Lecturers’ new publications
29th July 2013
This month sees a rush of publishing activity from the University of Gloucestershire Creative Writing lecturers. Just out is Scenes from a Diverse World, an anthology of play extracts, compiled by the International Centre for Women Playwrights. The anthology includes an extract from Lucy Tyler‘s Measurements of a Murderer, a play that was originally performed in 2009-10. The play takes a surreal look at the custom of holding beauty pageants in Russian women’s prisons, and tells its story with poetry and striking imagery.
Meanwhile, there’s a chance to get a glimpse of Dr Martin Randall‘s novel-in-progress, Ostend. The opening chapter is published this month in American, British and Canadian Studies journal. From what little Randall’s revealed, Ostend is a metafictional novel about a man’s search for his missing brother, a response to contemporary European fiction, a meditation on photography, a love story, and a tour of a dilapidated seaside town. Those lucky enough to have heard Randall read extracts will know the beauty with which all this is expressed.
Don’t forget that D.D. Johnston‘s new novel, The Deconstruction of Professor Thrub, has also recently hit the shelves. Discussing it on Monocle Radio, Georgina Godwin described it as ‘a great book – and really funny’. It was originally written as a PhD at the University of Gloucestershire, and you can hear the author discussing that process with Martin Randall and Martin Goodman here.
Finally, we’re just weeks away from the launch of Tyler Keevil‘s much anticipated new novel, The Drive. If you don’t already know, here’s the synopsis:
A single call from his Czech girlfriend catapults Trevor into a serious crisis. Desperate to get his mojo back, he blazes down Highway 99 in a rented Dodge Neon. But soon his journey to California is fraught with peril, and all he has for protection are a semi-automatic pistol, his trusty plastic visor and a flea-ridden cat. As the drugs and the heartbreak kick in, the question is no longer whether Trevor will get over his girlfriend’s infidelity, but whether he’ll get out alive. A fast-paced and hilarious contemporary odyssey, The Drive has all the adventure and surrealism of Hunter S Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but overlaid with heartfelt yearning and hope.
We’ll have more about the launch of The Drive soon, but in the meantime, don’t forget to pre-order your copy.