Courttia Newland – författare

A celebratory 20th anniversary edition of A landmark collection from black writers across the literary spectrum'The fact that IC3, the police identity for Black, is the only collective term that relates to our situation here as residents ('Black British' is political and refers to Africans, Asians, West Indians, Americans and sometimes even Chinese) is a sad fact of life I could not ignore' from Courttia Newland's Introduction, 2000First published twenty years ago into a different literary landscape, IC3 showcases the work of more than 100 black British authors, celebrating their lasting contributions to literature and British culture. It spans a wealth of genres to demonstrate the range and astonishing literary achievements of black writers, including:Poetry from Roger Robinson, Bernardine Evaristo, Jackie Kay and Benjamin Zephaniah. Short stories from Ferdinand Dennis, Diana Evans, Catherine Jonson, E.A. Markham and Ray Shell.Essays from Floella Benjamin, Linda Bellos, Treva Etienne, Kevin Le Gendre and Labi Siffre.Memoirs from Margaret Busby, Henry Bonsu, Buchi Emecheta, Leone Ross, and many others.Featuring a new introduction from original editors Kadija Sesay and Courttia Newland, this collection reflects on the legacy of these writers, their extraordinary work, and stands as a reminder that black British writers remain underrepresented in literature today.

When his dad dies under police arrest after a pub brawl, Cory goes to live with his cousin, Sean. By their late teens the cousins, though close, have chosen different paths. Sean is trying to improve his life through education, whereas Cory has already become involved in petty crime - burglary and dealing E. However, everything changes when Cory stabs a man called Roger after a rave, putting him in hospital. This has grave repercussions for Cory - Roger was supposed to be taking part in an armed robbery with Levi, a notorious crack dealer. Levi now expects Cory to take his place. But Cory breaks his leg during a football match and Sean, unable to find a replacement for his cousin, and desperate to help him, agrees to join in on the robbery himself. However, having entered a world of (apparently) easy money and hard drugs, Sean finds it increasingly hard to return to his previous life as The Scholar......

SOCIETY WITHIN takes us back to the Greenside Estate, West London, scene of Courttia Newland's ground-breaking and hugely successful first novel, THE SCHOLAR. Newly arrived on the estate is Elisha: sweet, bright, sassy and just eighteen. As Elisha negotiates some new territory with more than fair share of dark corners, we take in the vividly interlocking lives of the other Greensiders: cool, ambitious Valerie, with some bad secrets to deal with; Little Stacey, looking for his first girl; Orin, dealing, stealing and trying to stay away from anything too lethal.Courttia Newland tells gripping stories from real lives - stories of dreamers and fighters, love and revenge, friendship and betrayal - in a language burning with energy, originality and conviction.

'What a triumph ... One of Britain's most gifted and inspiring writers' - Sarah Hall'Every artist needs to read this book, there's something for the soul on every single page' Derek OwusuBoth as a novelist and as a screenwriter, Courttia Newland has found himself, through circumstance or choice, in a place of opposition to the commercial mainstream. Now, he reflects on what it means to be an artist operating in the margins and shares his experiences and observations for those facing similar hurdles and choices.Newland covers key aspects of creating beyond the mainstream, including centring your own voice; which voices are allowed full freedom of artistic expression and which are not; the importance of reading outside of the white Western canon; and how success shapes the work of historically excluded creatives. Alongside his own observations and experiences, he explores the work of - and in some instances interviews - other oppositional artists, including Percival Everett, Lou Mensah, Iain Banks, Jean Binta Breeze and others. The result is a startling provocation, and a galvanising vindication of refusing to conform.

Writing Short Stories: A Writers' and Artists' Companion is an essential guide to writing short fiction successfully.PART 1 explores the nature and history of the form, personal reflections by the editors, and help getting started with ideas, planning and research.PART 2 includes tips by leading short story writers, including: Alison Moore, Jane Rogers, Edith Pearlman, David Vann, Anthony Doerr, Vanessa Gebbie, Alexander MacLeod, Adam Thorpe and Elspeth Sandys.PART 3 contains practical advice - from shaping plots and exploring your characters to beating writers' block, rewriting and publishing your stories.

Writing Short Stories: A Writers'' and Artists'' Companion is an essential guide to writing short fiction successfully. PART 1 explores the nature and history of the form, personal reflections by the editors, and help getting started with ideas, planning and research. PART 2 includes tips by leading short story writers, including: Alison Moore, Jane Rogers, Edith Pearlman, David Vann, Anthony Doerr, Vanessa Gebbie, Alexander MacLeod, Adam Thorpe and Elspeth Sandys. PART 3 contains practical advice - from shaping plots and exploring your characters to beating writers'' block, rewriting and publishing your stories.

Writing Short Stories: A Writers'' and Artists'' Companion is an essential guide to writing short fiction successfully. PART 1 explores the nature and history of the form, personal reflections by the editors, and help getting started with ideas, planning and research. PART 2 includes tips by leading short story writers, including: Alison Moore, Jane Rogers, Edith Pearlman, David Vann, Anthony Doerr, Vanessa Gebbie, Alexander MacLeod, Adam Thorpe and Elspeth Sandys. PART 3 contains practical advice - from shaping plots and exploring your characters to beating writers'' block, rewriting and publishing your stories.

Years after her son was abducted, a mother opens the door to a young man in this “unique and very moving novel” (Booklist).   Beverley Cottrell had a prestigious job, a beautiful husband and baby boy. It was all stolen from her one winter afternoon when her son, Malakay, was kidnapped from a parked car. Despite a media campaign, a police investigation, and the offer of a reward, Malakay was never found. Beverley’s marriage dissolved, and her husband left England for the United States with a new wife.   Moving from the leafy suburbs to the inner city to reside in a west London housing project, Beverley cocooned herself in grief, growing more isolated with each passing year. After two decades she has given up any hope of finding closure, and teaches children at the local community center, bright kids thrown on society’s scrap heap. Then a young man starts appearing wherever she goes. Beverley is convinced that he’s stalking her. One dark evening he gets past her security door and calls through her letterbox. He tells her not to be scared. He says that he is Malakay, her son . . .  The Gospel According to Cane is an emotional, suspenseful novel—“part homecoming narrative in the vein of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and part haunting tale of loss similar to Ernest Gaines’s In My Father’s House [that] will appeal to all lovers of literary fiction” (Library Journal).   “As Bev confesses in her journals to events that make her appear less than the fragile idealist she first appeared, Newland’s tale gathers pace and tension. Violence becomes a real possibility. Happy ending or sad? Newland delivers a bit of both in this complex, cathartic portrait of an intelligent, if not always sensible woman, who refuses any longer to be defined by loss.” —Toronto Star   “A thrilling read, full of psychological tension and drama.” —Yvette Edwards, author of The Mother

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 2022LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZEA monumental speculative fiction story of love, loyalty, politics and conscience set in parallel LondonsThe Ark was built to save the lives of the many, but rapidly became a refuge for the elite, the entrance closed without warning. Years later, Markriss Denny is one of the select few granted entry. He carries with him a closely guarded secret: the ability of his spirit to leave his body and transcend the known world.But once in, he learns of another who carries the same power, and their existence could spell catastrophe for humanity. Denny is forced into a desperate race to understand his abilities, and in doing so uncovers the truth about the Ark, himself and the people he thought he once knew.

In his sharply crafted, unnerving first collection of speculative fiction shorts, Courttia Newland envisages an alternate future as lived by the African diaspora.Robots used as human proxies in a war become driven by all-too-human desires; Kill Parties roam the streets of a post-apocalyptic world; a matriarchal race of mer creatures depends on inter-breeding with mortals to survive; mysterious seeds appear in cities across the world, growing into the likeness of people in their vicinity.Through transfigured bodies and impossible encounters, Newland brings a sharp, fresh eye to age-old themes of the human capacity for greed, ambition and self-destruction, but ultimately of our strength and resilience.

In 2004 Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, asked if the countryside is guilty of a 'passive apartheid'.White Open Spaces is a Pentabus Theatre development project undertaken in partnership with BBC Radio Drama. Nine Writers were invited to take part in a residential week in Shropshire.The plays published in this volume are by Francesca Beard, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Ian Marchant, Kara Miller, Courttia Newland, Richard Rai O'Neil, and Rommi Smith.White Open Spaces was taken on a regional tour, including a run at the Pleasance’s King Dome at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006.