In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Oxford Creative Writing MSt, we are proud to announce the publication of Meridian. A collection of poetry, prose and dramatic writing from twenty-five acclaimed alumni of the programme, curated by Amal Chatterjee, Mary Jean Chan and Barney Norris, the book includes an introduction by founding Course Director Clare Morgan, and a foreword by George Szirtes, recent recipient of the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry. You can buy your copy here.
Departmental Lecturer Barney Norris’s latest play Going Out Out opens this week at HOME Manchester, in a co-production between HOME and Karl Sydow, prior to a London transfer in spring 2026. You can book tickets here. The playtext is also available from Faber.
Ian’s gone out less since he became a widower. Actually, he hasn’t gone out at all – a local charity gets his shopping and he only leaves the house to water the garden. But when Raz drops Ian’s groceries round one day and finds him wearing his late wife’s dress, because it helps him feel closer to her and because he likes to wear something loose fitting on hot days, an unlikely friendship starts that changes everything. Soon, Ian finds himself back in the working men’s club run by his estranged daughter, Lauren, preparing to give the performance of his life…
Going Out Out is a show filled with music, courage and love about a man who finds a way to cope with grief by joining the Manchester drag scene. With soulful sounds and infectious pop anthems, the show’s musical soundtrack has something to move everyone.
Prisoners of Empire: How Former Colonies Were Set Up to Fail
Amal Chatterjee
“A compelling social and political balance-sheet of empire, revealing how former colonies worldwide are still shackled by the legacies of colonial oppression.
Why do some former colonies fail, staggering from crisis to crisis, while others recover? Why did so many succumb to dictatorship, corruption, civil war and instability after independence?
Amal Chatterjee argues that these ‘failures’ are underpinned by persistent, robust colonial structures which preserve and reproduce the oppressive, exploitative systems of the past….”
https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/prisoners-of-empire/
We are delighted that former student Chris Barkley has published his debut novel The Man on the Endless Stair, described in the Times as ‘an eerie, deeply atmospheric tale of hidden treasure and trauma.’ A tense and atmospheric Scottish island murder mystery, the book is available from Birlinn and in all good bookshops!
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