Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing; Kukkonen (Bloomsbury, 2026)

Join the Narrative and Cognition Lab for a special book launch celebrating the publication of Karin Kukkonen's Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing. In this new book, Kukkonen explores creativity not as the expression of a fixed inner capacity, but as something that emerges through the open-ended, contingent processes of literary writing. What happens when we think of literary creativity as a dynamic interaction between minds, materials, environments, and possibilities?

Karin Kukkonen, author and member of the Narrative and Cognition Lab, will be in conversation with Mike Wheeler, Philosopher of Cognitive Science and fellow lab member. Bringing literary theory and cognitive science into dialogue, the conversation will explore what literary writing can tell us about creativity, cognition, imagination, and the conditions under which new affordances emerge.

The event will take place from 4.00–5.45pm in a hybrid format, bringing together participants in the room and online. Following the conversation, there will be extensive time for Q&A, offering an opportunity to engage directly with Karin and Mike and to pursue questions arising from the discussion.

Whether you work in literary studies, philosophy, cognitive science, or simply have an interest in how minds create, this event offers an opportunity to think across disciplinary boundaries about one of the most intriguing features of human cognition: our capacity to make something new out of probabilities, evolving plans, and emerging contingencies.

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This hybrid event is free to attend. The virtual link will be shared on the day.

If you have any accessibility requirements, please get in touch with us at imh.events@durham.ac.uk.

This book launch is hosted by the Narrative & Cognition Lab of the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities.