5 minutes with ... James D. Irwin
What are you up to these days?
For the last two years I’ve been living in Poland, working as an English teacher. I’m in the city where WWII more or less started.
Favourite Uni memory
Seeing a play I wrote performed on stage at the Theatre Royal, and the night that followed. Nearly all of my fondest memories of university come from my involvement with student theatre.
Advice for new students
If you’re a CW student, take a few risks when choosing your modules. You have the opportunity to try things you haven’t tried before, and if you’re lucky you’ll find a new talent, or a new passion. At the very least, you’ll learn something about yourself, or about writing that you didn’t before. (But play it safe for the dissertation. Play to your strengths. It will make life marginally less stressful.) Also, get involved with extracurricular stuff --- student radio, theatre, magazine… It will provide a lot of good memories, and a lot of ‘transferable skills’ to talk about at job interviews. It will make your CV stand out.
Best thing about UoW
The close proximity to a lot of good pubs (and a few bad ones). Or maybe the lecturers. I still hear some of them in my head when I write. It’s terrifying.
Guilty pleasure
I would have said the Texas BBQ burger with fries and milkshake from the Texas Grill, but someone told me it closed down. So I’ll go with a pitcher of Woo Woo from ‘Spoons. Nectar of the gods.
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