For our May meeting, we’re joined by two Portsmouth authors. Our main speaker is author Matt Wingett, who writes non-fiction exploring the strange and interesting history of Portsmouth. He’s also a hypnotist, and has written for TV.
The Southsea Stories and Beyond – How Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes in Portsmouth
While working as a GP in Portsmouth’s seaside resort of Southsea between 1882 and 1890, young Arthur Conan Doyle produced short stories and novels at an astonishing rate. Many of his anonymously-published tales were forgotten, only to be rediscovered around a century later.
His early writings included comedies, tragedies, horror, supernatural and earthbound mysteries, unlikely adventures from the outposts of Empire and much more besides. Discover how his life in the town affected his later writing, and how the ideas he first discovered in Southsea became part of his story-telling palette.
While many associate Holmes with London, discover how the detective was conceived in Southsea – and find out why Portsmouth will forever be “Sherlock’s home”.
Our guest speaker is author Loree Westron.
After the Dream Comes True…
What happens when your first novel gets published by a traditional publisher, but your local high street book shop won’t stock it? Learn how Loree Westron took matters into her own hands and created the Portsmouth Authors Collective to promote and sell local author books.
American by birth, Loree now lives in Portsmouth where she writes literary and historical fiction. She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester. Among other things, she has worked as a farm labourer, a bookseller, a bell ringer, and a university lecturer. When not writing, Loree can be found teaching bicycle mechanics, or walking and cycling in the South Downs. Her novella, Missing Words, is set in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
The meeting will be Tuesday May 13th, at the Tower Arts Centre.
Come along from 7pm. Talks start at 7:30pm. Members free, non-member tickets £10, students £2 (no advance booking, payment on entry).
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