Five writers, including Iain Banks and John O’Farrell, are taking part in literary festival ‘5 x 15’ at LMH on Friday.
On the day, the authors will each speak on any subject of their choice for 15 minutes, but without a script. The event is to raise money for the children’s charity First Story, which seeks to address educational disadvantage across the UK.
Celebrated Scottish author Iain Banks, famed for his novels such as the controversial The Wasp Factory, as well as his science fiction works like Consider Phlebas, will be joined by Esther Freud, author of Hideous Kinky. The festival also welcomes writer, poet and performer Salena Godden, and writers Ross Raisin and John O’Farrell.
Ross Raisin, winner of The Sunday Times Young Writer ofthe Year in 2009, is the author of God’s Own Country, which won a Betty Trask Award. O’Farrell is the best-selling author of The Best a Man Can Get, and May Contain Nuts; a vocal supporter of state education, he is currently writer in-residence at Burlington Danes Academy through the charity.
First Story helps to interest students aged 14 to 18 in creative writing by organising weekly creative writing workshops with acclaimed writers. Students’ work is then published in anthologies and showcased in public readings. Since 2008, First Story has worked with 150 authors, including Godden, Raisin and O’Farrell. Some 1,700 students have written an estimated 50,000 stories and poems, in 27 challenging schools across the country.
LMH JCR President George Barnes told Cherwell, ‘With speakers hailing from backgrounds as varied as science fiction to poetry, any student that attends will be able to explore new areas of literature and academia that lie far beyond those found in their narrow university syllabuses. It is also a point of pride for every student at LMH to see an event that works towards such an admirable goal, and is open to the whole community, being held at our College’.
The event will be held at LMH on Friday 28th September, at 6.30pm. Tickets for the event can be purchased via the First Story website www.firststory.org.uk. Full-priced tickets are £15 while concession ticketsare available for £9.
