Creative writing: getting started

Deborah Martin has been a content writer and communications specialist for 15 years. She has written for global brands, national publications and marketing agencies across the world. She is also a qualified further education lecturer and has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, University of London. Her short stories, poetry and essays have been featured in various collections. She was a finalist in both the Fish Short Memoir Prize 2018 and Poetry Rivals 2016.

Vicky has been teaching creative writing at City Lit since 2018. She has also taught for the Open University, London South Bank University and the University of Greenwich, and she reads for the manuscript assessment agency The Literary Consultancy. Her short fiction has appeared in new writing anthologies published by Picador, Granta, Duckworths, Serpents’ Tail and Bloomsbury. Her nonfiction essay 'Into the Valley' was mentioned in Best American Essays, 2013. Her short story collection 'Live Show, Drink Included' was published by Holland Park Press in 2018 and is long-listed for the £10,000 Edge Hill Prize. One of the stories is in Best British Short Stories, 2019.

Tasha Kavanagh has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA where she studied under Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain. She has worked as a film editor on features including 'Twelve Monkeys', 'Seven Years in Tibet' and 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and has had 10 children's books published. Her debut novel 'Things We Have in Common' was published by Canongate in 2015 to critical acclaim and was shortlisted for major prizes including the Costa 1st Novel and Desmond Elliott Prize. She is currently writing her second novel.

Lucy Popescu is a writer, editor and arts critic. She has published two anthologies about refugee experiences, A Country of Refuge (2016) and A Country to Call Home (2018) and is the author of The Good Tourist (2008). Lucy is chair of the Authors’ Club and its Best First Novel Award. She reviews books for The Observer, FT and TLS, among other publications, has a regular column in the Literary Review and is theatre editor at Camden New Journal. Lucy has taught creative writing for over ten years, is a writing mentor at Freedom for Torture and also curates literary events. Before that, she worked with the English Centre of PEN.

A former journalist, Sophie McKenzie attended a writing class at City Lit in 2003 and has been writing fiction ever since. She has published over 25 books - including award-winning teen thrillers and crime fiction novels for adults. She is currently writing a new story featuring several strong female characters and working on a drama script for a TV production company.

William Brady is a lecturer at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and is from Dublin. In 2019 he received his PhD in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin and has presented his research in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Croatia. He writes and lectures on contemporary literature, war writing, and psychogeography. A passionate Gaeilgeoir, he is on the committee of Conradh na Gaeilge i Londain, which promotes and organises events relating to Irish language and culture in London. He is also a contributor to the Nuacht Mhall podcast, which delivers news and current affairs at a gentle pace for learners of the Irish language.

Henry Martin is author of Agnes Martin: Pioneer, Painter, Icon (Benjamin Franklin Award), Yappo (Tipperary Artist Award), and contributor to Great Women Artists (Phaidon). His plays have been performed at Theatre 503, Underbelly, Roundhouse, Project Arts Centre, Belltable, Latitude, Bunker Theatre and Lime Tree Theatre, and his screenplays have been longlisted for the Red Planet Prize and BBC Tony Doyle Award. Henry has lectured at Camberwell College of Arts, University of Edinburgh, UCA Farnham, and the National College of Art and Design, Ireland. He has also worked in book publishing as an editor and rights manager since 2010, and he has written for many publications including The Irish Times, Hyperallergic, and The Journal of Illustration.