PETER KALU CV
Pete Kalu: story weaver, storyteller, novelist, poet, mentor, workshop facilitator…director, event manager… curious, eclectic, committed to spreading wonder, curiosity…. hugging doubt…equality….compassion…collaboration… working to develop artists and staff… the importance of kindness to bring out the best….giving feedback that encourages ……..strengths…… Manchester museum video poet… Whitworth Art gallery researcher-poet… eight Manchester Museums bicentenary lof the abolition of the trade in slaves researcher/lead artist… joyously working with other artists …open to influence from all other art forms and artists…
Awards, Publications, Panels, Papers:
PhD Creative Writing (Lancaster University) 2019
Writer in residence University of West Indies (Trinidad campus) 2019
Colonial Countryside Commission 2018
Elected Fellow, Royal Society for the Arts (FRSA) 2013
Short stories:
‘Richard Watt the First, Merchantt’, forthcoming Peepal Tree 2021
‘The Keeper of Books’ in Seaside Special, ed. Jenn Ashworth, bluemoose 2017
‘Sana the Referee’ in A Country to call home, ed. Lucy Popescu unbound 2017
‘Getting Home’ in Closure anthology ed Jacob Ross, Peepal Tree 2015
‘The Making of a Revolutionary’ in Moss Side Stories, Crocus 2012
Creative non-fiction:
‘Sewers’ ‘bus stops’ ‘launderettes’ ‘car washes’ in Manchester: Something rich and strange, ed.s Paul Dobraszczyk and Sarah Butler; Manchester University Press 2021
Series of four podcasts including ‘Five Blows to the Head’, Royal Literary Fund 2021
Poems:
Bluebird, Colonial Countryside project-related poem-song 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zy2EVuETRc
How You Wear Your Hat, poem published in The Hat You Wear, Comma Press 2012
Old Radicals poem, published in Out of Bounds (anthology) Bloodaxe, 2012
Manchester, Poem, published as wall poster, by Urbis Museum, Manchester 2010
No Trace monologues for Lychee Lounge, Green Room Manchester October 2003
Rekindled monologues for Manchester Museum June 2003
Research Experience:
Commissioned writer: Colonial Countryside research project University of Leicester 2018. Short story publication ‘Richard Watt the First, Merchantt’, forthcoming Peepal Tree 2019. Related music video output here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zy2EVuETRc
Commissioned writer: Affective Digital Histories, University of Leicester 2015
Researcher & Convenor: Black Writers’ Conference, Manchester, UK 2013, 2012, 2007, 2004
Advisory Group: AHRC funded, Moving Manchester/Mediating Marginalities project (How the experience of migration has informed the work of writers from 1960 to the present) 2006-2010 http://www.transculturalwriting.com/movingmanchester/team.htm
Panellist: Writing British Asian Cities, Leeds University 2006
Presentations, panels, papers and articles:
‘”Strangers at the gate”: The short story and borders.’ Forthcoming chapter in Borders and Border Crossings in the Contemporary British Short Story, Palgrave McMillan 2019
‘Black characters in British crime fiction’, paper presented at Pescara Crime Conference, 2019
‘Mind The Gap: Celebrating Authentic Inclusion’, panel at London Book Fair 2018
‘Decolonising Children’s Literature’, panel at Manchester University 2018
‘Accuracy, History and Literary Devices in the creation of Slave Narratives: A comparative study’, panel at Goldsmiths College, London, 2018
Speaking Volumes Black British Writers panel in Lisbon, Portugal and Seville, Spain 2017
Article on Seville’s connections with slave trade published (in Spanish) Afribuku 2017
http://www.africafundacion.org/spip.php?article29203
Judge: Saif Ghobash / Banipal Arabic creative writing in translation prize 2018
https://www.societyofauthors.org/tp2018
Innominate science fiction Festival Panelist, Eastercon Birmingham 2017
‘The Audacity of Humanity’, Writing for Liberty, paper presented at Cape Town University 2017
‘Diversity in Publishing’, panel at London Book Fair 2016
Visiting Speaker, American University of Beirut (Editing and storytelling) 2012
Visiting Speaker, Hong Kong University ‘Black British Literature: A Literary Ghetto?’: Roundtable discussion with Dr Virinder Kalra & Dr Rajeev Balasubramayan 2011
Black British Perspectives RoundTable, Leeds University, 2011
Convenor for UK Black writers’ research visit to Calabash International Literature Festival, Jamaica 2006
Visual Arts & Film Reviews
Ekua Banuyu
http://www.peterkalu.com/uncategorized/ekua-bayunu-rebirth-exhibition-500-word-review-by-pete-kalu/
Christopher Ankeli
Benji Reid
Moonlight
http://www.peterkalu.com/blog/moonlight-notes-on-the-film/
Akinyemi Oludele
http://www.peterkalu.com/category/blog/page/2/
Storytelling:
Storytelling tour, Beirut, Lebanon (British Council) 2012
Storytelling Event, Hong Kong (British Council) 2011
Storytelling tour, Pakistan, 2007
Commissioned by BBC to provide advice on storytelling 2007:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/writing/advice_kalu.shtml
Over 200 storytelling bookings in UK from 2005 to date
Plays:
Winner, BBC-Contact Theatre Dangerous Comedy Competition 2003
Winner, Bradford International Short Play 2002
Liverpool Black Film Festival for No Trace – ‘Best Pitch’ Award 2002
BBC Young Playwrights Festival Award Winner 1991
Novels:
Zombie XI (YA) HopeRoad 2016
Being Me (YA) HopeRoad 2015
The Silent Striker (YA) HopeRoad 2015
Little Jack Horner (thriller) Suitcase 2007
Yard Dogs ( thriller) The X Press , October 2001
Diary of a househusband (comedy) The X Press 1998
Black Star Rising (sci-fi) The X Press June 1998
Professor X ( thriller) The X Press , October 1995.
Lick Shot (thriller) X Press 1993
Press Coverage & Reviews:
Jam Session Magazine: Reflections on Seville and black history, 2018:
http://www.jamsessionmagazine.com/issue/read/27269#articles
Creative Futures: narrative influences on futures thinking, 2017:
Megaphone article on Voice and Publishing, 2016:
MediaDiversified article on black writers conferences, 2015: https://mediadiversified.org/2015/06/21/peter-kalu/
The Guardian: on writing multicultural characters, 2015:
Black British Perspectives RoundTable, Leeds University, 2011: http://vimeo.com/45721486
Coverage of The Silent Striker novel: http://www.duniamagazine.com/2015/08/pete-kalu-tells-the-story-of-a-football-genius-in-new-book-silent-striker/
BBC: Delivering advice for storytellers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/writing/advice_kalu.shtml
Yush Black Lifestyle Magazine: General interview: http://yush.com/peter-kalu-yours-eclectically.htm
Storytelling Review by blogger: Manchester Literature Festival: (‘Peter Kalu – a genius of storytelling and verse’!)http://freshscribble.blogspot.co.uk/
Storytelling Review: Lancashire County Council 2004http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/news/press_releases/2004/10/12/0001.asp
Storytelling Review: Time To Read 2004http://www.time-to-read.co.uk/Feature/2004/december.asp
Bio (150 words)
Peter Kalu writes poetry, songs, film scripts, fiction and plays. He cut his teeth as a member of the Moss Side Write black writers workshop and has had eight novels, two film scripts and three theatre plays produced to date. He has a PhD in Creative Writing, a first degree in Law, and further qualifications in coding and marketing. For four years he ran a Carnival Band called Moko Jumbi (Ghosts of the Gods) which took to the streets at Manchester Carnival on three feet high stilts. He continues to practice tightrope walking and hat juggling.