The first journal for creative writing at the Chemnitz University of Technology celebrates its premiere

Chair of English Literatures publishes the journal "Turning Pages" – Launch on 28 November 2019 in the city library in DAStietz

On 28 November 2019, the Chair of English Literatures at Chemnitz University of Technology will release “Turning Pages” for the first time, a journal for creative writing in which students, pupils, teachers and writers from all over the world can publish their own texts written in English. The spectrum of literary texts ranges from poetry and short drama to prose. Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten, one of the two editors of the first issue besides Mandy Beck, emphasises: “Our idea was to pay tribute to the creative work of students who have produced literary texts in various seminars and thus encourage other students to write their own texts”. Creative writing is primarily about a different way of dealing with the English language, which would not be possible in the context of academic writing. “The aim is to emphasise that English is an artificial and cultural language,” Sandten explains.

In addition to the wide range of forms and writing styles, the editors were able to win over various authors – from beginners to professional, nationally and internationally highly acclaimed writers such as Michael Augustin (Germany), Sujata Bhatt (India), Stephen Collis (Canada) or Ian Watson (Northern Ireland). A genuinely new discovery was the theatre group “Play It By Ear” from Belfast, from whose play “No Man Is An (Irish) Island” the editors were allowed to publish one scene. Generally, the play is a humorous and at the same time thought-provoking text about the meeting of locals and foreigners in the course of the refugee crisis.

Another important element of the journal is to show how literature and art interact. In this context, as Beck points out, the journal is not limited to written creative works, but is generally also open to graphics and drawings: “We are grateful to the art teacher Jürgen Pinkert from the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium in Chemnitz for his generous provision of original works by his students from different grades,” says Beck. “But we also included other artists who reworked their graphics for the journal, such as Pariya Masoudi Moghadam or Maria Costantino, who is also a student from Chemnitz University of Technology.”

“Turning Pages” will be published annually by the University Press Chemnitz as an open access journal. The launch will take place in cooperation with the German-British Society Chemnitz e.V. on 28 November at 7 p.m. in the Chemnitz City Library in the former department store DAStietz, Moritzstraße 20, where authors will read from their works and graphic art works will be explained. Interested readers are just as welcome as future authors, who would like to have their texts, after a critical assessment, published in the journal in the next issue.

Further information and contact: Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten, telephone 0371 531-37353, E-Mail cecile.sandten@phil.tu-chemnitz.de, as well as Mandy Beck, telephone 0371 531-34445, E-Mail mandy.beck@phil.tu-chemnitz.de

Mario Steinebach
18.11.2019

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