News & Events

Since Masquerade was published in March 2020, I am very pleased to have gained more recognition with the local community. Since I was approached to take part in a digital Advent Calendar, December 2020, things have developed. My novel has been shared by book groups across the borough and I send out monthly emails to a list of readers, which also appears on my Facebook Author Page.

A variety of people involved in the creative arts across the borough of Lewisham were asked to make a short video about the reality and advantages of their work. The programme has been made available to all Secondary School students across the borough who may be considering similar careers. My video was about what it means to be a writer, the pros and cons, how to develop one’s writing skills and the commitment it takes.

I have sold several copies of my novel at local craft fairs and was pleased to include a reading at Corbfest, at the Archibald Community Library, Arts and Heritage Centre, Catford on 23 July 2022. I was also part of a Chaired discussion alongside other local writers, including short readings and signed book sales at The Catford Literary Festival on 2 October 2022 at The Abbotshall Healthy Lifestyle Centre, Catford. I was very pleased to have been interviewed for an article  in the local newspaper, The Lewisham Ledger a couple of months later, where I had the opportunity to discuss my novel and my life experiences.

A short quote from the article: ‘Since retirement, Anna has had time to work through the many episodes of her eventful life, from her feelings of otherness at that Cornish school, to her long career as a teacher.  … Everyone has a family story and if there’s one person who knows how to jazz up a story, it’s Anna Corbett.’

Taking part in The Catford Literary Festival in October 2022 was a huge success. It was a two-day event and thirty authors took part. I was very pleased to have been on a panel with three others, sharing our books. On October 21st, as part of Black History Month, I was delighted to share an evening event with one other local author, Jody Burton: Black London: History, Art and Culture in over 120 places (Inkspire 2021). We each had the opportunity to share our work, do a presentation and take part in a Q&A session. After having done a similar sessions in other venues reading short excerpts from my novel, I also spent some time talking about the background and history of the story. It was followed by an interesting discussion with audience members regarding issues of the past, how they are reflected on and dealt with today.

BOOK LAUNCH: ‘I Hear a Melody’ will be published on September 7^th. The launch will take place at The Word Bookshop, New Cross, London. There will also be a Zoom launch around the same time, for those unable to attend or would prefer attending on screen. Details will be made available on this website as well as on my Facebook Author Page.

RADIO INTERVIEW: I was delighted to discuss Masquerade with Jaie Miller, the host presenter of ‘Jazz: Standard’ on Colourful Radio. I look forward to being invited again to discuss ‘I Hear a Melody’ and will send times and dates as appropriate.

Keep your eyes and ears open, I look forward to seeing you.

Take care and best wishes, Anna

You can listen to Anna’s one-hour special jazz show hosted by Jeremy Rees by clicking here

Watch this space for more upcoming events soon…

Past events…

Masquerade: Exploring race, identity & belonging

Friday 10th July, 7.30pm

To make up for the fact that COVID-19 scuppered our plans for a real-life book launch back in March, we hosted a Zoom event between Masquerade author Anna Corbett and Dr Jackie Goode, Visiting Fellow at Loughborough University. The event explored some of the themes of race, identity and belonging that are still so relevant today.

About Dr Jackie Goode
Dr Jackie Goode is a sociologist and Visiting Fellow in Qualitative Research in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University. After working for over twenty years on a wide variety of research projects in the areas of health, welfare, higher education, policing and media she is now semi-retired. This has given her the opportunity to turn to writing more personal narratives, covering topics including gender, class, culture, family, and memory. Her most recent publication is ‘Clever Girls’, an edited collection of stories by three generations of women about their experiences of the intersections of gender, class and ethnicity.