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Tessa McWatt

Writer | Storyteller | Researcher

CreativeUEA

Professor of Creative Writing at The School of Literature, Drama & Creative Writing

 

Professor Tessa McWatt is deeply committed to creative work and interdisciplinary approaches. She is the author of seven novels, two books for young people and one non-fiction book. 

Born in Guyana, Prof McWatt grew up in Canada and now lives in London. A Professor of Creative Writing here at UEA and Creative Writing Research Group Member, she won the Eccles British Library Award 2018. Her work has also been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Toronto Book Awards, The Hilary Weston Prize, and the OCM Bocas Prize. In 2021, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

 

I work with stories and language and am interested in the poetry that exists between people. Language is crucial in our understanding of ourselves but also in remaking our possible futures in a world that is so formed by structural inequality. If we can make whole worlds on the page, surely we can reinvent how we live on this planet.

My Story

‘My creative writing is research that I’ve been engaged in since a young age. To create is to make an effort to order and understand the world.

I’m a writer who works to make connections with other writers and artists, whether graphic designers (in my novel Vital Signs) or composers (in my libretto). I’d like those collaborations to expand into other disciplines, so that we broaden our understanding of creativity and our effect, not only on our own disciplines but on the broader cultural, social and environmental landscape.’

 

Key Projects

 

Thinking Without Borders

‘Writing and interdisciplinary, cultural studies-based methodologies can involve marginalised and socio-economically underprivileged communities, producing literary non-fiction about their lives.

These approaches afford access for people who may not use the internet regularly, can support mental wellbeing, and generate new understandings of isolation, community and coping with Covid-19. We collaborate in intergenerational community-building, giving voice to individual and community experiences in original literature.’

 

Publications

 

Discover More

  • Book cover Shame on Me

    Browse

    Take a look through Prof Tessa McWatt’s wonderful collection of novels.

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  • Tessa McWatt book cover

    Watch

    Prof Tessa McWatt virtually presents 'CityLife: A Community Storytelling Project'.

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  • Tessa McWatt speaking and presenting

    Read

    Prof McWatt discusses her memoir 'Shame On Me', a conversation delving into racism and antiracism, the relationship between literature and activism.

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Tessa McWatt - CreativeUEA