The themes and speakers for the seminars are:

Seminar 1: Creative Writing and REF21 – the assessment of practice-based research Speaker – Robert Hampson
Tuesday 20 February 2018, Room G35

Seminar 2: Innovations in Contemporary Poetry: Ekphrastic/collaborative practice Speakers – Jess Chandler, Denise Saul, and Helen Tookey
Tuesday 20 March 2018, Room G35

Seminar 3: Writing about writing: what is a creative writing PhD commentary? Speakers – Derek Neale (also introducing), Sally O’Reilly and Jane Yeh (all Open University).
Tuesday 27 March 2018, Room G35  (Please note: the date for this seminar has changed - it was originally scheduled for 6th March).

The commentary is a common accompaniment to the novel or poetry collection in a Creative Writing PhD. The student is tasked with writing about their creative process, while making connections to relevant research and cultural contexts. Such commentaries can be controversial, for examiners and those trying to write them. This seminar will be led by three Creative Writing academics who have written commentaries themselves, but also supervised and examined PhDs. They will consider various approaches, before inviting open discussion with PhD students and other writers. The seminar is co-organised with the NAWE PhD Network.

All seminars are convened by the Open University’s Contemporary Cultures of Writing research group in collaboration with The Institute of English Studies, UCL. The first and third seminars are also in collaboration with the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) and their PhD Network.

Dates: Tuesday evenings, February 20, March 20 and March 27 2018, from 5.30-7.30
Location: Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
Cost: Free and open to all

Further information about this seminar series available here

The audio recording of the first seminar (‘Creative Writing and REF21 – the assessment of practice-based research’, Robert Hampson) is now up on the OU website