New YA module led by author Laura Lam added to MA Creative Writing @EdinburghNapier

Laura Lam • photo © Elizabeth May

We're proud to announce an exciting new module in writing for young adult audiences on our genre fiction-focused MA Creative Writing programme  - and it will be led by Laura Lam, author of the acclaimed Micah Grey YA fantasy trilogy.

The MA at Edinburgh Napier University has always welcomed YA writers, especially those creating genre fiction. But a specialist moudle in YA writing practise is a bold new innovation.

Writing YA Fiction is launching in time for the 2017-18 academic year, with the optional module due to run in Trimester 2. Students will create narratives for YA audiences set in science fiction and fantasy worlds, but contemporary settings will also be part of the module.

"It's exciting to invent my own module for the Edinburgh Naper Creative Writing MA," says Laura Lam, who joined the course as a part-time lecturer in September 2016. "I've enjoyed teaching on the existing modules, but now I'm getting the chance to build my own."

Laura's first YA novel, Pantomime, was originally published in 2013 and reissued last year by Pan Macmillan. It was shortlisted for numerous prizes and won the 2014 Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction. 

Six of Crows author Leigh Bardugo called Pantomime "a fantastical, richly drawn, poignant take on a classic coming-of-age story ... a vibrant tale told with surety and grace."

Shadowplay - the second book in the Micah Grey series - was first published in 2014 and also reissued by Pan Macmillan last year. The finale of Laura's YA trilogy - the long-awaited Masquerade - was unleashed in paperback just two months ago by Pan Macmillan. Students taking the module will benefit from Laura's professional and personal experience in this exciting area.

Goblin author & MA Creative Writing graduate secures Creative Scotland funding for 2nd novel

A proto-version of HellSans appears in Gutter 16, out soon

Last month we were proudly showcasing the cover of Goblin, a novel by MA Creative Writing graduate Ever Dundas, to be published by Freight in May. But the good news doesn't stop there - Creative Scotland has just announced funding for Ever's work on her second novel, HellSans.

It's a great boost for Ever who has fibromyalgia, a chronic condition with symptoms that include chronic pain, exhaustion and cognitive problems. The illness forced her to give up part-time work, so the funding will go a long way to help her keep writing.

HellSans is a near-future sci-fi thriller with lashings of body horror. Ever calls her fun action thriller an excoriating indictment of normative society and the current UK government. Here's a blurb for the work in progress:

HellSans is a ubiquitous font; when exposed to it, most people experience contentment, but a minority are allergic. The HellSans allergy sufferers (HSAs) are persecuted and live in poverty in a ghetto on the edge of the capital city. 

Jane, CEO of the company that manufactures the Inex (a cyborg doll-like creature that replaces mobile phones) is successful and famous until she falls ill with the allergy and becomes embroiled in a government conspiracy. She loses her job and her wealth, ending up in the ghetto where she meets Icho, a scientist who has invented a cure for HSA.

Icho is on the run from governmental factions and The Elegy Seraphs (the ghetto ‘terrorist’ group), who have their own agenda for the cure. Jane and Icho work together to expose government corruption and bring the cure to the ghetto.