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True Voyage is Return

Explore this special project that took place at The Exchange for Booktober 2024 below.

  • True Voyage is Return

    7 October - 2 November 2024

    One month. Four words to inspire you. And the limitless power of your imagination. In October 2024, writer Philip Holyman transformed the Exchange into a hub for new writing from Birmingham and the Black Country, with writers of all levels of experience invited to contribute to an anthology of brand-new work. There were plenty of ways to get involved, for writers, readers, or those just curious about the whole process!

Creating work

We were seeking submissions in a wide range of forms for a new anthology, which was launched in January 2025. The theme: True Voyage Is Return. Four words taken from Ursula K. Le Guin’s iconic novel The Dispossessed, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of its publication. How the theme was interpreted and the type of writing produced was entirely up to you, and Philip shared some simple guidelines around length and form to help you along your way.

No qualifications or experience were required: we wanted to hear from you wherever you were in your writing journey, and whatever you like to write - from comics and drama to prose or verse!

Going behind the scenes

For the month of October you could join writers - from poets and playwrights to essayists and graphic novelists - as they produced brand new work in real time, on full view in the cafe. Including writer and project leader Philip Holyman, who embarked on a new 90,000-word novel over the course of just one month!

A programme of talks and bookable 1-2-1 writers’ surgeries delved even further behind the scenes, exploring the writing process from all angles.

Teaser Video

Transcript

This is True Voyage Is Return. But you already know that.

Fifty years ago, in her novel, The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin gifted this powerful thought to the world.

It suggests that life is a journey back to where you started from.

When you get there, you might know a little more than when you began.

But what does it mean to you?

For four weeks this October, The Exchange, the University of Birmingham’s city centre venue, will be transformed into a hub for new writing.

I’m Thomas Glave

I’m Stephen Aryan

I’m Philip Holyman

I’m Lorna French and I’m one of nine professional writers

from poets and playwrights

to essayists and graphic novelists

who’ll be based in this iconic, historic building

taking part in talks and workshops hosting one-to-one writers’ surgeries

and responding to the project theme by producing brand-new pieces of work in a very short space of time.

And we want you to join us.

Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a first-timer, this project is a space for you.

Spend time with us at The Exchange.

Write alongside us, here in the Banking Hall.

Explore the True Voyage Is Return theme in your own way,

And contribute to a growing anthology of work from Birmingham and the Black Country.

One month.

Four words to inspire you.

And the limitless power of your imagination.

This is True Voyage Is Return. But you already know that.

  • Meet our authors

    Philip Holyman's theatre writing has often been presented through Little Earthquake, the company he runs with his husband Gareth Nicholls. In 2019, he branched out into prose with the short story collection To Infinity And Beyond. In 2022, he wrote his first full-length novel, and now, for True Voyage Is Return, he’ll produce his second.

    Catherine O'Flynn is a novelist whose writing has received various awards including a British Book Award & the Costa First Novel Award. Fay Weldon described O’Flynn as “the JG Ballard of Birmingham…finding poetry and meaning where others see merely boredom and dereliction.”

  • Thomas Glave is the author of four books (fiction and creative nonfiction), and has edited an anthology of Caribbean queer writing. He lives in Birmingham most of the year and teaches at SUNY Binghamton in the USA every autumn.

    Charlotte Bailey is a visual storyteller, writer, facilitator and host exploring how we can reimagine our relationships to home, heritage and collective futures through comics, film, essays and workshops. She has published, edited and contributed to a number of graphic essays, anthologies and journals.

  • Stephen Aryan is an award-winning fantasy author. His first novel Battlemage was published in 2015 by Orbit. Since then, he’s published nine additional fantasy novels. The most recent, The Blood Dimmed Tide, is the second instalment in a Persian-inspired historical fantasy trilogy, The Nightingale and the Falcon.

    Shaun Hill is a poet and movement artist mapping post-capitalist ways of being. He is the author of warm blooded things (Nine Arches Press, 2021) and recently completed an Arts Council Developing Your Creative Practice project exploring what improvised movement with living systems can teach us about the ongoing climate crisis.

  • Romalyn Ante is a multi-award-winning Filipino-British poet. She was 16 years old when her mother – a nurse in the NHS – brought the family from Lipa to the UK. Her debut collection Antiemetic for Homesickness was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her second collection AGIMAT is forthcoming in September.

    Lorna French is a two-time Alfred Fagon winner, and has written for theatre and radio. Theatre has been produced by Pentabus, Theatre by the Lake, Jermyn Street Theatre, Octagon Bolton, Eclipse Theatre Company and Birmingham REP. Radio plays for BBC Radio 4 include Rise (Naked Productions) and the co-authored The Last Flag (with Eclipse Theatre).

  • Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many Young Adult novels as ‘Lauren James’, including Last Seen Online, Green Rising, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. They are a RLF Royal Fellow and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3).

Author interviews

We sat down with some of our True Voyage is Return authors to hear about their work, their processes, and their goals for the project. Check out the full interviews on YouTube.

More information

For more information on the project and how to get involved visit philipholyman.com