Desmond Elliott Prize announces shortlist for 2022

The novel is praised by judges as ‘precious and personal’

‘We wish all the entrants the very best of luck!’

What is translation and how is it experienced? With Gitanjali Patel and Miia Laine

A guide to choosing the best online creative writing course in 2022. Includes advice on cost, tutors, format, online vs in-person, topics and course levels.

Writer and lecturer Ian Nettleton explains how to structure a novel: the devices and structural elements that can keep readers engaged and how to ensure your story becomes a page-turner.

Tell us who your favourite indie bookshop is and why

‘Choose a webcam anywhere in the world and write your own view from afar…’

‘The timekeepers of this city have perhaps witnessed a passer-by cosplaying as a poet before.’

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‘Their confidence about the future must come from within — from a faith in inner change regardless of outer circumstance’

Hourglass (Little, Brown) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Moth (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Robert Ashton shares the process of writing and funding his new book

The three novels in the running to win £10,000 and be named the year’s best debut novel from across the UK and Ireland

She will join the NCW team in June

Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Pan MacMillan) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Violets (Granta) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Somebody Loves You (And Other Stories) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Lessons in Love and Other Crimes (The Indigo Press) has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Iron Annie by Luke Cassidy (Bloomsbury) is longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Keeping the House (And Other Stories) by Tice Cin is longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Kavita Bhanot, Yovanka Paquete Perdigão and Nariman Youssef explore their experiences of inhabiting multiple languages

International best-selling author Jessica Redland describes how you can use your setting to help build a great character.

Fault Lines (Phoenix/Orion) by Emily Itami is longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Assembly (Penguin Random House) by Natasha Brown is longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

The National Centre for Writing is collaborating with Passa Porta and Flanders Literature to offer a writing residency in Brussels in 2023 to an England-based writer

Writers from Norwich and Québec are invited to apply for a virtual residency exchange

‘Our ramble around the city turned into an adventure’

‘It’s a signal of confidence in our plans as we mark Norwich’s tenth anniversary as England’s first UNESCO City of Literature’

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‘Arriving in Britain is like walking into history’

If you enjoyed Boy in Various Poses, we think you’ll love these books too

Novelist Megan Bradbury describes how immersive research can help writers build people, places and plots.

Lauded novelist Guinevere Glasfurd explains her research methods for writing.

Megan Bradbury shares an action plan for aspiring writers, including tips for scheduling your writing time

‘By the very act of writing in the present about the past, we connect the two’

A competition for new writers based in Norfolk to write a new work for the stage

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The £10,000 Prize will be awarded to the most outstanding first novel of the past 12 months from the UK and Ireland

‘You will make it into the Cathedral. Dame Julian will hold her stone book open. The rose window will throb. You will make it. Just not yet.’

A deep dive into the unconscious process of writing with Khairani Barokka and Rishi Dastidar

Learn how to transform the ordinary into poetry

‘Make some time to think about your writing, and the things you want to write about.’

Molly Naylor shares her top tips and techniques

‘It is important to get the opportunity to include our stories equally, to ensure we feel that we belong here’

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Mattho Mandersloot and George Szirtes join us on The Writing Life podcast

‘On days when the Norwich sky was gleaming blue, I needed no mystic.’

How do you write about a place that you have never been to?

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NCW is recruiting two freelance Creative Facilitators to deliver workshops to primary schools

If you enjoyed The House of One Hundred Clocks, we think you’ll love these books too

Anam Zafar and Meena Kandasamy are on this week’s episode of The Writing Life

After a decade of struggling to complete any stories, Lynne publishes a memoir addressing her relationship with her disabled father

Take part in a publishing fair at the City of Literature strand of Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2022

Ko Ko Thett explores the particular challenges of translating ‘Hlaingthaya’ by Thitsar Ni, a poem based on the struggles in Myanmar

2020 winner Derek Owusu to chair the Prize, joined by Symeon Brown and Lyndsey Fineran

Talking with Simon on the podcast

On translating webtoons & Korean literature

We’re on the hunt for high quality live literature performances to tour in rural pubs across the UK

by Eva Verde

by Geoff Dyer

by Michel Faber

The announcement marks an exciting period of transition and growth as we move into 2022

Sawad Hussain recounts her experience of translating Najwa Bin Shatwan’s short story collection into English and the challenges of translating a work where humour is the foundation

On The Writing Life podcast

Try this writing exercise to generate stories from inanimate objects

Nicola May joins us on the podcast

‘They are united in the singularity of their talent and the warm authority with which they invite their reader to dive into their stories’

‘I am proud to have the opportunity to present my books at a stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair’, writes Myay Hmone Lwin

Talking with Peggy Hughes on the podcast

Nature diary from Suffolk-based writer scoops the top prize

Talking with Rebecca DeWald on the podcast

Talking to Rosy Carrick on the podcast

Join us on a reading journey with the NCW Book Club

Written and performed by Harry Josephine Giles

Five world building and storytelling tips from writer, researcher and educator Nuraliah Norasid

On the podcast talking to Steph

‘A testament to the talent and determination of the writers who wrote and published under the difficult conditions of the pandemic’

by Mary Paulson-Ellis

Assistant Editor at Hamish Hamilton

Simon K Jones demonstrates his self-editing process

Talking to Ella Micheler from Kurumuru Books

Talking to Sally-Anne Lomas on the podcast

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Five pieces of useful writing advice from Singaporean poet Jennifer Anne Champion

Singaporean writer, archivist and educator Jennifer Anne Champion explores the intersections of textile art and the written word.

Sci-Fi author of Subject Twenty One and The Hidden Base joins Simon on the podcast

Visible Communities virtual writer in residence Sawad Hussain shares her advice.

National Centre for Writing and British Council award funding as part of the International Literature Showcase

If you enjoyed reading Sudden Traveller, we think you’ll love these books!

Celebrating the very best of publishing, writing and reading in the region

Talking to Flo Reynolds on the podcast

The National Centre for Writing is delighted to announce the mentees selected for the 2021-22 Literary Translator Mentorships Programme

Essential advice from translator Nazry Bahrawi

On the Writing Life podcast