Courttia Newland
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When Courttia Newland published his first novel The Scholar aged 23, he immediately captivated the media as one of the few black British writers who accurately portrayed teenage life in London’s inner cities. The Scholar quickly became a best-seller and is currently being made into a film by Courttia’s own production company Cofe. His second novel Society Within, set on the same fictional Greenside Estate in West London, was published in 2002. Courttia’s third book Snakeskin, is set in the same world, but is a detective novel, which follows the quest to find the killer of a Labour MP’s Daughter.
Courttia has contributed to many short story anthologies including Disco 2000, Afro beat and the Time Out Book of London Short Stories
Along with Kadija George, he edited IC3, a collection of stories and poetry reflecting several generations of black British writing. An acclaimed playwright, his plays include The Far Side, about the murder of a young black man by a white youth, and Mother’s Day, premiered at the Lyric Studio Hammersmith in autumn 2002 and more recently, B is for Black.
Courttia has been writer in residence at the London College of Communication, and run a weekly creative writer’s workshop in Shepherd’s Bush Library, West London.
Courttia visits schools secondary schools and colleges and talks about his experiences as an author and helps inspire young writers.
