Louise Welsh: writers and academics must work together…
Portrait of Louise Welsh by Steve Lindridge of www.idealimages.co.uk
Thursday 24 September 2015 13.20 BST
The Guardian
‘The novelist is like a detective,’ says writer, citing Val McDermid’s collaboration on a course in forensic science as a model for understanding between arts and academia…
Novelist Louise Welsh made her professorial debut at Glasgow University on Tuesday with a call for collaboration across disciplines and institutions.
In an evening lecture entitled Sleight of Hand, the Art of Writing Fiction, Welsh, who was appointed professor of creative writing in June, said: “The potential for collaboration between writers and academics is increasingly recognised, resulting in fiction, poetry and music, helping the lay person to better understand and appreciate academic research.
Pointing to crime novelist Val McDermid’s recent work on a forensic science course with Dundee University as “a great example of how writers and academics can collaborate”, Welsh also discussed her own project during last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the Empire Cafe. This well-received collaboration with historians, musicians and playwrights was the first full-scale cultural examination of Scotland’s role in the North Atlantic slave trade.
