Mad Rhys Trimble performing (before the megaphone).

Hi, um, this week was awesome. This summer term, instead of the normal Tuesday reading series, we are having ‘industry people’ visiting us to hear short samples of our work and then give us tips on how to approach writing professionally. This week we had Alex Bowler, a senior editor for Jonathan Cape. I was expecting a man wearing a suit, in his mid-forties, walking stick and emerald rings and a cat on his lap. But no, there was no cat. Instead, Alex Bowler is young and lucid and passionate about his work. He also offered us useful and pragmatic insights about the business, which is always better than a clichéd account of a publishing world driven by eccentric personalities.

Reading this week were Nicole Smith, Isabella Devani, Emer Gillespie and myself. It was, of course, amazing. But I also forgot to take my camera with me and so you’ll have no proof.

Then on Thursday we had the Splinter magazine launch event. Splinter is an international literary magazine started by Kent postgrads and its first issue features diverse writings from both poetry and prose. On the magazine launch event we had readings from Laurie Duggan and Natalie Bradbeer and Áine Belton and the mad druid Rhys Trimble who you should all watch perform. He banged a stick on the ground to the rhythm of his poems and then took out a megaphone to finish them off. He’s also a big fan of the current post-rock scene… Enough said.

And that’s all for this week. Next up, indie publishers! See you soon and enjoy the sun.