We like the organisation SciTalk so much, we thought we'd draw this to everybody's attention;

‘FOUR SCIENTISTS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR’
Oxford Literary Festival

Wednesday March 21st, 2007,1.30-4.30pm,
at Science Oxford, 1-5 London Place, Oxford, OX4 1BD

To book your place (£5, £2 concessions), contact Science Oxford on 01865 728953

The event and the accompanying short story competition are
sponsored by The Scientist, the international journal of the life sciences


Fiction-writers will have the chance to:
• HEAR FOUR VERY DIFFERENT SCIENTISTS TALKING ABOUT THEIR RESEARCH AND HOW & WHERE THEY WORK;
• LEARN A FEW HINTS ON WRITING ABOUT SCIENCE IN FICTION (in contrast to the genre of ‘science-fiction’)
• RELAX AND CHAT WITH THE SPEAKERS
• SIGN UP FOR LAB VISITS AT A LATER DATE
• WRITE A SHORT STORY FOR A COMPETITION, THE WINNERS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE SCIENTIST

Format:
1. Introduction: Ann Lingard (Ann Lackie*)

2. ‘A day in the life of ...’
Four short illustrated talks
Ruth Allington; geomorphologist; GWP Consultants, Charlbury, http://www.gwp.uk.com
Dr Nick Brown*, Department of Plant Sciences: ecology of tropical rain-forests
Dr Chris Davis*, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; solar storms and aurorae
Dr Autumn Rowan-Hull*, Nuffield Department of Surgery, JR site; stem cells and diabetes
(* find more information about these scientists on SciTalk)

3. Break and refreshments

4. Putting science into fiction – a few hints’: Ann Lingard

5. Divide into groups, each group to spend 10 minutes with each scientist for an informal chat and to look at objects or images associated with their work.

Remaining time to allow people to collect competition details, sign up for visits, chat ....

---------------------------------------------


THE ‘SUBTLE SCIENCE’ SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2007

The Judges:
Jane Gardam, novelist and short-story writer; winner of many literary Prizes, including the Whitbread Prize (twice), Winifred Holtby Prize, David Higham Award, and others; and short-listed for the Booker Prize for God on the Rocks
Robert Macfarlane, writer, essayist, reviewer, and Fellow in English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, whose book Mountains of the Mind won the Guardian First Book Award.
Ann Lingard, novelist and former scientist; aka Ann Lackie, founder of SciTalk.
Ivan Oransky, Deputy Editor of The Scientist, which features Culture Friday online

Deadline mid-May
Maximum 3000 words
The three winners to be considered for publication in The Scientist (note that the final decision about publication rests with the Editor)

NOTE: The competition is only open to those who attend the event on March 21st, when entry forms and further details will be handed out.



LINKS:
The Scientist http://www.the-scientist.com
SciTalk http://www.scitalk.org.uk
Science Oxford http://www.oxtrust.org.uk
Oxford Literary Festival http://www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk
Ann Lingard (Ann Lackie, SciTalk founder), http://www.annlingard.com

Thanks Anna
I think I might book for this

Naomi R

Good maybe post up a 'review' of it if you do? I think some WW people have used SciTalk before, Dee if I'm not mistaken?

I attended their first event like this, in London, together with another WW member, Tania Hershman.

It was brilliant! We had talks from four cutting edge scientists, and although neither of us was successful in the subsequent comp, one thing we learned was the existence of this pool of scientists who are prepared to talk to authors about their subjects. Anything from sunspots to seaslugs... volcanoes to er... cant think of anything beginning with v.

Anyway... a fabulous and free resource for writers...

to be throughtly recommended, and Anne Lackie was lovely.

vanessa

Anna, I've booked my place and will report back

Naomi R