Cafe Writers with George Szirtes and Elspeth Latimer
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This event will be held at the Maddermarket in Norwich [Entrance St John’s Alley NR2 1DR]. Doors will be open at 7pm for a 7.30 pm start. We are suggesting a donation of minimum £3 for those who attend. The venue includes a bar. It will be possible to sign up for an Open Mic slot on the door.
George Szirtes’s twelfth book of poems, Reel (2004) won the T S Eliot Prize for which he has been twice shortlisted since. His latest is Fresh Out of the Sky. (2021). A booklet titled Inventing Joy was published by Black Spring in 2022. His memoir The Photographer at Sixteen (2019) was awarded the James Tait Black Prize in 2020. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a co-winner of the International Booker translator’s prize and for the same books, his author László Krasznahorkai received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2025. His international prizes include the Déry Prize in Hungary, the People and Poetry Prize in China, and the Bess Hokin Prize in the USA. He has also written prize-winning books for children, as well as for radio, stage, and texts for music. In 2025, he received The King’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Elspeth Latimer lives with her family in the Brecks, at the heart of East Anglia. The subtle beauty of this landscape inspired her to write The Lost Detective, which is published by Story Machine, a Norfolk-based independent publisher. It was shortlisted for the 2026 Crime Writers Association ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger award, and also shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award. A story of loss and redemption, The Lost Detective has been described as ‘A superb crime debut’ (Lee Child), ‘Luminous, haunting, humane’ (Ashley Hickson-Lovence), and ‘A sophisticated, multi-layered mystery’ (Harriet Tyce). Elspeth is originally from Edinburgh, where she ran an architecture practice, before her passion for books prompted a career change. She has a Prose Fiction MA along with a PhD on crime series, from the University of East Anglia. As well as being an author, Elspeth is a creative writing tutor and researcher, and her guide to crime series, Writing the Detectives, is published by Cambridge University Press.
George Szirtes’s twelfth book of poems, Reel (2004) won the T S Eliot Prize for which he has been twice shortlisted since. His latest is Fresh Out of the Sky. (2021). A booklet titled Inventing Joy was published by Black Spring in 2022. His memoir The Photographer at Sixteen (2019) was awarded the James Tait Black Prize in 2020. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a co-winner of the International Booker translator’s prize and for the same books, his author László Krasznahorkai received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2025. His international prizes include the Déry Prize in Hungary, the People and Poetry Prize in China, and the Bess Hokin Prize in the USA. He has also written prize-winning books for children, as well as for radio, stage, and texts for music. In 2025, he received The King’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Elspeth Latimer lives with her family in the Brecks, at the heart of East Anglia. The subtle beauty of this landscape inspired her to write The Lost Detective, which is published by Story Machine, a Norfolk-based independent publisher. It was shortlisted for the 2026 Crime Writers Association ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger award, and also shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award. A story of loss and redemption, The Lost Detective has been described as ‘A superb crime debut’ (Lee Child), ‘Luminous, haunting, humane’ (Ashley Hickson-Lovence), and ‘A sophisticated, multi-layered mystery’ (Harriet Tyce). Elspeth is originally from Edinburgh, where she ran an architecture practice, before her passion for books prompted a career change. She has a Prose Fiction MA along with a PhD on crime series, from the University of East Anglia. As well as being an author, Elspeth is a creative writing tutor and researcher, and her guide to crime series, Writing the Detectives, is published by Cambridge University Press.
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Where is it happening?
Maddermarket Theatre, Saint John’s Alley,Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherCafé Writers
