5 minutes with ... Matt Elphick

What's your favourite Uni memory?

I actually studied on the Creative Writing programme back in the mists of time when it was in its infancy. Being surrounded by other people that loved books and words and made up things was truly liberating. There were always new pieces of fiction (or poems, or scripts) to read and an eager queue of people willing to give your writing an honest critique. I had the best time studying on the degree which is one of the main reasons that I never left.

What do you write?

I’m fascinated by myths and folklore and so a lot of the fiction I write is directly inspired by that. I like my stories to be dark and I love taking familiar narratives and twisting them until they’re something monstrous, like a reflection in a fun-house mirror.

What's your favourite book?

Picking a single book is far too difficult, but my favourite series is The Dark Tower by Stephen King.

Best thing about The University of Winchester

The people. Winchester is a wonderful city and the campus is beautiful but it’s the people that give the place a soul. It’s impossible to walk anywhere on campus without bumping into at least one person to stop and say hello to.

Guilty Pleasure

I have a real soft-spot for documentaries about supernatural topics. Bigfoot, ghosts, aliens, vampires, I love them all. While I might not believe in these things myself I’m fascinated by them and intrigued by the people that do.

 

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