This is  a special event on Writing Friendships, led by Novel Studio tutors Emily Midorikawa and Emma Sweeney and supported by Arts Council England. As long-time friends who have supported each other’s careers from the beginning, authors Emma and Emily know just how important building strong links with other writers can be. They’ll be joined by novelist Susan Barker, novelist and non-fiction writer Ann Morgan, novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie and poet Denise Saul. The panel will be sharing their own experiences of literary friendship and offering practical advice for new and experienced writers on ways in which they can forge and develop meaningful writing relationships of their own.

In addition to teaching at City, University of London, Emily and Emma run the literary friendship blog, SomethingRhymed.com. They are also the authors of A Secret Sisterhood, which tells the stories of the literary friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf, and will be published in the UK and the USA in 2017.