In this session, historian and journalist James Owen will look at ways of approaching different types of non-fiction writing. Do you want to research or write your family’s story? Or your own? Are you a budding biographer or diarist? Find out how to begin and how to get the most out of the new resources available to would-be writers.

James Owen is an author and journalist. His first book, A Serpent in Eden (Little, Brown, 2005), told the story of a famous unsolved murder committed in the Bahamas during the wartime governorship of the Duke of Windsor. It was nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger and adapted for television by Channel 4. Since then, he has written: Nuremberg: Evil on Trial (Headline, 2006), a re-examination of the cases conducted against the leading Nazis which drew on his own training as a barrister; Danger UXB (Little, Brown, 2010), a history of the early days of bomb disposal; and Commando (Little, Brown, 2012). In 2004, with Guy Walters, he published an anthology of writing about the Second World War, The Voice of War (Viking/ Penguin). James previously worked for the Daily Telegraph, mainly as a writer of obituaries, and continues to contribute articles and book reviews regularly to the national press. He is also a trustee of the London Library. Although based in London, he has spent much time in Rome and Venice and is fluent in Italian.

This is the final session of three workshops at the Festival, it follows Me, but not Me: using your life as a springboard for fiction with Jonathan Gibbs at 10am and What Are You Waiting For? With Shelley Silas at 11am.

This event forms part of LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2014, taking place from Monday 24 February - Saturday 1 March 2014, with the theme 'Reflections'.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSElitfest

Slides

A copy of James Owen's PowerPoint presentation is available to download:

Based on a True Story (pdf)

Podcast

A podcast of this event is available to download from Based on a True Story with James Owen

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

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CPD

This event has been certified for CPD purposes by the CPD Certification Service. Self-Assessment Record forms will be made available for delegates wishing to record further learning and knowledge enhancement for Continuing Personal and Professional Development (CPD) purposes. For delegates who wish to obtain a CPD Certificate of Attendance, it is the responsibility of delegates to register their details with a LSE steward at the end of the event and as of 1 September 2014 a certificate will be sent within 28 days of the date of the event attended by the CPD Certification Service. If a delegate fails to register their details at the event, it will not prove possible to issue a certificate. (For queries relating to CPD Certificates of attendance after a request please phone 0208 840 4383 or email info@cpduk.co.uk).

LSE Literary Festival 2014