Professor Blake Morrison presents 'The Future of Reading'
Location: The Auditorium, UCS Waterfront Building, Ipswich
Date: 28 March 2012
Time: 5.30pm - 7.30pm
Does the printed book have a future? Are e-books – along with blogs, texts, emails and the Internet – changing the way we read? What will happen to literary fiction and poetry as we move further into the new technological age?
Many people throughout history have testified to the importance of books to their intellectual, emotional and even moral development – will future generations be able to say the same, or has the way we come to learn about the world changed forever?
In this talk, Professor Blake Morrison looks at the current condition of the book in this country (with reference to the publishing industry, new trends in literature, prizes, libraries and book groups), and argues the case for the therapeutic benefits of reading and writing.
Profile
Professor Blake Morrison
Professor Blake Morrison was born in Yorkshire. He first worked for the Times Literary Supplement and was later literary editor for The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He now writes regularly for the Guardian. Since 2003 he has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College and more recently Visiting Professor of Literature at UCS.
Professor Blake Morrison was born in Yorkshire. He first worked for the Times Literary Supplement and was later literary editor for The Observer and The Independent on Sunday. He now writes regularly for the Guardian. Since 2003 he has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College and more recently Visiting Professor of Literature at UCS.
His poetry includes Dark Glasses (1984), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award, and The Ballad of the Yorkshire Ripper (1987). His non-fiction books include As If (1997), a highly personal account of the James Bulger murder case, and Too True (1998), a collection of essays and stories. His memoir And When Did You Last See Your Father? (1993) was made into a film with Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent.
Professor Morrison has also written three opera libretti, including collaboration with the composer Gavin Bryars on an opera about Johann Gutenberg. His novel, South of the River (2007) was a ‘state of the nation’ novel set during the first half of Tony Blair’s premiership.
His association with East Anglia began in the 1980s, and as well as writing several poems set there he has collaborated on two musical projects at Snape Maltings. His latest work for Northern Broadsides is We Are Three Sisters, an adaptation which crosses Chekhov’s play The Three Sisters with the lives of the Brontes.