests to the institute as well as those drawn from the academic staff at Kingston University, as well as numerous student and alumnus. The development of dozens of student writers, offering them extensive opportunities to perform, write to commission and collaborate, is a core value of WK, and graduated students often revisit the University regularly just to partake in our events and activities.
The events are also often hosted and curated in partnership with institutions local to Kingston University and in London, from The National Gallery to The Rose Theatre to the Rich Mix Cultural Foundation, from the Museum of Futures to Kingston First. These partnerships are key to the mode of WK, sharing and gaining expertise in collaboration.
Since it’s inception in October 2017, Writers Kingston has run over 75 events alongside over 20 new student publications and 5 exhibitions, as well as 50 new online commissions during the pandemic.
The programme continues to bring together some of the finest writers from across the UK and the world in conversation with the exceptional staff of Kingston University, drawn from a wide variety of writing disciplines - from fiction to journalism, from philosophy to theatre, from history to travel, from poetry to criticism, even including the sciences, engineering and beyond. Our understanding of writing is inclusive and innovative, and it is fundamental to our mission that our audiences and participants are a mix of students and faculty from across departments alongside the considerable local community of writers and literary devotees.
Writers Kingston builds on the decade long legacy of Kingston Writing School, which was founded in 2009 by David Rogers and featured speakers such as Bonnie Greer, Deborah Levy, Elif Shafak, Hanif Kureshi, and more in it’s 8 years of existence. Steven J Fowler is the director of Writers Kingston, and lecturer in Creative Writing at Kingston University. www.stevenjfowler.com
