Thursday, 06 February 2020
Multi award-winning writer Eimear McBride will be joining the University’s own acclaimed novelist Jon McGregor in the second of a series of live events presented by The Letters Page – a literary journal of letters published by the School of English.
New writer and contributor to the journal, Ruby Cowling, will also be on stage at Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham to share her writing experiences in this popular ‘literary cabaret’ from 6pm on Tuesday 17th March 2020.
The previous event in the Off the Page series featured Irish novelist Roddy Doyle and was a sell-out last year, helping to raise the profile of Nottingham as a UNESCO City of Literature.
Jon McGregor
Jon McGregor said: “We are thrilled to welcome, on a rare visit to Nottingham, Eimear McBride, one of the most original and exciting writers at work today. Eimear was an early contributor to The Letters Page, and while our paths have previously crossed at various literary events, I'm looking forward to getting into proper conversation with her about her writing, her travels, and her own history of correspondence. I'm also looking forward to hearing her read from her new novel, as I know she's an excellent performer of her work.
"We are also delighted to have the opportunity to introduce Ruby Cowling, whose very early work was published in The Letters Page and who has been making a great impression on the world of the short story. I'll be talking to her about speculative fiction, and about the challenge of creating new worlds."
Eimear McBride by artist Natasha Nayee
Eimear McBride will be discussing and reading from her just-published third novel, Strange Hotel, about an unnamed woman traveller revisiting a hotel room in France in her mid-thirties and reflecting on the globe-trotting events of her life amid the room service wine and mini toiletries.
McBride’s first novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, won the Goldsmith’s and Bailey’s prizes, was shortlisted for the Folio and became a sell-out one woman play at the Young Vic starring Aoife Duffin. The book took only a short time to write but nine years to get published, but McBride’s second novel, The Lesser Bohemians, took nine years to write and had publishers queuing up to secure it. It’s been described as a love letter to London and is a ‘stream of consciousness’ account of an 18-year-old girl arriving to study at drama school and falling in love with an actor twice her age. McBride credits her own drama school training for her unique style of writing and ability to create characters using naturalistic language.
Ruby Cowling © Roelof Bakker
Ruby Cowling is from West Yorkshire but now lives in London. She was one of the first contributors to The Letters Page and her short fiction has won several prizes including The White Review Short Story Prize and the London Short Story Prize. Ruby’s latest publication is a collection of short stories, This Paradise, which ‘reveal Cowling as an instinctive chronicler of the modern world’ according to the Observer.
The Letters Page, a 'book in a box' literary journal
The Letters Page is a ‘book in a box’ edited by Jon McGregor and published every 18 months or so. It consists of a wide range of individual handwritten letters telling stories, poems, memoir, travelogue and comment from a variety of contributors from all over the world.
Jon McGregor is the prize-winning author of several novels including Reservoir 13, Even the Dogs and So Many Ways to Begin. He is also Professor of Creative Writing in the University of Nottingham’s School of English and Writer in Residence.
Tickets for ‘Off the Page with Eimear McBride and Ruby Cowling’ are available directly from the Peggy’s Skylight website. Tickets are £7 or £15 including dinner. Guests who have purchased dinner tickets should arrive from 6pm; the stage event will begin at 8pm.
Story credits
For more information please contact Rebecca Weaver in the Faculty of Arts via email Rebecca.weaver@nottingham.ac.uk orEmma Rayner, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Arts on +44 (0)115 951 5793 emma.rayner@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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