From Roehampton’s student to published writer
Being a young creative writer is never easy, especially if you want to write about sensitive topics like sex. But, sometimes, you just need to stand out from the crowd and do what you were born to do as Brad Cohen is doing.
Brad is a talented writer and poet who studies creative writing at Roehampton. He predominantly writes about erotica, mainly from an LGBTQ+ angle. But, once you meet him and have the chance to chat with him, you will realise that there is much more about Brad to discover.
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In his writing, every piece needs to have a purpose, a message. “I like to talk about things that explore the emotional intricacies of sex”, Brad said. “My main message is that sex is never just sex. There is always some kind of subtext, some kind of journey that you are in the middle of your way or you are just finishing and with literature and writing there is a great opportunity to highlight those transitional periods that are really intricate”.
Brad has always been an avid and passionate reader but he has found great opportunities for his career at Roehampton. “Roehampton has a really great creative writing programme with its own printing press, the Fincham Press, and I knew before I came here that I wanted to apply for it in my first year. I did that and they published me”, Brad said.
“The application and the editing process that followed confirm to me that it was definitely what I wanted to do — be an author. I’ve never been so proud of myself and pleased with something that I’ve created, I’ve never felt that before”, Brad continued. His first prose poem is called ‘Church’ (2016).
‘Church’ explores the post homoerotic gay sex scene using Catholic language and investigate the feeling of conflict experienced by all those who are homosexual and Catholic. Brad underlined how his tutors have helped and inspiring him during the university years. Among them, Leone Ross and Judith Bryan, senior lecturers of the Department of English and Creative Writing at Roehampton, have been fundamental during the process of writing of ‘Church’.
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“My editor, Leone Ross, is also an erotica writer”, Brad explained. “She recognised it was a very brave thing to do. She has taught me so much in a short amount of time outside of the lecture room to do with the industry that I don’t think I would have learnt”.
“Then, there is Judith Bryan who worked with me to develop the ideas behind ‘Church’. She has always been incredibly supportive and she is just as thrilled as I am to see it coming into the film industry”. In fact, Brad has collected his poetries in ‘Church and other dirty words’ which will become a short movie in October 2017.
Brad is also working on an online erotica series called “Cigarette” updated every two weeks and available on his website. This talented author has found his path also because of Roehampton’s Fincham Press, labs and workshop. His main shout to Roehampton’s students is to never miss a chance: you will never know what the future holds!
