[PAST EVENT] PANEL: Writing the past for the present

Sat, 4 March 2023
12.30pm – 1.30pm
£8 (£6 Concessions)
Panel
Online

Two leading historical fiction authors discuss why writers now choose to explore the past.

Historical fiction has enduring appeal to both readers and writers. What is it about the past that draws us? Why are writers attracted to certain eras, the characters – real or imagined – who populate them? What inspires them? How much research is too much? What are the challenges of writing about the past and why delve into them now? Authors Frances Quinn and Louise Hare discuss.

About the panellists

Frances Quinn is the author of historical novels The Smallest Man and That Bonesetter Woman. She grew up in Forest Gate, East London and studied English at King’s College, Cambridge, realising too late that the course would require more than lying around reading novels for three years. After snatching a degree from the jaws of laziness, she became a journalist, writing for magazines including Prima, Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Weekly, and later branched out into copywriting, producing words for everything from Waitrose pizza packaging to the Easyjet in-flight brochure. She lives in Hove, with her husband and three Tonkinese cats.

Louise Hare has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. Her debut novel, This Lovely City, was published in 2020 and is set in post-war south London. It featured on the inaugural BBC TWO TV book club show, Between the Covers, and was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. Louise was selected for the Observer Top 10 Best Debut Novelists list in 2020. Miss Aldridge Regrets is her second novel, a Golden Age murder mystery published in 2022.

Who is this event for?

Suitable for writers at all stages of their career.

About Writers’ Week

Writers’ Week offers discussions, talks and information sessions on how to navigate our work as writers, what we write about, and the support we need for our writing lives to thrive. See the full schedule and information about a weekly ticket here.

Bursary places

Limited bursary places are available for those who would struggle to pay the full price for an event, workshop or course with New Writing South. To apply for a bursary please fill out this application form. We are also offering limited 50% bursaries for this event in light of the cost-of-living crisis. To apply for a 50% bursary, please fill out the 50% bursary application form.

Please note, we are unable to refund tickets to this event.