Bookshelf

Birmingham Book Festival launches today

By: Information Daily Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, October 4, 2012 - 17:02 GMT Jump to Comments

The Birmingham Book Festival is back for 2012 with an exciting 10 day programme of acclaimed writers, award-winning poets, exceptional performance, and digital innovation.

For its 14th year the festival welcomes a range of prestigious writers including Scottish Makar (national poet) Liz Lochead, Jackie Kay, Simon Armitage, Patrick Gale, David Edgar, Femi Oyebode, Tiffany Murray, Peter F Hamilton, Caitlin Moran and Stuart Maconie.

New for 2012 is an innovative interactive transmedia installation that allows visitors to influence the outcome of a story that will run throughout the duration of the Festival. Featuring new writing from West Midlands writers Mez Packer and Rochi Rampal, Reliable Witness is a unique literature experience that exploits modern technology to weave an unforgettable tale.

New performance piece Being Human (6 October, 8-9.30pm, Custard Factory Theatre) is sure to be one of this year’s best poetry experiences.  The dramatic performance is directed by Interplay’s Steve Byrne and performed by Barrett Robertson, Benedict Hastings and Elinor Middleton and charts the drama of our lives through a selection of thoughtful and passionate poems that will touch the heart, stir the mind and fire the spirit. Audiences from the sell out shows in June have described it as ‘...an amazing theatrical experience’ and ‘absolutely stunning’.

Budding writers are given the chance to develop their style with a range of workshops on subjects from short plays to short stories, poetry, scent association and researching non-fiction. A fringe festival will run alongside the main programme (in partnership with Birmingham Libraries) giving visitors the opportunity to experience a whole host of literary events to suit all tastes and ages free of charge.

From discovering more about Science-fiction with multi-million selling authors (Discovering Alternative Genres, 8th October), hearing about writing under the persecution of Gaddafi’s regime in Libya (The New Libya, 8th October), being taken on an epic journey through modern European literature (12th October) or hearing the best new storytellers the region has to offer this year’s Birmingham Book Festival will be pushing the boundaries of literature to offer a diverse and exhilarating 10 days.

Share this article

Your comment

As you haven't logged in yet please either supply your name and email or login with your account.

By posting your comment, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Comments

Malcolm Durham

The language of growth: How clarity drives business success

Clear and direct language is the benchmark in producing growth and delivering services, writes Malcolm Durham, founder of Wealthbeing.

Are Sugata Mitra's ideas on education doomed to failure?

Joe Tibbetts recalls his part in developing the National Curriculum and gets depressed by the prospects of making education relevant and appropriate.

Traffic in times of expanding global urbanisation

Addressing the impact of rapid urbanisation on transportation has become an immense challenge, but one that Jakarta is tackling head-on, writes Claudia Florowski, Project Officer at the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

How the private sector can shape public services of the future

Open conversations are crucial so that service providers can understand a council's wider objectives, propose innovative ways to meet them and save taxpayer's money, writes public services expert Jim Bligh.

Political leadership key for health and social care transformation

Politicians must show real leadership and communicate better with patients if the radical transformation of hospital and secondary care is to be successful, the chief executive of Social Enterprise UK told The Information Daily.

Achieving the 'collective dream' of future sustainable cities

Social equality will drive forward a sustainable ecological community, writes environmental scientist Paul Francis Bright as he describes his vision of a sustainable world.

BlogWatch #26: Tackling out of hours healthcare

After weeks of scrapping over responsibility for the out of hours care crisis, NHS England today announced a review to be led by NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh.

Do environmental charities have the power to tackle climate change?

The environmental third sector is growing but we should be concerned about its capacity to shape a sustainable future, writes Professor Graham Smith of the Third Sector Research Centre.

Citizens Will Make the Future of Cities

'The future of making is changing again, and cities and citizens will lead the way', says an expert of Human-Future interaction.

Bees, pesticides and the importance of the precautionary principle

Bee numbers have seen dramatic decline all over the world and in the UK bee populations have fallen by 30% since 2007, writes British Labour MEP Glenis Willmott.

Loneliness - a health issue that Health & Wellbeing Boards must tackle

Despite isolation and loneliness being as bad for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, Health and Wellbeing boards are not prioritising this issue, says a coalition of organisations.

Rising male throat cancer rates are 'worrying'

Men are almost three times more likely to get oesophageal cancer than women in England, according to recent figures by Cancer Research UK.

View features archive >

Latest

Britain's potholed roads desperately need funding, says LGA

Britain’s roads could become unusable if there is more flooding or severe weather this year, highway leaders have warned as they call for extra government funding to pay for the pothole-littered carriageways.

Shortlist announced in run up to City of Culture 2017

Dundee, Hull, Leicester and Swansea Bay are the final 4 cities in the running to be UK City of Culture 2017.

Politicians must show leadership in healthcare, says Social Enterprise UK

Politicians must show real leadership and communicate better with patients if the radical transformation of secondary care is to be successful, Peter Holbrook, the chief executive of Social Enterprise UK explains.

View news archive >

Latest Press Releases

NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia open for entries

The prize, announced by the Department of Health, will recognise innovative ways of integrating care for people with dementia.

HEFCE grant to encourage more students to study languages

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has announced an additional £3.1 million programme to encourage more people to study languages at university.

Delivering on-demand cloud computing services to UK public sector

Max3000 to provide the public sector with monitoring & management of cloud services via Giii G-Cloud Framework

View press release archive >