Karen Stevens

Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

About

Karen Stevens has a special interest in the contemporary novel, fiction for children and young adults, and the short story. Her teaching reflects her research interests, and she has published an edited anthology of essays Writing a First Novel: Reflections on the Journey, and an edited anthology of short stories High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories, which won the Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Anthology 2019 and was chosen for the Summer Recess Reading List for Parliamentarians.

She has won several awards for her fiction writing, and her short fiction has been published online and in anthologies and magazines, including Panurge, The Big Issue, Fish publishing, Dirt pie Press, the Chichester Observer, Salt Publishing, Valley Press. She is currently working on a collection of short stories and a novel for children.

Awards

Winner of the Lancaster Short Story Competition
Winner of the Fish Publishing Very Short Story Competition
Twice shortlisted for the Adventures in Fiction scheme
Shortlisted for The Daily Mail Novel Writing Competition 2009, judged by Fay Weldon and Shena McKay.

Professional Teaching

Module Co-ordinator for:

Level 4: Creating Characters (module co-ordinator)
Level 4: Source & Exploration (module co-ordinator)
Level 5: Fiction for Children (module co-ordinator)
Level 5: Prose fiction: the Dynamic of Change (module co-ordinator)
Level 6: Creative writing Undergraduate
Dissertation (module co-ordinator)
MA: The Writing Studio (module co-ordinator)
MA: Launching the Manuscript
MA: Dissertation

She is a member of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) and is a regular attendee at its conferences and events. She is keen to forge strong connections between the university and the publishing industry.

Key Publications

A sample of Publications, Essays and Reviews:

2022: ‘Among the Crows’, Fish Anthology 2022, (ed) Clem Cairns, Fish publishing
2018: High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories, (eds.) Karen Stevens & Jonathan Taylor, Valley Press
2014: Writing a First Novel: Reflections on the Journey, Palgrave Macmillan
2012: ‘Where You’re Heading’, Overheard: stories to Read Aloud, Salt Publishing
2012: Review: ‘New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature: Utopian Transformations’, Gramarye: The journal of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, Issue 1, Spring 2012
2011: ‘Balancing Authority with Imagination’, NAWE Journal, Issue Number 53, Spring 2011
2010: ‘The Visit’, Riptide: Short stories with an undercurrent, Vol 5, Dirt Pie Press
2005: ‘The Visit’, The Chichester Observer Magazine
2005: ‘It is Such a New Thing’, The Art of Love 2005, London.co.uk on-line gallery exhibition of visual artists, writers, poets and musicians.
2004: ‘Perfect Symmetry’, Pulp Net (13 April 2004), British Arts Council funded website for established and new writers.
2004: ‘The Visit’, Spoon face, and Other Stories, Fish Publishing
2001: ‘Space’, Mouth Ogres, Oxmarket Press
1995: ‘Fighting for It’, Water Baby, Panurge Publishing
1995: ‘His Weight’, The Big Issue (July)

Research

Karen gave a keynote lecture at Chichester Festival Theatre on Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories and read with Roddy Doyle at The Lonely Page Conference, Queen’s University Belfast 2008.

She reviewed ‘New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature in Gramarye: The Journal of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy (Spring 2012).

Her edited collection Writing a First Novel: reflections on the journey was published with Palgrave MacMillan in 2013.

Research Output

Articles

Stevens, K. (2015) Writing a First Novel: Author Interview. Everybody's Reviewing.

Stevens, K. (2014) Place and the Elusive Sense of Belonging. Jane Rusbridge.

Stevens, K. (2012) Book Review: New World Orders in Contemporary Children's Literature: Utopian Transformations. Gramarye: The Journal of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, Spring (1). pp. 69-70. ISSN 2050-2915

Stevens, K. (2011) Balancing Authority with Imagination: Reflections on the Challenge of Teaching in Higher Education. Writing in Education, 53. pp. 30-32. ISSN 1361-8539

Stevens, K. (2010) The Visit. Riptide: Short Stories with an Undercurrent, 5.

Book Sections

Stevens, K. and Taylor, J. (2018) Introduction. In: High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories. Valley Press, Scarborough, UK, pp. 9-36. ISBN 9781912436125

Stevens, K. (2018) Sweden. In: High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories. Valley Press, Scarborough, UK, pp. 151-163. ISBN 9781912436125

Stevens, K. (2012) Where You're Heading. In: Overheard: Stories to Read Aloud. Salt, Cromer, UK, pp. 255-261. ISBN 9781907773266

Stevens, K. (2004) The Visit. In: Fish Anthology 2004: Spoonface and Other Stories. Fish Publishing, Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland. ISBN 0954258622

Conference or Workshop Items

Stevens, K. (2018) Creating a Story. In: Writing workshop: Creating a Story, 05 Mar 2019, Bassil Shippam Centre, Tozer Way, Chichester. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. and Taylor, J. (2018) High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories. In: Word Factory #67 – High Spirits: A Round of Drinking Stories, 16 Feb 2019, Waterstones, Piccadilly, London. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. and Taylor, J. (2018) High Spirits: A Round Of Drinking Stories. In: NAWE International Conference 2018, 9-11 Nov 2018, York. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2017) Teaching the Wisdom of Uncertainty. In: Great Writing Conference 2017, 1-2 July 2017, Imperial College, London. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2016) Emotion and Place. In: Chichester Writers' Circle, 07 Mar 2016, Bassil Shippam Centre, Chichester. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. and Taylor, J. (2016) Reflections on the Theoretical Context of co-edited anthology 'Drinking Stories'. In: NAWE International Conference 2016, 11-13 Nov 2016, Stratford Manor, Stratford-upon-Avon. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2016) Picnic in the Park. In: Friends of Queen's Park, 26 June 2016, Brighton. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2015) Digging With Our Pens. In: NAWE International Conference 2015, 13-15 Nov 2015, Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2014) Writing a First Novel. In: Festival of Chichester: Spoken Word, 23 June 2014, Waterstones, Chichester. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2013) The Telling Detail. In: Chichester Writers' Circle, 02 Feb 2014, Bassil Shippam Centre, Chichester. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2013) Character and Setting. In: The Writers' Hub, 04 Sept 2013, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2013) Reading of Short Story 'Where You're Heading'. In: NAWE International Conference 2013, 15-17 Nov 2013, Park Inn, York. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2012) Creating Authentic Characters. In: Chichester Writers' Circle, 07 Feb 2013, Bassil Shippam Centre, Chichester. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2011) Writing a First Novel: an Editor's Reflections. In: 'First Fictions' Festival and Academic Conference, 19-22 Jan 2012, University of Sussex. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2011) First Fictions: Writing a First Novel. In: First Fictions. Festival and Academic Conference, 19-22 Jan 2012, University of Sussex. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2011) The Creative Space: a Time to Write. In: NAWE International Conference 2011, 11-13 Nov 2011, Northampton Marriott Hotel. (Unpublished)

Stevens, K. (2010) Imagination & authority. In: Creative Writing in Education: NAWE Autumn Conference 2010, 12-14 Nov 2010, Cheltenham Park Hotel, Gloucestershire. (Submitted)

Stevens, K. (2009) Creating authentic characters. In: Great Writing, UK Creative Writing Conference, 19-21 Jun 2009, Bangor Univeristy, Wales. (Submitted)