Q&A Chris Gribble natasha onwuemezi
Can you tell us a bit about the International Literature Showcase? chris gribble The International Literature Showcase (ILS) presents the best of contemporary British literature and brings together an online communit of literature professionals from around the world to share best practice, form partnerships and create new projects. It was begun in 2012 by the British Council and Writers’ Centre Norwich (WCN), to give UK writers and organisations a platform from which they could speak to the world. The 2016/17 iteration is the first time we’ve used an online component as the driving force behind the project.
How does the ILS help writers? Writers and organisations at some point all reach that tipping point of having gathered expertise and experience working in the UK and want to push outwards into interna- tional work and collaborations. The ILS is there to help that process, showcasing them to a global audience and providing network- ing opportunities. The programme this year is also exploring where literature is going and how we can all take advantage of new opportunities and technology—it’s all about sparking new ideas and projects.
How does the ILS fit into the work of WCN? The ILS fits perfectly into our core aims: it directly supports and promotes artists, both through the showcasing and commis- sions, and it advances and explores what literature and literary translation can do through provocations on the website and in encouraging online and offline exchange and networking. The articles published [on the ILS website] so far range in subject from reinventing the live experience of literature and translation, to digital serialisation and writing for computer games, so anyone can find something of interest, regardless of where they fit into the arts world.
What will you be doing at LBF? The ILS and WCN are presenting several panels and showcases, as well as sponsor- ing the International Literature Showcase Festival Forum, taking in subjects from Brexit, to the languages of India, to literary festivals. We’ll be there throughout the fair and several ILS-showcased writers, present and past, will be atending. These include Bidisha, poet Ifor ap Glyn, Kayo Chingonyi, Laura Dockrill and Hannah Berry.
What have been the ILS’ successes, and what do you hope to achieve?
www.thebookseller.com
Pictured are participants and presenters past and present from the International Literature Showcase
Writers’ Centre Norwich c.e.o. Chris Gribble will be bringing the organisation’s International Literature Showcase initiative to LBF. Natasha Onwuemezi reports
Crossing borders
To date ILS has showcased the work of 60 UK writers to festival directors, publishers and other literature organisations. Many of these writers have since had widespread success in the UK and internationally. Kei Miller toured the world aſter appearing at ILS and went on to win major poetry prizes. Joe Dunthorne travelled to Shanghai and Beijing for a festival, a residency and to produce new work. Booker-longlisted Yvvete Edwards spent time at Flupp Festi- val in Rio de Janeiro. We’ve sent writers to festivals across the world. We’ve facilitated and funded collabora- tions between artists in the UK and abroad, and between literature organisations: Twent-one have been directly instigated through ILS, with countless more relation- ships built. Our focus is very much on forging new international partnerships and collaborations.
Why is it important to connect writers to the international literature community? UK literature does not exist in a bubble. It is oxygenated through international commu- nities of writers, through translation and exchange. Literature by writers from the UK has reached every corner of the world, and more oſten than not it has been fed by that exchange: think of Shakespeare’s Italian setings, Kipling’s Indian influences, Orwell in Paris. While the UK is a global leader in literature development work, there is much to be learned by talking with the wider communit. UK writers and organisations have so much to offer, and we in turn can discover new ways of doing things by uncov- ering what is happening around the world. We’ve been publishing online a collection of commissions around the theme Crossing Borders, and that very much sums up the ethos of the ILS. ×
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