On Our Way to Becoming Writers: BCB Students at British Council Literature Seminar 2024

As part of our Writing Fiction class led by the professor and writer Clare Wigfall, my classmates and I attended this year’s British Council Literature Seminar. Held annually in Berlin, it was already the 38th time that the community of literature lovers from different fields could come together, celebrate the art of writing, and most importantly, meet and learn from five of the Best Young British Novelists selected by Granta Magazine in 2023.

The Seminar began on November 14th, a rather gloomy Thursday evening, which immediately lit up once we entered the building of Colonia Nova. A friendly and warm atmosphere accompanied the seminar from its first reading given by Helen Oyeyemi, this year’s chair of the British Council Literature Seminar, a Jury member for Granta’s ‘Best of’ list, an accomplished writer, and also a very charming person! She read an excerpt from her newest book Parasol Against the Axe, often referred to as her “Prague book,” in which she utilized her knowledge of this beautiful and mysterious city. Regardless of her position as someone who does not fully understand the language and quirks of Czechia she deeply appreciates and immerses herself in its history and culture. Her approach to writing as something she simply “has to do” and that “comes to her naturally” was truly inspirational and the way she interacted with the audience made us all feel at home.

On Friday we started early in the morning with surreal, horrifying, and funny excerpts from Camilla Grudova’s short story collection Children of Paradise. The British-based Canadian writer surprised most of the audience with a witty attitude and her visions of the world around her. After a short break, we had the pleasure to hear Camilla’s fellow countrywoman Sarah Bernstein, who read from her mesmerizing book A Study for Obedience, which took us to the isolated countryside in prose filled with tension and superstition, which managed to be both poetic and raw simultaneously.

Before the wonderful lunch, all the writers came up to the stage and engaged in a panel discussion on Starting Out As a Writer (available to watch on YouTube here). Here they remembered the beginnings of their writing careers — from Tumblr posts and Wattpad fanfiction to poems and discovery by agents — and shared their tips and struggles with us.

Afterwards we heard Eliza Clark’s unapologetically great story and laugh, followed by K Patrick’s exploration of forbidden desire, allowing their fantasy to become true in a novel. The intensive day full of inspiration was concluded by Eley Williams’ hopeful and hilarious lines about everyday life.

Besides the readings, we also attended workshops by the authors and had the opportunity to get to know other writers and scholars interested in contemporary fiction. We became closer as a class and gained fresh motivation to write pieces for our final reading, happening on the 6th of December at 8 pm in Weinsalon, Friedrichshain (view the full event information here). We hope to see you there!

By Eliška Pastieriková ‘28

Post Date: 12-02-2024