̽»¨Ö±²¥

Newnham boasts a rich literary history and has played a key role in nurturing women writers in the best and widest sense.Ìý Newnham has influenced women writers from Virginia Woolf, to Iris Murdoch, Sylvia Plath, AS Byatt, Claire Tomalin, Katharine Whitehorn, Margaret Drabble, Sarah Dunant, Ali Smith, Mary Hoffman and Emma Thompson.

That history will be brought bang up to date with an evening of debate where current leading lights of the literary world ask whether beauty contests such as the Man Booker – recently awarded to White Tiger author Aravind Adiga - have any real value. With Professor Germaine Greer on the panel along with several prize nominees such as Sadie Jones - whose debut novel Outcast was shortlisted for this year’s Orange Prize for Fiction - its likely to be a lively debate.

̽»¨Ö±²¥full panel of speakers is:

Dame Gillian Beer – acclaimed Professor of English Literature and chair of the judges of the Booker Prize in 1997

Professor Germaine Greer, author of the Female Eunuch, Shakespeare’s Wife and Special Supervisor at Newnham

Sadie Jones whose debut novel Outcast was shortlisted this year for the Orange Prize

Lindsay Duguid, Fiction Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and Booker Prize judge in 2005

Rebecca Stott, Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of East Anglia whose first novel Ghostwalk was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Book award

If you’d like to attend what promises to be a lively and provocative evening at Newnham College at 6pm on 14 November,Ìýplease e-mail dmm36@cam.ac.uk or ab732@cam.ac.uk to make a reservation. Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Ìý