Welsh-Canadian novelist Tristan Hughes
Welsh-Canadian novelist latest Writer-In-Residence
Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture welcomes Tristan Hughes
Welsh-Canadian novelist Tristan Hughes is the newest Writer-In-Residence at The Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture (CCWOC) at the University of Manitoba. Hughes will work with students, faculty and members of the public from September to December 2018.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be coming to the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture this fall,” says Hughes. “I was really inspired by the centre’s work in crossing boundaries and encouraging connections, between academic and creative disciplines, between oral and literate cultures and between writers and communities. Creativity, in its best and widest sense, is all about discovering and exploring connection, and I can’t think of a better opportunity to learn from – and contribute to – Winnipeg’s vibrant and diverse literary community.”
Hughes was born in Atikokan in northern Ontario and brought up on the Welsh island of Ynys Mon. He was educated at the universities of York and Edinburgh, and King’s College, Cambridge, where he completed a PhD on Herman Melville’s South Sea writings.
Hughes is a celebrated writer with international acclaim. He has published four novels in the UK, and is now at work on a novel set in his home territory of northern Ontario. His short fiction has appeared in various journals, including Ploughshares, The Southern Review and New Welsh Review. He is a winner of the Edward Stanford Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place, the Rhys Davies short story prize and the O. Henry Award. Hughes brings experience working with students to this residency as he has previously taught courses on American literature and creative writing at the universities of Cambridge, Leipzig, Bangor and Cardiff.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tristan Hughes back to Canada, and to have him working with us,” says Warren Cariou, CCWOC Director. “Tristan’s fiction writing has been widely celebrated for its nuance, polish and depth, and he is also highly skilled as a mentor and workshop leader. I know we will learn a great deal from him about place, story, and the unique form of thinking that fiction writing enables.” Cariou encourages emerging writers to take this opportunity to learn and benefit from Hughes’ advice and vision.
INDIVIDUAL WRITER CONSULTATIONS
As part of Hughes’ role, he will be available by appointment to writers of all levels every Wednesday and Thursday from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm to December 3, 2018. To consult with Tristan Hughes, students, faculty and members of the public are encouraged to contact him by email or phone 204-480-1067 to arrange a free meeting.
WRITING WORKSHOP
He will also be hosting a free six-week writing workshop throughout the residency. The workshop, entitled “In Search of the Lost Places”, will explore the different ways we can discover and use the stories, histories and places that have shaped us to inspire our fiction. Participants will be asked to experiment with using various historical sources for their writing – family and oral history, historical documents and accounts, anecdotes and objects – in order to create both historical fictions and fictions based on their own histories. Register for the workshop by emailing the Centre at ccwoc@umanitoba.ca.
Wednesday afternoons, September 26 to October 31
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm, Room 390A University College
WELCOME EVENT
The CCWOC will welcome Tristan Hughes to the University of Manitoba at a reception where he will give an inaugural reading. All are welcome to this free event.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
2:30 pm, Great Hall, University College
For more information, please contact Susan Rich, Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture.