Top Brighton writers gather for Fringe literary salon at BAi360

The deck at Brighton’s BAi360 will turn into a literary salon for an evening celebrating some of Brighton’s best contemporary writers and poets reading old and new work.
S J WatsonS J Watson
S J Watson

The event takes place Friday, June 18 from 7-9pm.

Vanguard Readings in association with the deck at the i360 is bringing you six authors and poets. Readers are: award-winning, SJ Watson (Before I go to Sleep, Final Cut), Polari Prize winning poet John McCullough (Reckless paper birds), Hannah Tovey (The Education of Ivy Edwards and Is This It? (out July 21), poet and Faber Academy director, Richard Skinner (Invisible Sun, out June 21), & Susannah Wise (This Fragile Earth).

The event is hosted by Hove-based novelist, Helen Trevorrow (In The Wake; New Brighton – out March 22).

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She said; “The deck is such a fabulous setting to hear some very exciting writers in the flesh! We’ve got two of this summer’s most anticipated debut novelists, one of the UK’s most established thriller writers, and two fabulous award-winning poets. I can’t think of a better way to be inspired while watching the sun go down.”

International best-selling novelist SJ Watson will read from his brand-new forthcoming novel: “My recent move to Brighton has been hugely inspiring for me. The atmosphere of the city, and the nearness of the sea, has unlocked a whole new seam of creativity.”

The line-up includes:

S J Watson is the award-winning author of the international bestsellers Before I Go To Sleep (Doubleday 2011), winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Award for Best Debut Novel and the Galaxy National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year, and Second Life (Doubleday 2015). He was born in the Midlands and studied physics at Birmingham University, later working as an audiologist in the NHS. He now lives in Brighton. The film adaption of Before I Go to Sleep, directed by Rowan Joffe, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, was released in 2014. S.J. Watson’s latest book, Final Cut, was published by Transworld in August 2020.

John McCullough lives in Hove. His latest book of poems, Reckless Paper Birds (Penned in the Margins) won the 2020 Hawthornden Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. John’s poetry has won other awards including the Polari First Book Prize and his collections have been named Books of the Year in The Independent, The Guardian and The Observer. He teaches creative writing at the University of Brighton and New Writing South.

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Hannah Tovey is from South Wales and grew up in Hong Kong. She graduated from the Faber Academy in 2018, where she finished her debut novel, The Education Of Ivy Edwards. Her second novel, Is This It? comes out July 2021. Hannah lives in East London.

Richard Skinner has published three books of poems with Smokestack. His new book, Invisible Sun, will be published in June 2021. He is director of the Fiction Programme at Faber academy.

Susannah Wise is an actor and writer who grew up in London and the Midlands. A childhood spent outdoors inspired her love of nature and tree climbing. The death of her father in 2015 was the catalyst for This Fragile Earth. His preoccupation with astronomy and the beauty of the night sky formed the jumping-off point for the story. Susannah studied at the Faber Academy, graduating in September 2018, during which time she wrote a second novel. Both books have been longlisted for the Mslexia prize. She lives in London with her partner and son.

This event is a Vanguard on Tour event in association with the BA i360 for the Brighton Fringe. The event is hosted by Hove writer Helen Trevorrow, whose debut feminist crime thriller In The Wake was published in 2018, and her new novel, New Brighton, will be published in March 2022.

This is a free event (7pm to 9pm) but only limited tickets remain. Book at https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/vanguard-readings-at-the-british-airways-i360-135772/