“Daffodilly Dreams” is an exclusive short story, inspired by the theme of sleep, written and read by Salena Godden. The story is introduced by neuroscientist Dr Erik Hoel.
Listen to it here.
With Durham Book Festival, we have commissioned leading British writers Salena Godden, Jenn Ashworth and Andrew McMillan to each write and record an exclusive short story inspired by the theme of sleep. These stories will be released as a podcast series and we will launch the first in our series – an exclusive short story from Salena Godden – at this event. Find out more about “Sleep Stories” here.
This roundtable discussion will delve into the science and culture of sleep. Dr Diletta De Cristofaro is joined by Salena Godden whose debut novel, Mrs Death Misses Death is shortlisted for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize, Jason Ellis, Professor in Psychology and the Director of the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research, and Dr Erik Hoel, a neuroscientist and author of The Revelations.
The speakers will discuss the rewards and challenges of engaging with sleep in creative writing, sleep and sleep disorders in our hyperconnected and restless world, a theory of the neural purpose of dreaming that has striking resonances with the purposes of fiction, and much more. Further information here.
Watch a video collecting highlights of the conversation:
Nel talk “Il sonno è in crisi? Che cosa ci dice la cultura contemporanea” Diletta De Cristofaro (PhD), esplorerà come il sonno è rappresentato nella cultura contemporanea, tra letteratura, film, saggistica, e apps, e discuterà, attraverso questi riferimenti culturali, la cosiddetta crisi del sonno, cioè, l’idea che nella società contemporanea non dormiamo abbastanza.
You can now watch the recording:
Or, if you prefer, the talk is also available as podcast.
We are delighted to be working with three leading British writers on this series of podcasts inspired by the theme of sleep. Durham Book Festival, Northumbria University, and Politecnico di Milano (Italy) have co-commissioned exclusive short stories from poet and author, Salena Godden whose debut novel, Mrs Death Misses Death is shortlisted for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize, award-winning poet Andrew McMillan whose latest collection is pandemonium and acclaimed novelist Jenn Ashworth, whose latest novel is Ghosted.
Each podcast will be introduced by Dr Diletta De Cristofaro, Professor Jason Ellis and Dr Erik Hoel, who will explore the science and culture of sleep. Find out more at their roundtable event on Saturday 9 October. Tickets here.
The first podcast will be released on Saturday 9 October and subsequent episodes will be released on Saturday 16 and Saturday 23 October.
All episodes are now available to listen to here.
In this case study for Being Human Festival, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities, Dr Diletta De Cristofaro looks back on Forty Winks Café, held in November 2020 as part of the Festival. Read Diletta’s insights into organising a Being Human Café and her advice on making online events welcoming and participatory here.
You can watch the recording of Forty Winks Café here.
On 7-8 July 2021, Prof Jason Ellis and Dr Diletta De Cristofaro will be speaking at “Making Sleep: New Insights for a New Public Health?“, an online workshop at IAS, University of Surrey.
The workshop will bring together scholars and practitioners to debate and discuss how we might move beyond traditional confines and work towards a new national sleep strategy.
Check out the programme here.
A report and a short video of the event is now available here.
The lecture, “Are We in a Sleep Crisis? Perspectives from Contemporary Culture”, explored representations of sleep in contemporary culture and the so-called sleep crisis, namely the idea that contemporary society is sleep-deprived.
The Lit&Phil is Newcastle’s literary and philosophical society. Find out more here.
You can now catch up with the recorded event:
The project was featured in “Sleep Tight”, an article by Kelly Rose Bradford in Costco Connection magazine, in the January/February 2021 issue. Read it here.
In this post Diletta De Cristofaro introduces her Wellcome Trust project ‘Writing the Sleep Crisis’ and discusses sleep deprivation and speculative fiction that imagines the future end of sleep. The post also looks back on Forty Winks Café, the project’s inaugural event at Being Human Festival 2020, the UK’s only national festival of the humanities.
Read the full post in The Polyphony.
Picture credit: Insomnia. Stephen Magrath. CC0 1.0 Universal
On 9th December 2020, Dr Diletta De Cristofaro will be giving a talk at Northumbria University’s Institute of Humanities titled “The Sleep Crisis in Contemporary Writings”.