Writers in Residence 2012
Ian Parks
Ian Parks’ first collection of poems was published in 1986 and he has since held several residencies and Fellowships which include a residency at North Riding College, Scarborough from 1986 to 1988, a Hawthornden Fellowship in 1991, a Travelling Fellowship to the USA in 1994 as well as his residency here at Gladstone’s Library in November 2012. His poems have appeared in Poetry (Chicago), Poetry Review, The London Magazine, The Liberal, and The Observer, and have also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He has taught creative writing at the universities of Sheffield, Hull, Oxford, and currently teaches at Leeds University.
"I loved my time at the library. I took away something practical in the form of a collection of poems which I wrote mainly while I was in residence there. It's called Citizens and is due out late 2017 from Smokestack Books. More than that I took away an internalised sense of an important debate about the very nature and future of liberalism which is ongoing at the library. It changed the way I thought in a positive and challenging way.
My residency at Gladstone's Library gave me freedom - to think, write, debate, and learn. An unforgettable experience."
Click here to read a Q&A with Ian about his residency.
Nadene Ghouri
Nadene Ghouri is a journalist, writer and presenter. A regular voice on BBC Radio 4 current affairs, Nadene has worked on programmes such as Crossing Continents and The Report. A founding member of the Afghan foreign press association, Nadene has twice been shortlisted for journalist of the year at the One World Media Awards. Nadene is the author of Born in to the Children of God (2014) and co-author of The Favored Daughter (2012).
Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman’s first novel Disobedience was published in 2006 in ten languages, and won her the Orange Prize for New Writers. In 2007, she was Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, as well as one of Waterstones' 25 Writers for the Future. Disobedience and her second novel, The Lessons, were read on BBC radio's Book at Bedtime. Penguin published her third novel, The Liars' Gospel, in August 2012. Her prize-winning short fiction has appeared in Prospect, on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies. Naomi also writes online computer games and from 2004 to 2007 Naomi was lead writer on the BAFTA-shortlisted alternate reality game Perplex City. In 2008, she wrote Alice in Storyland for Penguin's online project We Tell Stories, and in 2012, she co-created the top-selling fitness game and audio adventure Zombies, Run! which went to the top of the iTunes chart and received rave reviews. In 2009 she was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, and in 2011, she published a Doctor Who novel for the BBC called Borrowed Time. Naomi broadcasts regularly, has guest-presented Front Row on BBC Radio 4. In 2012 and 2013, Naomi has been mentored by Margaret Atwood as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and in April 2013 she was named one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in their once-a-decade list.
Stella Duffy
Stella Duffy was a Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library in May 2012. She has written 13 novels including her latest, The Purple Shroud. Amongst her 13 novels, The Room of Lost Things and State of Happiness were both long-listed for the Orange Prize. Aside from her novels, Stella Duffy has also written more than 50 short stories and 10 plays, including several for BBC Radio 4. She has a series of awards under her belt that include the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2002 (Martha Grace) and 2013 (Come Away With Me), and she was named the Stonewall Writer of the Year in 2008 (The Room of Lost Things) and 2010 (Theodora). She wrote and presented the BBC4 documentary ‘How to Write a Mills and Boon’, reviewed for The Review Show (BBC2), Front Row (BBCRadio4) and written articles for major newspapers in the UK. As well as her writing work she is a theatre director and performer, and is currently working on a new stage play for Three Legged Theatre.
"I was worried about being away from home for a full month – I see that the Library is now offering two week residencies, which I’m sure is very useful for some people, but I also have to say that making the commitment to the full month was hugely useful for me."
Click here to read a Q&A with Stella about her residency.