Tag: Emma Claire Sweeney

Readings event at NYU in London

~ Emily Midorikawa ~ Leave a comment

I’m really looking forward to reading at the NYU Literary Club’s next event, alongside club members Brianne Baker, Danielle Bergere, Heather Harris and Eunice Pak, and the very talented Edward Hogan, author of the adult literary novels Blackmoor and The Hunger Trace, and the young adult novel Daylight Saving.

Blackmoor has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Desmond Elliot Prize, and The Hunger Trace has been sold around the world. Ed is a graduate of the MA creative writing course at UEA and a recipient of the David Higham Award.

This event is being organised by Emma Claire Sweeney and will run from 7 to 8.30pm on 3 May at NYU’s London campus, 6 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3RA. Spaces are free but will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like to come, please confirm your attendance by completing your details on-line at

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/litclubs12

I hope to see you there.

Thanks to everyone who entered…

~ Emily Midorikawa

Congratulations to Stuart Evers, a very worthy winner of Circle of Missé’s 2012 Writing Competition for his extract from the novel YNWA. Stuart wins a free place on the Circle of Missé course A Writer Progresses in April or May of this year.

As Emma Claire Sweeney and I judged all of the entries anonymously, the identity of the winner and all those who made the shortlist had been a secret to us until today, so it’s great to be able to put a name to such an engagingly written story.

Congratulations also to Viccy Adams, Terry Edge, Sarah Evans, Hilary Fennell, Caroline Healy, Sophie Mackintosh and Katherine Matthews, the seven runners-up.

For more details about the contest and the judging process, please visit the Circle of Missé website.

Emma and I really enjoyed reading all of the shortlisted entries, and I know I’d definitely love to see anyone who entered on my course at Missé in April.

Circle of Missé 2012 Spring Writing Competition

~ Emily Midorikawa
Circle of Misse house
Image I took of the Circle of Missé house from the garden during my stay in 2011

My good friend the writer Emma Claire Sweeney and I have been asked to be the judges for Circle of Missé’s first ever writing contest. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ll be teaching the course A Writer Progresses at Missé in April, so this represents just another chance to become involved in some of the great work that goes on there.

Here are the details for anyone who is interested:

Win a Week of Mentoring in France to Further Develop Your Fiction or Non-fiction Book

Submit a 2,000-5,000 word excerpt of your novel, memoir, short story collection or nonfiction book-in-progress for a chance to win a free place on one of Circle of Misse’s Spring 2012 ‘A Writer Progresses’ week-long mentored courses where you will be able to work directly with a writer and teacher to further develop your book and take it to the next level. Runners-up receive an invitation to attend one of the two courses at a deeply discounted rate to further develop their books. All entries receive 10% off any writing course offered by Circle of Misse in 2012.

Entry fee: FREE!

Competition closes: 22 January 2012

Full details are on the Circle of Missé website.

Good luck to everyone who decides to give it a go. I’m really looking forward to reading those entries.

Contributor at NAWE Conference 2011

~ Emily Midorikawa

As a newish member of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) I was keen to attend their annual conference this year.

In addition to going to several inspiring talks and workshops given by other writers, I also had the chance to read a paper of my own as part of a New York University in London panel made up of the fiction writer Emma Claire Sweeney, the playwright Julia Pascal and myself.

Our subject was “Cross-cultural creative writing for study abroad” and we used our session to share some of the strategies we’ve developed for teaching writing to international students who are here in the UK as part of their university studies.

Having never been to a NAWE conference before, I have to say that for me the whole weekend was a great experience. I really enjoyed getting to meet some of the other conference delegates, and I’d like to thank the writers and writing tutors who attended our talk. I hope you found it useful.