BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 14.0 MIMEDIR//EN VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:GMT Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:16011028T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:-0000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:16010325T010000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3 TZOFFSETFROM:-0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20110901T231344Z DESCRIPTION:Creativity and writing: in conversation with Melvin Burgess \n\nTuesday 06 September 2011 (Import into Outlook )\nMelvin Burgess < http://www.manchestersalon.org.uk/melvin-burgess-interviewed.html> discus ses his researching and writing of gritty novels as 'Kill All Enemies ' is published\, hosted by Dave Bowden .\n\n\n\n\n\nMelvin Burgess is a controversial and somewhat pioneering writer of gritty novels for young people like Junk\, Smack\, La dy: My life as a Bitch\, and Doing IT: Do you remember the first time?. Wh ilst his books have sometimes caused outrage when first published\, they'v e found themselves winning awards\, appearing on the reading lists of univ ersity creative writing courses and now on the school curriculum! So what are we to make of the various fashions in literature and how do authors co pe with these trends when writing. Indeed\, to what extent do novels refle ct and shape our impressions of society?\n\nMelvin's latest novel\, publis hed on 01 September entitled Kill All Enemies deals with the real life sto ries behind some of the statistics we read about young people\, the young people who are chucked out of school - the losers\, the wasters ... the ki ds no one wants. Remembering when he was a kid and thinking about those ki ds - rough as hell\, dangerous kids - the sort of people no one wanted you to mix with or have anything to do with\, Melvin has searched them out an d attempts to tell the real story behind them in a way that young people c an properly identify with them.\n\n\nTo research for the book\, Melvin wen t into Pupil Referral Units (PRU's\, where excluded students are sent) aro und the North West\, as well as to other places where young people got tog ether out of school\, and asked them to tell him their stories. He found o ut what he always suspected: so many of those people weren't losers\, they weren't wasters - they were heroes\; real\, one hundred per cent modern h eroes\, just having other priorities than school. 'Kill All Enemies' is a celebration of the lives of young people who have other things to worry ab out besides just school - and who are penalised for it.\n\nIn his approach to writing\, Melvin says "Every writer knows that editing\, dramatising\, and interpreting events is an essential part of storytelling. For me\, wr iting is an exploration. You set up your events and characters and then tr y to explore them as best you can\, via the imagination\, and some surpris ing results come up. Exploring people and their stories imaginatively can lead to more interesting and revealing truths than the bald facts. Imaging how being a different person in a different situation is the best possibl e way to understand things that we know very little about."\n\nThis Salon will be a chance for us to examine the process of writing gritty\, realist ic novels and how important the process of being immersed in the subject c an be for developing stories. \n\nSome background readings\nJodi Picoult a nd the Anxious Parent \, by Ginia Bellafante\, NY Times 17 June 2009\nSympathy fo r the devil \, by Melvin Burgess\ , for the magazine Children's Literature in Education\nWhat is teenage fic tion \, by Melvin Burgess\, Melvi nBurgess.net\nKill All Enemies \, reviewed by Yasmin Redfearn\, Kathrine Pa yne and Hannah Mason\, Manchester Salon July 2011\nMelvin Burgess intervie wed \, by Yasmin Redfearn\, Kathrine Payne and Hannah Mason\, Manchester Salon J uly 2011\nKill All Enemies promo video inspired by work experience students reading the book YouTube J uly 2011\nIt was introduction of EMA that turned young people riotous \, by Brendan O'Neill\, The Telegraph 19 August 2011\nThe proble m with categorising Young People \, by Simon Belt\, Manchester Salon August 2011 \n\n\nVenue and Time\n\n\n\n\nIn the discussion area of Blackwell Universi ty Bookshop \, The Precinct\, Oxford Road\ , Manchester\, M13 9RN. Please arrive around 6:30pm for drinks and nibbles \, ready for a prompt 6:45pm start - expected to finish just after 8:15pm. \n\nTickets are £5 (£3 concessions) payable in advance\, which entitles you to a £3 discount for anything bought from the bookshop on the evenin g. Purchase tickets in advance\, using the PayPal Donate button on the Man chester Salon website (feel free to donate on top of the £5 ticket)\, in- store or by phone from Blackwell University Bookshop\, Manchester 0161 274 3331.\n\nSponsors and Partners\nIf you would like to sponsor this discuss ion\, or partner in promoting it\, please get in touch via the Contact form.\n \n\n\nDat es for your diary\nMonday 19 September: Crafts and gardening: the new fron tiers of radicalism? Kate Day \, Professor George McKay \, Barbara Hastings-Asatourian and Rob Lyons will discuss the impact crafts and gardening are having in so ciety.\nWednesday 28 September: I feel your pain: do humans and animals su ffer similarly? Dr Stuart Derbyshire and Professor Anthony Jones will try and untangle the uniqueness and common ality of pain and suffering for humans and animals.\nMonday 24 October. Fu kushima fallout : Dr John Roberts \, Dame Sue Ion and Rob Lyons will discuss the fallout from Fukushima and where it leaves the futur e of nuclear energy\, chaired by Tony Gilland .\nTuesday 25 October. Artificial Intellige nce\, bionics and consciousness : Professor Kevin Warw ick \, Dr Kathleen Richa rdson and Professor Ray Tallis will introduce a discussion on Artificial Intelligence and consciousness\, chaired by Dr Stuart Derbyshire .\nSat urday – Sunday 29 & 30 October: Battle of Ideas Festival weekend - two days of high-level\, thought-provoking\ , public debate organised by the Institute of Ideas\, hosted by the Royal College of Art \, London.\n\nSponsorship of the Salon website\nEstablish your organisati on's commitment to open public debate in Manchester and the North West by sponsoring an individual event around a subject of particular concern\, or demonstrate your organisation's support for open public debate across a w ider range of subjects by sponsoring the Manchester Salon for a year. Deta ils of both packages are available by clicking on these Word or PDF links.\n\n\nSimon Belt\nManchester Salon\n DTEND;TZID="GMT Standard Time":20110906T201500 DTSTAMP:20110901T231345Z DTSTART;TZID="GMT Standard Time":20110906T183000 LAST-MODIFIED:20110901T231344Z LOCATION:Blackwell University Bookshop\, The Precinct\, Oxford Road\, Manch ester\, M13 9RN PRIORITY:5 SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY;LANGUAGE=en-gb:Creativity and writing: in conversation with Melvin Burgess TRANSP:OPAQUE UID:040000008200E00074C5B7101A82E00800000000B029E777D668CC01000000000000000 01000000022303C74C92AFF459D389843279CFFD1 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Creativity and wr iting: in conversation with Melvin Burgess

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Tuesday 06 September 2011 (Impor t into Outlook)

\n\n
Melvin Burgess discusses his researching a nd writing of gritty novels as 'Kill All Enemies' is published\, hosted by Dave Bowden.
\n\n
\n\n
\n
\n
\n\n
Melvin Burgess is a controversial and somewhat pioneering writer of gritty novels for young p eople like Junk\, Smack\, Lady: My life as a Bitch\, and Doing IT: Do you remember the first time?. Whilst his books have so metimes caused outrage when first published\, they've found themselves win ning awards\, appearing on the reading lists of university creative writin g courses and now on the school curriculum! So what are we to make of the various fashions in literature and how do authors cope with these trends w hen writing. Indeed\, to what extent do novels reflect and shape our impre ssions of society?
\n\n
Melvin's latest novel\, published on 01 September entitled Kill All Enemies deals with the real life stories behind some of the statistics we read about young people\, the young people who are chucked out of schoo l - the losers\, the wasters ... the kids no one wants. Remembering when h e was a kid and thinking about those kids - rough as hell\, dangerous kids - the sort of people no one wanted you to mix with or have anything to do with\, Melvin has searched them out and attempts to tell the real story b ehind them in a way that young people can properly identify with them.
\n\n

\n\n
To research for the book\, Melvin went i nto Pupil Referral Units (PRU's\, where excluded students are sent) around the North West\, as well as to other places where young people got togeth er out of school\, and asked them to tell him their stories. He found out what he always suspected: so many of those people weren't losers\, they we ren't wasters - they were heroes\; real\, one hundred per cent modern hero es\, just having other priorities than school. 'Kill All Enemies' is a cel ebration of the lives of young people who have other things to worry about besides just school - and who are penalised for it.
\n\n
\n\n
In his approach to writing\, Melvin says "\;Every writer knows that editing\, dramatising \, and interpreting events is an essential part of storytelling. For me\, writing is an exploration. You set up your events and characters and then try to explore them as best you can\, via the imagination\, and some surpr ising results come up. Exploring people and their stories imaginatively ca n lead to more interesting and revealing truths than the bald facts. Imagi ng how being a different person in a different situation is the best possi ble way to understand things that we know very little about."\;
\n\n
\n\n
This Salon will be a chance for us to examine the process of writing gritty\, realistic novels and how importan t the process of being immersed in the subject can be for developing stori es.
\n\n

\n\n
Some background readings
\n\n
Jodi Picoult and the Anxious Parent~~\, by Ginia Bellafan~~ ~~te\, NY Times 17 June 2009~~
\n\n
Sympathy for the devil\, by Melvin Bu rgess\, for the magazine Children's Literature in Education\n\n
What is teenage fiction\, by Melvin Burgess\, MelvinBurg ess.net
\n\n
Kill All Enemies \, reviewed by Yasmin Redfearn\, K athrine Payne and Hannah Mason\, Manchester Salon July 2011\n\n
Melvin Burgess interviewed\, by Yasmin Redfearn\, Kathrine Payne and Hannah Mason\, Manchester Salon Ju ly 2011
\n\n
Kill All Enemies promo video i nspired by work experience students reading the book YouTube July 2011
\n\n
It was intro duction of EMA that turned young people riotous\, by Brendan O'Neill\, The Telegraph 19 August 2011
\n\n
~~The problem with categorising Young People\, by Si mon Belt\, Manchester Salon August 2011~~
\n\n

\n\n
\n\nVenue and Tim e
\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
In the discussion area of Blackwell University Bookshop\, The Precinct\, Oxford Road\, Manchester\, M13 9RN. Please arrive around 6:30pm for drink s and nibbles\, ready for a prompt 6:45pm start - expected to finish just after 8:15pm. 
\n\n
\n\n
Tickets a re £5 (£3 conc essions) payable in advance\, which entitles you to a £3 discount for any thing bought from the bookshop on the evening. Purchase tickets in advance \, using the PayPal Donate button on the Manchester Salon website (feel fr ee to donate on top of the £5 ticket)\, in-store or by phone from Blackwell University Boo kshop\, Manchest er 0161 274 3331.\n\n
\n\n
Sponsors and Partners
\n\n
If you would like to spo nsor this discussion\, or partner in promoting it\, please get in touch vi a the Contact form.
\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
Dates for your diary
\n\n Monday 19 September: Crafts and gardening: the new frontiers of rad icalism? Kate Day \, Professor George McKay \, Barbara Hastings-Asatourian and Rob Lyons will discuss the impact crafts and gardening are h aving in society.
\n\n
~~Wednesday 28 September: I feel your pain: do humans and animals suffer similar ly?~~ Dr Stuart Derbyshire and Professor Anthony Jones will try and untangle the uniqueness and co mmonality of pain and suffering for humans and animals.
\ n\n
~~Monday 24 Octobe r. Fukushima fallout: Dr John Roberts~~\, Dame Sue I on and < A HREF="http://www.manchestersalon.org.uk/speakers.html">Rob Lyons will discuss the fallout from Fukushima and wher e it leaves the future of nuclear energy\, chaired by Tony Gilland.
\n\n
Tuesday 25 October~~. Artificial Intelligence\, bionics and consciousness: Professor Kevin Warwick\,~~ Dr Kathleen Richardson< /A> and Professor Ray Tallis will introduce a discussion on Artificial Intelligence and consciousness\, chaired by Dr Stuart Derbyshire.
\n\n
Saturday – Sun day 29 &\; 30 October: Battle of Ideas Festival weekend - two days of high-level\, thought-provoking\, public debate organised by the Institute of Ideas\, hosted by the Royal College of Art \, London.
\n\n
\n\n
Sponsorship of the Salon website
\n\n
Establish your organisation's commitment to open public debate in Manchester and the North West by sponsoring an individual event around a subject of particul ar concern\, or demonstrate your organisation's support for open public de bate across a wider range of subjects by sponsoring the Manchester Salon f or a year. Details of both packages are available by clicking on these Word or PDF links.
\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
Simon Belt
\n\n
Manchester Salon
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