Imogen Hermes Gowar is an author with a particular interest in history. Her first novel, the Sunday Times bestseller The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, was a finalist for the MsLexia First Novel Award and the Deborah Rogers Prize; shortlisted for the Women's Prize For Fiction and the Sunday Times PFD Young Writer of the Year Award; and longlisted for the Desmond Elliot Prize. It won a Betty Trask Award. Her short fiction has been included in the Virago collection HAG: Forgotten Folk Tales Retold, and the bestselling The Haunting Season. She is also the author of Eleanor, an augmented reality walking tour of medieval Norwich.

Annie Garthwaite turned to fiction after a 30-year international business career, fulfilling her lifelong ambition to write an account of Cecily Neville, matriarch of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses and mother of Edward IV and Richard III. Her obsession with Cecily and her family began in school and never left her. Setting off in the world of work, she promised herself that, at age 55, she would give up the day job and write. She did just that, completing her novel while studying for a creative writing MA at the University of Warwick. CECILY is her debut novel and, even before its publication, was named a 'top pick' by The Times and Sunday Times.

Listen to Dr Bilton's podcast here where he discusses new forms of collaboration, the rush to digital and the threat to artists. Take a look at his video titled What does it mean to be ‘productive’ at work.

J.S. Loveard, one of the Literary Practice PhDs from the Warwick Writing Programme, has collaborated with Birmingham-based experimental vocal ensemble Via Nova on their recording project Where the Marsh Plants Grow. He contributes a text for a brand new piece “Rogation” which through the medieval holy festival of Rogationtide meditates on the past, boundaries, and violence. Through improvisation, the piece was devised by Via Nova with guidance by their musical director, Daniel Galbreath and J.S. Loveard. It sits proudly alongside works by contemporary composers Kerry Andrew, Emily Doolittle, Percy Pursglove, and Olly Chalk in an album that explores ‘the many ways through which we relate to the earth: through science and agriculture, through metaphor and memory, through our very bodies’.

 Where the Marsh Plants Grow was a recording project funded by Arts Council England, and as of Friday 15th May, is available for CD and download on the Focused Silence record label: https://www.focusedsilence.com/product/via-nova-where-the-marsh-plants-grow/

Watch this episode on filmmakers, featuring term two-speaker Catherine Bray

Meet the Family, voiced by Kathy Burke (Nil by Mouth, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), puts cinematic families on the analyst's couch for a deep dive into what makes some of the most dysfunctional dynasties in cinema tick.

If you're looking for a break from your assignments, light boredom relief, or a way to keep your family occupied, you're in the right place!

Each week of term we'll be posting a challenge for you to attempt over the weekend - please do share your creations with us and we'll post them on the Student Opportunity Instagram page for others to marvel at too!