I was a little nervous about the launch last week, given that it was following the wonderful launch of Unsaid Undone at Carnforth train station, which was a lovely relaxed affair in the gorgeous tea rooms.
However, I needn’t have been. With Harrogate Brass Band (not in person, sadly) setting the proceedings off, we (or at least I was and hope others) were propelled into a space of strength, melancholy and uplift.
Which is exactly the kind of resonance the poems within The Crowd Without also have. All the poets gave highly personalised readings of their work, which emphasised the distinctions between their work.
From the lyric narratives of Segun Lee-French, via the exhuberent celebrations of nature of Polly Atkin, the quieter rhythmic observations of Ruth Allen, the sobering commentry on mental health from Chris Culshaw, the unsettlingly sad humour of Andrew McMillan we ended the evening with the askew world of childhood as seen by Jennifer Copley.
Coo, what a lot of adjectives.
The auditorium was also a star worth mentioning – it manged to provide a warm, informal space for the poets to project their work, and to chat with the audience. It was the first evening we’d had use of the bar and (despite my freezing the white wine) people clearly enjoyed the sliding between the two spaces during the interval, giving a sense of expanse and digestion for the poems we were told.
And with it being the last event/anthology with Martin Chester in situ as designer for Flax, I’m glad it went off so well and was a fine showcase for his brilliant work.
Every once in a while you come across a book that changes your entire perspective on what literature is, or should be or can do; you find a narrative that transcends conventions, that just seems so true and so beautiful you wonder why you never read it before, or how one book could speak so directly to you- as though it were written exclusively for your personal enjoyment. The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon by Tom Spanbauer is such a book.
Knowing he was coming to Litfest, I wanted to read the book and just get a handle on what his style of writing was before I saw him; I wasn’t expecting to be moved in the way I was. It’s a book that demands time. It’s a book that makes you pause and re-read bits, wanting to say them aloud even if there’s nobody in the room just to let the beauty of the language wrap itself around your tongue. It’s a book of such wide, accepting love that it is quite simply remarkable. More than a narrative, one feels as a reader as though one is being presented with a new philosophy on life; a new way of living, and interacting and touching.
Definitions of what love or sex or companionship mean stretch as long and wide as the American landscapes Shed and the other characters travel through. I can’t really say it better than the books says it for itself:
“There’s really only a very short time that we get hair and teeth and put on red cloth and have bones and skin and look out eyes. Not for long. Some folks longer than others. If you re lucky, you ll get to be the one who tells the story: how the eyes have seen, the hair has blown, the caress the skin has felt, how the bones have ached. What the human heart is like, he said. How the devil called and we did not answer. How we answered.”
Wow.
Guest blog post by Andrew McMillan. Andrew studies literature at Lancaster University and his poetry is published in Flax018. Tom Spanbauer reads at Litfest’s Summer Readings at The Storey on Wednesday night.
Signal Films is offering aspiring screenwriters in Lancashire and Cumbria the opportunity to take part in free scriptwriting training led by an industry expert this summer.
Tutor Rob Ritchie, former Head of Screenwriting at the National Film and Television School, will guide trainees through the process of developing a short film script to industry standard during these special one-off courses taking place in Barrow-in-Furness and in Lancaster, with 15 places available on each course.
The 3 day courses will be followed by a 1 day intensive masterclass for all trainees on the principles of pitching and securing commissions to be held in Barrow-in-Furness.
Additional places are available to attend the 1 day masterclass only simply by registering with Signal Films.
Screenwriting Courses:
Lancaster: Sat 11th, Sun 12th July, Sat 5th September 2009
10am – 5pm (Refreshments throughout the day and lunch will be provided)
at The Storey Creative Industries Centre, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TH
Barrow-in-Furness: Sat 25th, Sun 26th July, Fri 11th September 2009
10am – 5pm (Refreshments throughout the day and lunch will be provided)
The Dock Museum, North Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA14 2PW
Masterclass:
Barrow: Sat 12th September
9.30 – 5pm (Refreshments throughout the day and lunch will be provided)
The Custom House, 1 Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
For a place on the course:
· To request an application form please contact Anna on 01229 839983 or email signalfilms@gmail.com
· In your application please include your short film script(s) and if possible a current C.V.
· Deadline for applications for course: Thursday 25th June 2009
FF For a place on the masterclass:
· To register for the masterclass only call Anna on 01229 839983 or email signalfilms@gmail.com
· Deadline for registration for a masterclass place: Fri 4th September 2009
***Course and masterclass costs are fully subsidised – applicants must be aged over 16 and living in Cumbria or Lancashire. Places are limited so be quick to register!***
The Crowd Without, Flax018, our most recent digital anthology, is now live and ready for download. http://tinyurl.com/mz7uo5
Packed with delicately written poetry, this anthology features new work by poets from around the North West, including Segun Lee-French, Polly Atkin, Ruth Allen, Chris Culshaw, Andrew McMillan and Jennifer Copley.
And it features a lovely bison on the cover, doesn’t get better than that.
Unless, you happen to be in or near Lancaster tonight at 7.30, in which case you can see the the lovely writers reading their work live, at the Auditorium at the Storey (formerly the Storey Institute). See you there.
cover for flax018
Reading this fascinating post on the Magma blog got me wondering how much the Flax anthologies fit into this trend of poetry recommendations, readings and ’stumble upons’.
Certainly we’ve published some fabulous writers who ran with the online form of the anthologies and introduced their work to the wide world of the web, blogged about it, linked to it, emailed about it. We’ve also enjoyed offering readings to the writers who have published with us, outside of the launch format (the annual picnic, at the festival) to maintain interest in the older anthologies. When we are up to speed with everything else we use facebook, twitter and flickr. But I know I rely on the writers mainly in this department. And the latest Salt Just One Book compaign show how far you can go with the loyalty of the writers you publish. I must have recieved ten to twenty emails with links to the Salt website.
All the comments (and original post) in the above blog highlight the potential of this crossover of readership between the virtual and real worlds. I love how interdependent they are in spreading publishing news (as well as other news, of course), and how imaginative some publishers are being in using this relationship.
A great example of a playful and inticing idea is Cannongate’s promotion of Nick Cave’s new book.
If you know of any other good sites, then forward the links.
Spotlight at the Storey (in association with Litfest)
Friday June 19th
The Storey Auditorium, Meeting House Lancaster LA1 1TH
Doors open from 8.15pm. Admission £4 / £2 (conc.)
This month’s line up…
Mihkel Hassan – Poetry
Rebecca Willmott – Poetry
Steeve the Poet – Poetry
Rosie Whitmore – Poetry
Stuart Anthony – Music
The Low Countries – Music
Compere: Simon Baker
email: spotlightclub@btinternet.com
Tolu Ogunlesi, who was commissed by Flax last year to write a short blog fiction: Adorna and Desiderus, has won The Guardian First Words competition. Which he is, obviously, very pleased about.
The competition was to write the first paragraph of a novel, called The Letting Go. What I like about Tolu’s entry is that it could be both the first paragrapgh and also a complete short story. Being both a poet and fiction writer, his writing transcends the clear boundaries that define the two.
See what you think:
He is my sister’s first, her only one. Born a week ago today, in this room. She cried (her cries hung like damp curtains in the still afternoon air), pushed him out, smiled in relief, and then continued to give birth – to blood. At the end of blood is death. She let go. Three months ago – or perhaps more – her husband left her; accused her of carrying another man’s baby. He left a suicide note behind. If he went ahead and took his own life, I cannot tell. What I can tell is this: that I have nothing to offer this boy. All I am is a frail connection to a past that he will know about only in stories – of a mother swift with her hands and paler than a full moon. And a father who delighted in inventing excuses.
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo has been announced by the Orange Prize youth panel as their overall winner.
The title beat the other shortlisted titles including A Mercy by Toni Morrison and The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser.
Bernardine, who read from Blonde Roots at a Litfest event last year said: “This is such a lovely surprise and I’m absolutely delighted to receive this recognition for Blonde Roots. It’s also a great new Orange Prize initiative to embrace and encourage the readers of the future.”
The youth panel of six girls and six boys was recruited via www.spinebreakers.co.uk as part of a campaign to engage younger readers with the Orange Prize.
Totally Wired are proud to announce a Multi-Arts Event at the newly opened Storey Creative Industries Centre on Saturday 6th June 2009. This will be a great opportunity to see for yourself the exciting new restoration work, which has just been completed on the revamped Storey building.
Totally Wired promise a “Blast of Cultural Mayhem” in the form of Music, Comedy, Poetry, Drama, Dance & Art.
Among those performing will be Ottersgear, Jo Gillot, Vik Lawless, Improv Xpress, Desna & Mollie Baxter. There will also be an Art Display by Scottish based artist Ingrid Christie, as well as an opportunity for the audience to participate in an interactive Art Experiment. We are also pleased to announce we have Florian Kaplick, who is a performance artist from Germany, who recently performed at the Royal College of Art in London.
The Event starts at 7.30 p.m. and costs just £5. Advance tickets are recommended and can be obtained from the Storey or the Book Room, 9 Meeting House Lane Lancaster.
For more info go to www.totallywired.org.uk, where there will be more info on all the performers.
Litfest
