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BOOKS
UEA Live: autumn 2021 Lineup by louise collins UEA Live is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a bang! The festival is dedicated to celebrating creativity across all platforms and literary types, inspiring audiences to read and create until their hearts are content. This event celebrates authors from all origins in a brilliant, beautiful way, and this year is no different. UEA Live is kicked off on October 6, with New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff. Groff will be discussing her newest historical novel, Matrix, celebrating queerness, womanhood and female power. She will be in discussion with Sara Taylor, UEA alum and The Shore author. On October 13, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash will be discussing Release the Beast: A Drag Queen’s Guide to Life, their debut book, with UEA Live Codirector and Creative Writing lecturer KR Moorhead. In this book, Boulash discusses the transformative life lessons of drag, as well as bringing forward the conversation of gendernonconformity. October 20 hosts Jade LB, Lemara
Lindsay-Prince, and Jyoti Patel who will be discussing #Merky Books, the Penguin Random House imprint curated by Stormzy. They will be talking about their iconic individual pieces, as well as the importance of imprints such as #Merky Books. October 27 sees Elizabeth Day celebrating her newest psychological thriller, Magpie, which discusses motherhood, power, and jealousy. With titles such as journalist, podcast host, and bestselling author, Day will explore running themes across her work with Christie Watson, one of UEA’s Professors of Medical and Health Humanities. On November 3, Leone Ross is set to discuss her writing journey with UEA’s Professor of Modern Literatures, Alison Donnell. Her journey includes her latest novel, This One Sky Day, and being the editor of the first Black British anthology of speculative fiction, which comes out in 2022. The penultimate speaker is former Labour Leader Ed Miliband, who will be discussing the issues of inequality, housing, the climate crisis, and the
Jim moore book review
by Louise collins
For our last issue, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Moore about his book series, and I was desperate to read them. Radulf the Aetherling sees a recently orphaned Rat Prince come to terms with his newfound Kingship. Alongside his close friend Runcorn, he must take his displaced subjects elsewhere, crossing dangerous rivers and meeting many foes along the way. The sequel, The Valley Witches, shows Runcorn and some new animal friends on an even more dangerous adventure in the hopes of finding a permanent home for their kingdom. With this, the witches come out in a proper battle of good vs evil. One of the magical things about these books is how deeply centred they are in Norwich’s landscapes. We follow a trail of Norwich, visiting the Cathedral, UEA’s lake, and so much more. There are some wonderful discussions about ecosystems in these books, teaching children the importance of leaving ecosystems to their own natural hierarchies.
need for change through his book Go Big: How To Fix Our World. On November 10, he will be proposing an interesting, and uplifting, set of solutions for the issues of today’s society. This will be chaired by Alan Finlayson, Professor of Political and Social Theory. Closing UEA Live will be Malika Booker, on the 17 November. As the co-founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, she will discuss the upcoming anthology Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different with scriptwriter and poet Molly Naylor. This anthology celebrates a range of literature from a collective of writers and poets, across 20 years. As plans stand, these events are to be held in person in the Lecture Theatres on campus. As well as listening to their talks, you will have the opportunity to ask any questions in a Live Q&A and buy the speaker’s books. You can buy tickets, or find out more information, via the UEA Live website: https://bit.ly/3CXdi82. With a lineup of such incredible writers, I know for a fact I’ll be in the audience, hanging on to every word.
With Moore’s wonderful descriptions and his abundance of adjectives, I’m sure every child’s imagination will be whirring at full speed, picturing these protagonists in all their glory. Each character stands out brilliantly, having their own unique tone and bold personality – from a cowardly squirrel to a sarcastic owl, Moore’s books have it all. The non-standard grammar – whilst potentially an issue for older readers – fits that of a child excitedly reading a story. With the addition of sarcastic characters, and a lot of humour, I can absolutely see children loving these books. And what’s not to love? Moore’s writing has magic, adventure, humour, and some wonderfully beautiful descriptions. They’re entertaining, and they teach kids about the world – there are so many facts about Norwich’s history and landscape, that children truly get the best of both worlds with these novels.
Photo: Louise Collins
