2012 Events
Reading by Elizabeth Reeder
Monday 12 November
5.00pm for 5.30pm, Dalhousie Building
Reading and in conversation about her new book "The Fremonts" out with brand new Kohl Publishing this month.
Come along and have a glass of wine and hear what Elizabeth has to say about creating an entire family dynasty - all out of her own imagination - and how she fashioned that daydream into a wonderful, engaging work of fiction.
She will be on hand after the reading to answer your questions about wiring and publishing, and to sign copies of her book. This is a wonderful opportunity for writing students, readers and everyone interested in getting their books and ideas out into the world.
Professor Sue Black, OBE: Cold Cases and History - chaired by Eddie Small
Friday 15 June
7pm, Dalhousie Building
Tickets £5/ £3 concessions
As a third year Anatomy student, Professor Sue Black was given a corpse to examine and was exhilarated by the experience of 'knowing what we look like on the inside'.
Many years on, Sue is a leading Forensic Anthropologist whose work involves dissecting human remains to the point where they can be identified - or, as she describes it, 'giving back a name to a nameless corpse'.
A well kent face from the gripping TV series History Cold Case, Sue is also a frequent consultant to top crime writers.
She is currently campaigning to raise funds for the first Thiels morgue in the UK which will make a enormous impact on medical research (www.millionforamorgue.com).
All ticket proceeds from this event will go to the campaign.
Tickets are available from the University's Online store and by calling 01382 384413.
CSI Dundee!
Saturday 16 June
2 - 4pm, The Vine, Roseangle, Dundee
Free. Age guide 11+
You've seen it on TV, now come and find out what a forensic investigation is really like.
A terrible crime's been committed, but forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black and her crack team of PhD students are on hand to help you solve it.
In Memoriam
ISBN: 9781845861391
£9.99
By Kirsty Gunn, Alan Warner, John Carey, Christopher Reid, Aiden Day, Fiona Douglas, Edward Small and others
Images by Calum Colvin
'Silent teachers', people who donate their bodies when they die in order to help to train the next generation of doctors, scientists, dentists and surgeons, are celebrated in a new University of Dundee anthology.
'In Memoriam' features work from internationally renowned artists and writers who collaborated with staff and students from the University to pay tribute to those individuals who donate their body to science.
The book sees medical and creative writing students explore the lives and achievements of the donors. Interviews with people, who intend to donate their body, and the families of those who have already done so, help to tell the stories of their lives and personalise the individuals who give hope to others after their own death.
Calum Colvin, one of Scotland's top contemporary artists and a Professor at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, has contributed original artwork to In Memoriam, which celebrates these lives in both words and in a series of beautiful images.
Award-winning writers Alan Warner, Christopher Reid, and John Carey also contribute new work to the book, which asks the reader to reflect on their own life, as well as those who donated their body to be used in medical research.
Available to purchase from the University's Online Store.
Shortbread
After the success of their 2011 workshops, the Dundee-based organisation ShortbreadStories has decided to run even more courses in 2012.
ShortbreadStories will be hosting residential courses in Spain and the Scottish Highlands.
These classes emphasize the importance of a writing community, and use discussion, workshop and dedicated writing time to facilitate the creative process.
The four-day course in Spain is set in the hills of Andalusia in a secluded villa on a working chestnut farm, and the three-day Highlands course will be in a lovely secluded cottage on the edge of the town of Dornoch.
More information can be found at ShortbreadStories or by contacting Fiona at Fiona@shortbreadstories.com.
New ground was broken on Friday 24th June 2011, when a play, entitled The Wedding, was performed in the Rep theatre's full auditorium before an invited audience of 'guests' and a film crew. This was a truly special event for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the play wasn't scripted by a single playwright, but rather by a dozen different writers who all wrote their own character-part in a chronological depiction of a wedding. This gave the piece a unique sense of reality through the use twelve disparate and different 'voices'.
Secondly, the play was performed by the writers, though one or two stand-ins helped cover as holiday relief on the night. Again, the authenticity of the 'voices' came through strongly because the delivery, and depth of feeling, came from the writer.
Thirdly, the piece was written by postgraduate students on our Creative Writing programme. What had started as a simple session on the uses and advantages of 'the monologue' was turned by the students, with the not inconsiderable help of actress Annie Bottoms, into the basis for a compelling piece of dramatic theatre.
Lastly, the play tangibly showed the level of progress in the important drive for collaboration between the University of Dundee and the Dundee Rep. The University's Chair of Creative Writing, Kirsty Gunn, and James Brining, Chief Executive of the Rep, enjoyed fruitful discussions which paved the way for the Rep's generous use of their 'stage'. Their Education Officer, Vikki Doig, along with Eddie Small from the Creative Writing programme, conspired to take the concept 'from page to stage'.
The Literary Dundee scene has deservedly become renowned for the special happenings and wonderful events which proliferate, including the very successful and innovative Literary Salon evenings, and The Wedding has proved to be a glittering extra. The applause of a delighted guest-list at the Rep, and at an earlier performance in the DCA, witnessed and thoroughly enjoyed by Mark Buckland, MD of Cargo Publishing, was encouraging testament to the efforts of students Erika Anderson, Josie Jules Andrews, Iain Arnott, Hazel Ellis-Saxon, Annika Firmenich, Keren MacPherson, Nicola Robson, Jane Prior, Alison Rome, Aldona Steponaviciute and Zoe Venditozzi. They have pioneered a trail that subsequent students can hopefully follow.
Eddie Small
25/07/11
