Novelists inspire budding authors an annual writers conference in Nottingham.

Aspiring and part-time authors were inspired by well-known novelists at an annual writers conference in Nottingham.

Guests at the University of Nottingham's Portland Building could pick from a number of talks including how to get agents, self-censorship and writing satire.

Organisers from Writing East Midlands said the wealth of talent on show and creative zest in the audience backed up Nottingham's bid for the title of City of Literature.

Among the visitors was Christy Fearn, who in the process of writing her second novel based around the Luddites.

The author of Framed, who is also a member of the Nottingham Writers' Studio, said: "I've been in a really interesting talk about satire. My books are dark, but do have a humorous undertone and I wanted to create more laughs in my next book."

Christy, who's day job is a costume interpreter at Nottingham's crime and punishment museum the Galleries of Justice, has used her historical knowledge as inspiration for her books.

"Framed is based on the Luddite movement and features Lord Byron, who is my hero," said Christy, 45, who lives in central Nottingham and has a tattoo of Newstead Abbey's well-known gentleman lothario. "For authors looking to get published, this conference offers a real chance to share ideas with people in a similar position and get tips from writers who have made the leap into full-time."

Among the key note speakers was veteran novelist, poet and playwright Maureen Duffy, who gave a talk on self-censorship.

She said: "We all self-censor all the time when we decide what our characters say and the writers here now all know they are doing it.

"If we have the right to offend then others have the right to be offended. People know this sub consciously and will tweak what they write accordingly."

As a friend of Alan Sillitoe before he passed away, Maureen backed Nottingham's bid for the City of Literature title.

"There's a great deal going on," she said. "That's what we are celebrating today. I used to baby sit for Alan. He would be proud if the city was given the title."

Stephen Booth, the Laxton-based author of detective series Cooper and Fry, explained how he swapped his life as a local news reporter to become a full-time novelist.

"I had always kept up my writing and knew it was what I wanted to do," he said. "Sometimes you need that fear factor, that belief in themselves to put it all on the page and that's what we are hoping people will take from this conference."

Stephen, who has written 15 novels and is on the board of Writing East Midlands, said the city deserved the City of Literature award.

"Not only does Nottinghamshire have this eclectic history of writers, such as Byron, DH Lawrence and Sillitoe, we have a wealth of young talent and established writers today, which you can see at this conference."