Creative writing project reading list

Writing handbooks

General

  • Bell, Julia and Magrs, Paul eds, The Creative Writing Coursebook (London, Macmillan, 2001)
  • Boran, Pat, The Portable Creative Writing Workshop (Moher, Salmon, 1999)
  • Goodwin, Mark and Tyler-Bennett, Deborah eds, Poetry, Prose, and Playfulness for Teachers, Writers, and Learners (Leicester, Leicester County Council Press, 2004)
  • Newman, Jenny, Cusick, Edmund  and La Tourette, Aileen eds, The Writer's Workbook, 2nd edition (London, Arnold, 2004)

Fiction

  • Burroway, Janet and Weinberg, Susan Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft, 6th edition (New York, Addison Wesley Longman, 2002)
  • Le Guin, Ursula K Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew (Portland, Oregon, Eight Mountain Press, 1998)

Memoir

  • Barrington, Judith Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art. A practical guide to the craft, the personal challenges, and ethical dilemmas of writing your true stories (Portland, Oregon, Eight Mountain Press, 1997)

Poetry

  • Sansom, Peter Writing Poems (Newcastle, Bloodaxe, 1994)

Guides and reference works on poetic forms

General

  • Deutsch, Babette Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms, 4th edition (New York, HarperResource, 1982)
  • Fraser, G. S. Metre, Rhyme and Free Verse, The Critical Idiom (London, Methuen, 1970) [several reprints; now out of print]
  • Preminger, Alex and Brogan, T.V.F. eds, The New Princeton Encyclopaedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1993)
  • Stillman, Frances The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary (London, Thames and Hudson, 2004) [latest of many reprints]
  • Strand, Mark and Boland, Eavan eds, The Making of A Poem (New York, Norton, 2000)

Rhyming dictionaries

  • Stillman, Frances The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary (London, Thames and Hudson, 2004) [latest of many reprints]

Haiku

  • Henderson, Harold G. Haiku in English (Rutland, Vermont, Charles E Tuttle, 1967) [often reprinted]

Riddles
  • Dictionary of Riddles, ed. Mark Bryant (London, Routledge, 1990)
  • The Exeter Book Riddles, trans Kevin Crossley-Holland (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1979)
  • A Feast of Creatures: Anglo-Saxon Riddle-Songs, trans Craig Williamson (London, Scolar Press, 1982) [good introduction]
  • 'Riddle' in The New Princeton Encyclopaedia of Poetry and Poetics, ed Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1993)
  • 'Riddles' in Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend, ed Maria Leach, 2 vols (New York, Funk and Wagnalls, 1949, 1950)

Writers reflect on writing

  • The Art of Writing. Teachings of the Chinese Masters, trans. and ed. Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping (Boston, Shambhala, 1996)
  • Boland, Eavan Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time (London, Vintage, 1996)
  • Fitzmaurice, Gabriel Kerry on My Mind, (Moher, Salmon, 2000)
  • Hemingway, Ernest Ernest Hemingway on Writing, ed. Larry W. Phillips (New York, Simon and Schuster, 1999)
  • Heyen, William Pig Notes and Dumb Music: Prose on Poetry (Rochester, BOA Editions, 1998)
  • Le Guin, Ursula K., 'The Language of the Night' in Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. Susan Wood, (New York, G P Putnam's Sons, 1979)
  • Levertov, Denise The Poet in the World (New York, New Directions, 1973)
  • Mackay Brown, George Northern Lights: A Poet's Sources (London, John Murray, 1999)
  • Milosz, Czeslaw The Witness of Poetry (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1983)

Poetry, story-telling and traditional communities

  • Carson, Ciaran Last Night's Fun (London: Pimlico, 1996)
  • Hickey, Donal Stone Mad For the Music (Dublin: Marino, 1999)
  • Mackay Brown, George For the Islands I Sing (London: John Murray, 1998)
  • Neat, Timothy and MacInnes, JohnThe Voice of the Bard: Living Poets and Ancient Tradition in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Edinburgh: Canongate, 1999)
  • Neat, Timothy The Summer Walkers (Edinburgh: Canongate, 1996)

Guides to constructing web pages and websites

  • Castro, Elizabeth HTML for the World Wide Web, 5th edition (Berkeley, Ca, Peachpit Press, 2002)
  • Lynch, P.J. and Horton, Sarah Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites 2nd edition (New Haven, Yale University Press, 2001)
  • Niederst, Jennifer Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd edition (Sebastopol, Ca, O'Reilly, 2001)

Where to publish

  • Finch, Peter How to Publish Your Poetry (London, Allison and Busby, 1998)

Annual publications

  • Breen, Nancy ed, Poet's Market 2005 (Cincinatti, Writer's Digest Books, 2004)
  • Brogan, Kathryn S ed, Writer's Market 2005 (Cincinatti, Writer's Digest Books, 2004)
  • Feeke, James ed, The Small Press Guide 2003 (Peterborough, Writer's Bookshop, 2002)
  • Light, John Light's List of Literary Magazines (Northumberland, Photon Press, 2004)
  • Turner, Barry ed, The Writer's Handbook 2005 (London: Macmillan, 2004)
  • Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2005 (London, A & C Black, 2004)

Donate to the Stained Glass Appeal

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Typewriter Stamp Set

Typewriter Stamp Set

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Event - Subsidy, Patronage & Sponsorship : Theatre and Performance Culture in Uncertain Times

Thu 19 July 2012–Sat 21 July 2012

CONFERENCE: The V&A and the University of Reading are organising an international conference related to the major AHRC project, ‘Giving Voice to the Nation': the Arts Council of Great Britain and the development of theatre and Performance in Britain 1945-1995.

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