here - New Writing North

Transcription

here - New Writing North
Autumn
Winter
2012
Books, awards, theatre,
events and festivals
2 WELCOME
BOOK LAUNCHES
© Jonny Ring
Welcome to our autumn programme
where you can see the wide range
of projects we are producing
this season and get a preview of
some of the fantastic events that
we are hosting across the North
East and greater North area.
We have three major projects
this autumn: a stunning Durham
Book Festival, packed full of new
commissions from leading writers
and visits to the city from an
exceptional line-up of authors
and speakers; the launch of Read
Regional, which this year expands to
libraries, venues and festivals across
Yorkshire and Humberside as well
as the North East to promote new
books by authors from those regions;
and the exciting launch of the
refreshed Northern Writers’ Awards,
which from this autumn onwards
are open to writers from across the
whole of the north of England.
So whether you are a writer or a
reader, there are lots of things to
enjoy as autumn rolls in. And if
you’re interested in finding out about
more events or are a writer looking
for opportunities in the region, be
sure to sign up to our mailing list
at www.newwritingnorth.com or
follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Lee Child: A Wanted Man book launch
followed by screening of Se7en
Wednesday 5 September, 7.30pm
(film screening at 9pm):
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
Best-selling crime novelist Lee Child talks
to Shortlist magazine editorial director Phil
Hilton about his new book, A Wanted Man,
the 17th novel in his hugely popular series
featuring former military cop Jack Reacher.
Lee will be discussing his long career, and
the character who has made him such
a star in the crime genre. Jack Reacher,
the film starring Tom Cruise in the lead
role, is released in December in the UK.
Lee will also introduce a special
screening of his favourite film, Se7en.
Tickets: £10 for event and screening
from www.tynesidecinema.co.uk and
0845 217 9909.
Claire Malcolm
Chief Executive, New Writing North
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
3
© Charles Bell
Stephanie Butland: Thrive:
The Bah! Guide to Wellness
After Cancer book launch
Thursday 13 September, 6.30pm:
Waterstones, Newcastle
Stephanie Butland was diagnosed with
breast cancer in October 2008. Since
then she’s had surgery, chemotherapy,
radiotherapy, and drug treatment, and
now she’s thriving. Following on from
her first book, How I Said Bah! to Cancer,
Thrive uses a blend of storytelling, practical
advice, humour, thinking techniques
and strategies to help those who have
had cancer to get from survival to a
place where they are truly thriving.
Stephanie will read from the book,
take questions from the audience,
and talk about her writing experience.
Free event, no booking required.
Wine and nibbles provided.
Michael Chaplin: Tyne View
book launch
Tuesday 18 September, 6pm-8pm:
Riverside Room, BALTIC, Gateshead
In July 2011, four Tynesiders – writer
Michael Chaplin, illustrator and painter
Birtley Aris, photographer Charles Bell and
poet Christy Ducker – took a riverside walk
up and down the tidal length of the Tyne
from South Shields Pier to Tynemouth
Pier via Wylam Bridge. Tyne View is the
result. This richly illustrated book is a
vivid, funny and often moving account
of what they saw and heard on their
ten-day journey. Part social history, part
snapshot of a river and its communities
at a turning point in its long history, the
book’s narrative also tells the stories
of countless Tynesiders, ‘ordinary’ and
extraordinary, with the tantalising aim of
catching the soul of this big northern river.
This event is invite-only and only a
limited number of tickets are available.
If you’d like to attend, please contact
[email protected].
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
4 BOOK LAUNCHES
© Alexander James
Harry Pearson: Housekeepers, Shortlegs
& Flemish String book launch
Wednesday 12 September, 4pm: Haltwhistle Library
Wednesday 12 September, 7pm: Bedlington Library
Thursday 13 September, 7pm: Wooler Library
Housekeepers, Shortlegs & Flemish String, written
by Harry Pearson and with photographs by Julian
Germain, looks at three very different grassroots
village sports clubs from across Northumberland:
The Wallace Arms Quoits Club from Featherstone,
near Haltwhistle; Bomarsund Cricket Club from East
Northumberland; and The Kirknewton Archers, who
are based close to the Scottish border near Wooler.
As well as tackling such esoteric matters as where to
find the proper clay for a quoits pit and why one of
the North East’s pit villages was named after a Baltic
island, the book also looks at the important role sport
plays in providing social cohesion in villages that
have been hard hit by closures to businesses, schools,
pubs and other focal points of community activity.
Free events, no booking required.
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
North Tyneside
Summer Reads:
The Murder Wall
by Mari Hannah
Thursday 4 October, 6.30pm:
Grand Hotel, Tynemouth
Throughout the summer,
book lovers in North
Tyneside have been reading
The Murder Wall by Mari
Hannah. You can buy a
copy of the novel for the
special price of £4 from
libraries in Tynemouth,
Whitley Bay, North Shields
and Wallsend from July
through to September. To
celebrate the finale of the
project, Mari will be speaking
about the book and taking
questions from readers.
Tickets: £3 from
North Shields Library
on 0191 643 5270.
/newwritingnorth
READING
5
© Alastair Smith
© Steve Pyke
BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival
Friday 2 - Sunday 4 November:
The Sage Gateshead
BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival returns
to The Sage Gateshead for a weekend
of ideas, debates, high-profile interviews,
music and drama. This year’s festival
theme is ‘Them and Us’ and speakers
include Mary Robinson, former UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights and
President of Ireland, Billy Elliot writer
Lee Hall, Israeli thinker Amos Oz, and
Canadian intellectual Michael Ignatieff.
New Writing North is co-hosting two
Books at Breakfast events. On Saturday
3 November, Irish novelist Colm Tóibín
discusses his writing, including his
Costa Award-winning novel Brooklyn,
and on Sunday 4 November, Philippa
Gregory talks about her best-selling
historical fiction, including The Other
Boleyn Girl and The White Queen.
Book group summit with Café Culture:
Twelve Minutes of Love:
A Tango Story by Kapka Kassabova
Monday 3 December, 6.30pm:
Dance City café, Newcastle
Join Kapka Kassabova and the New
Writing North book groups for an
evening of discussion, readings, and a
bit of tango. Kapka is a poet, travel writer
and novelist, and was born and raised
in Bulgaria in the 1970s. She has lived
in New Zealand, the UK and Germany
and is now settled in Scotland.
Kapka will be in conversation with
Caroline Beck about Twelve Minutes of
Love, followed by a tango demonstration
by students at Dance City.
Free event, no booking required.
For a full programme, see
www.bbc.co.uk/freethinking.
All events are free but must be
booked at www.thesagegateshead.org
or 0191 443 4661.
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
6 THEATRE
Blue Boy
A new play by Margaret Wilkinson
“I’m not here to spook you, mister –
honest. All I wanted was a place to
sleep where it’s warm and safe.”
In an office late at night, Reagan discovers
that the past can indeed come back to
haunt you, even if you’ve shredded the
evidence. When a boy arrives in the small
hours, it’s not clear if his business is refuge
or revenge. In this tense contemporary
thriller, no one may be who they seem.
Margaret Wilkinson’s previous work for
theatre includes the acclaimed Queen
Bee (North East Theatre Consortium) and
The Tiger’s Bride (Northern Stage). Her
work for radio includes Can You Hear Me?
(Radio 4), Writing the Century (Radio 4) and
Passover (Radio 4). She is a senior lecturer
in creative writing at Newcastle University.
Directed by Tess Denman-Cleaver,
and produced by New Writing North
in co-production with Northern Stage,
Darlington Civic Theatre, Durham
Book Festival and the Customs
House, South Shields. Supported by
the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Tour dates
Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne:
24, 25, 26 & 27 October, 8pm
Post-show discussion with cast and
director on 25 October.
Tickets: £14.50/£12 (concs) from
www.northernstage.co.uk and
0191 230 5151
Durham Town Hall as part of Durham Book
Festival: 30 October, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Tickets: £12/£10 (concs & Friends of
the Festival), £8 for under 16s from
www.galadurham.co.uk and 0191 332 4041
Darlington Civic Theatre at Central Hall,
Dolphin Centre: 3 & 4 November, 7.30pm
Tickets: £11 (discounts available for
concs) from www.darlingtonarts.co.uk
and 01325 486 555
Customs House, South Shields:
5 & 6 November, 8pm
Tickets: £12/£10 (concs) from
www.customshouse.co.uk and
0191 454 1234
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
7
Indiana Jones and the Extra Chair
Saturday 3 November, 1pm & 6pm: Live Theatre, Newcastle
Presented by Simon Mole
Every family dinner needs a hero…
Relating to your relations isn’t always
easy, and it’s often on those rare
occasions when everyone sits down to
eat together that things really kick off.
Simon Mole’s groundbreaking one-man
show is a sensory explosion that combines
spoken word theatre, riotous adventure,
laughs a-plenty and tasty culinary delights.
Having collaborated with a group of
writers from New Writing North’s Cuckoo
Young Writers’ programme, Simon and
site-specific theatre director Peader
Kirk take spoken word performance
in an exciting new direction.
The young writers will serve food with
poetic memories and perform their
own original family-themed writing as
they host guests at this unique event.
Presented as part of Juice:
NewcastleGateshead’s award-winning
festival for children and young people.
Presented by Live Theatre, New
Writing North and Apples and Snakes.
Originally commissioned by Apples
and Snakes and The Albany.
Tickets: £8/£6 (concs), £20 family
ticket (2 adults and 2 children) from
www.live.org.uk or 0191 232 1232
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
8 DURHAM BOOK FESTIVAL
© Lee Callaghan
Durham Book Festival:
13-30 October 2012
Durham Book Festival returns for another
edition this October. Produced by New
Writing North with Durham County
Council and Durham University, the festival
promotes events across County Durham
and at iconic venues in Durham city.
From poetry to prose and from history to
politics, the festival programme includes
events on topics ranging from nature and
landscape to business ethics and the media.
And with a host of newly commissioned
work from the likes of Carol Ann Duffy
and Michael Smith, Durham is the
ultimate literary destination this October.
The full programme is at
www.durhambookfestival.com where you
can also sign up for news and special offers,
but here are some highlights and exclusive
events to give you a taste of what to expect.
All tickets can be booked at
www.galadurham.co.uk or by
calling 0191 332 4041.
Rapunzel
Durham Book Festival commission:
Rapunzel by balletLORENT,
written by Carol Ann Duffy
Gala Theatre, Durham:
Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 October, 1.30pm
(except Thursday) & 8pm
The world premiere of Rapunzel, a
stunning new adaptation of the classic
fairytale, from leading dance theatre
company, balletLORENT. Full of colour
and emotion, this new version is written
by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The
production brings together a collection
of world-class collaborators including
Doctor Who composer Murray Gold,
award-winning costume designer Michele
Clapton, and actress Lesley Sharp as the
Narrator. This spellbinding re-telling will
be performed by an outstanding company
of dancers, choreographed by Liv Lorent.
This is a family production, recommended
for anyone over the age of seven.
Co-produced by Northern Stage and
commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and
New Writing North, in association
with Durham Book Festival.
Tickets: £18/£10 (concs &
Festival Friends), £6 (Under 16s)
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
13-30 OCTOBER 2012
© Ellen Warner
For non-fiction nuts
Ben Miller, scientist and one half of
comedy duo Armstrong & Miller, will
present It’s Not Rocket Science, his book
debunking some of the myths about
science, like what the Hadron Collider
really does. For those interested in current
affairs, BBC political editor Nick Robinson
will be talking about life as a reporter
during the last few governments and
Gavin Esler will be exploring business
ethics with the Rt Revd Justin Welby,
Bishop of Durham. Jack Straw, MP for
Blackburn and former Secretary of State,
will be discussing his time in office.
© Ulla Montan
© Colin Thomas
© Paul Stangroom
For poetry lovers
To celebrate the world premiere of
Rapunzel, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy
will be reading from her award-winning
collections at a special event with musical
accompaniment from John Sampson.
Roger McGough returns to Durham to
present his new collection, As Far As I
Know; poets from the region present
Butcher’s Dog, a new anthology; we
salute Anne Stevenson as she approaches
her 80th birthday and publishes her
sixteenth collection, Astonishment; and
launch a new international project with
Linda France. Also appearing are poets
Ruth Padel, Jean Sprackland, Pippa
Little, John Clegg and Gareth Reeves.
9
Fiction
Headlining appearances this year include
Pat Barker, reading from her new novel,
Toby’s Room, Kate Mosse presenting
Citadel, the third part of her Languedoc
trilogy, and Gillian Slovo, who will
discuss her novel, An Honourable Man.
Returning to the festival is Chris Mullin,
former MP for Sunderland South, who
will be talking about his novel, A Very
British Coup, following the broadcast of
a new four-part television adaptation.
Fans of crime fiction won’t want to miss
PD James, who will be discussing the
most recent of her many best-selling
novels, Death Comes to Pemberley, with
award-winning crime writer Ian Rankin
in a special event at Durham Cathedral.
Doyenne of crime Val McDermid will
host a special literary lunch, and Sophie
Hannah will be in conversation with
Dreda Say Mitchell and North East
writer Mari Hannah. We’ll also have a
special panel event about Scandinavian
crime writers with Ann Cleeves.
www.durhambookfestival.com
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
10
Cuckoo Young Writers
Cuckoo Young Writers is New Writing
North’s flagship writing programme for
young writers aged 12-19. Activities include:
• Fortnightly writing groups
across the North East
• Summer writing workshops and
masterclasses throughout the year
• Cuckoo Review, to talk films,
music, theatre, books and art
• Cuckoo Quarterly, our online
literary magazine
Cuckoo members contribute and edit
Cuckoo Quarterly, the next edition of which
will be published online on 26 October.
Find us at www.cuckooquarterly.com.
To talk to us or submit, email
[email protected], or
find out more about Cuckoo
classes and workshops at
www.newwritingnorth.com.
www.cuckooquarterly.com
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
CUCKOO YOUNG REVIEWERS
11
Cuckoo Young Reviewers: Masterclasses
Throughout August and
September, we’re
running reviewing
masterclasses for
young writers aged
16-25 to meet and
learn from the best
reviewers in the business.
Taking place in some of
the region’s most prestigious cultural venues,
the masterclass sessions include a performance,
screening or exhibition appropriate to the subject.
Masterclasses on offer include how to review
exhibitions with David Whetstone (arts
and entertainment editor, The Journal);
film with Danny Leigh (Film 2012 on
BBC1, The Guardian); music with Laura
Snapes (associate editor, Pitchfork);
books with Elizabeth Day (The Observer);
and theatre with Kate Kellaway (The Observer).
Applications for the 2012 masterclasses are now closed,
but if you’d like to know more about them or sign up to
the Cuckoo newsletter to be the first to find out about
the next session, go to www.newwritingnorth.com.
Cuckoo Young Reviewers masterclasses are
presented as part of Juice: NewcastleGateshead’s
award-winning festival for children and young
people. Juice is developed and produced by
NewcastleGateshead Initiative as part of its
festival and events programme and funded by
Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council, Arts
Council England and Sir James Knott Trust.
For more information, visit www.juicefestival.co.uk.
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
12 READ REGIONAL
We’re delighted to announce the 13
writers who will feature in our 2012/13
Read Regional campaign: Novelists
Stephen May, Annabel Pitcher, Fiona
Shaw, Michael Stewart, Mari Hannah,
Cassandra Parkin, Russ Litten and
Alison Gangel, and poets Pauline
Plummer, Seni Seneviratne, Carola
Luther, Ann Ryland and Christy Ducker.
The Read Regional campaign promotes
new books by northern authors through
libraries, bookshops and festivals across
the north of England from October 2012
to spring 2013. Run in partnership with
library authorities in the North East and
across Yorkshire and Humberside, the
campaign ensures the stocking of books
by authors and supports author visits
to reading groups and to libraries.
From October you can also pick up a
free copy of our Read Regional booklet
that features profiles of all the writers,
plus poems and information on events.
Over 30,000 copies of the booklet
will be distributed, including with the
October edition of Living North magazine
in the North East and Yorkshire.
Free reading group guides to selected
Read Regional titles are also available via
the website. Why not choose one of the
titles to read with your book group?
Read Regional events
Featured authors will be appearing at
events in libraries across the North and
at Durham Book Festival, the Off the
Shelf Festival in Sheffield and Hexham
Book Festival over the next ten months.
You can catch up with the Read Regional
programme from October onwards on
our project blog where the participating
writers will be chronicling their
experiences of traversing the North.
www.readregional.com
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
13
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
14 THE NORTHERN WRITERS’ AWARDS
£40,000 worth of awards for
writers across the North
Our flagship awards programme opens
up to writers from across the whole of
the north of England this autumn. With
a new prize fund of £40,000 and a new
programme of opportunities included
in the awards – from residencies to
professional development courses – the
programme is expanding in both horizon
and scope. The awards are open to writers
working in all forms, from literary fiction
to poetry and writing for children.
To celebrate the expansion of the
awards we have appointed two new
Northern Writers’ Awards Patrons: Booker
Prize-winning novelist Pat Barker, and
acclaimed poet Simon Armitage.
“To an emerging writer, an award
of this kind can often be the
difference between carrying
on and giving up, and can be a
huge boost to confidence as well
as providing financial backing.
Many writers, like myself, can
look back to an award or bursary
at an early stage in their career
as being the pivotal moment,
one that gave them the courage
and means to continue.”
Simon Armitage
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
15
We are delighted to announce that
Northumbria University are supporting
the Northern Writers’ Awards with an
investment of £60,000 over the next two
years. This generous support of the project
will allow us to offer even more support to
talent writers. Potts Print (UK) also join us
as project sponsors and through this will
enable the awards publicity to become
carbon balanced. This autumn we will be
launching a new website for the awards at
www.northernwritersawards.com which
will profile the opportunities on offer and
the partnerships around the awards.
The Northern Writers’ Awards were
established in 2000 by New Writing North
to support both new and established
writers from the north east of England
to pursue their creative work and
ambitions. Awards alumni include many
writers whose work has gone on to
be published, including Carolyn JessCooke, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Celia
Bryce, Mari Hannah, Pippa Little, Jacob
Polley, Dan Smith and Niel Bushnell.
To help launch the awards across the
North, we are undertaking a number
of events for writers in conjunction
with leading literary festivals:
Manchester Literature Festival:
Monday 22 October, 1pm:
Waterstones Deansgate
For more information and to book, see
www.manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk.
Off The Shelf Festival:
Saturday 3 November, 11am:
Quaker Meeting House, 10 St James St,
Sheffield
For more information and to book, see
www.welcometosheffield.co.uk/
off-the-shelf
www.northernwritersawards.com
www.newwritingnorth.com
@newwritingnorth
/newwritingnorth
16 DIARY
Lee Child:
A Wanted Man book launch
Wednesday 5 September,
7.30pm: Tyneside Cinema,
Newcastle
Tickets: £10 from
www.tynesidecinema.co.uk
and 0845 217 9909
Stephanie Butland:
Thrive book launch
Thursday 13 September,
6.30pm: Waterstones,
Newcastle
Free event, no booking required
Michael Chaplin:
Tyne View book launch
Tuesday 18 September, 6pm:
Riverside Room, BALTIC,
Gateshead
This event is invite-only and
only a limited number of
tickets are available. If you’d
like to attend, please contact
[email protected].
Harry Pearson:
Housekeepers, Shortlegs &
Flemish String book launch
Wednesday 12 September,
4pm: Haltwhistle Library
Wednesday 12 September,
7pm: Bedlington Library
Thursday 13 September, 7pm:
Wooler Library
Free events, no booking required
North Tyneside Summer
Reads: The Murder Wall
by Mari Hannah
Thursday 4 October, 6.30pm:
Grand Hotel, Tynemouth
Tickets: £3 from North Shields
Library on 0191 643 5270
www.newwritingnorth.com
Durham Book Festival
13-30 October 2012
Full programme information:
www.durhambookfestival.com
Tickets: www.galadurham.co.uk
or call 0191 332 4041
Introducing the Northern
Writers’ Awards
Manchester Literature Festival:
Monday 22 October, 1pm:
Waterstones Deansgate
For more information and to
book: www.manchester
literaturefestival.co.uk
Off The Shelf Festival, Sheffield
Saturday 3 November, 11am:
Quaker Meeting House
For more information and to
book: www.welcometo
sheffield.co.uk/off-the-shelf
Blue Boy: a new play by
Margaret Wilkinson
Northern Stage, Newcastle:
24, 25, 26 & 27 October, 8pm
Post-show discussion with cast
and director on 25 October.
Tickets: £14.50/£12 (concs)
from www.northernstage.co.uk
and 0191 230 5151
Durham Town Hall as part
of Durham Book Festival:
30 October, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Tickets: £12, £10 (concs &
Friends of the Festival),
£8 for under 16s from
www.galadurham.co.uk and
0191 332 4041
Dolphin Centre, Darlington:
3 & 4 November, 7.30pm
Tickets: £11 (concs available)
from www.darlingtonarts.co.uk
and 01325 486 555
Customs House, South
Shields: 5 & 6 November, 8pm
Tickets: £12/£10 (concs) from
www.customshouse.co.uk
and 0191 454 1234
@newwritingnorth
BBC Radio 3
Free Thinking Festival
The Sage Gateshead:
Friday 2-Sunday 4 November
Tickets: free from
www.thesagegateshead.org
or 0191 443 4661
Indiana Jones and the
Extra Chair
Live Theatre, Newcastle:
Saturday 3 November,
1pm & 6pm
Tickets: £8/£6 (concs),
£20 family ticket (2 adults and 2
children) from www.live.org.uk
or 0191 232 1232
Book group summit with
Café Culture: Twelve Minutes
of Love: A Tango Story by
Kapka Kassabova
Monday 3 December, 6.30pm:
Dance City café, Newcastle
Free event, no booking required
/newwritingnorth
Are you interested in more
events or are you a writer
looking for opportunities
in the region? Sign up to
our mailing list at www.
newwritingnorth.com or
follow us on Twitter and
Facebook to be the first
to know about them.