September 24-26 will see New Art Exchange transformed into Lyric Lounge Nottingham – a spell-binding performance space celebrating the power of live literature. Lyric Lounge Nottingham is part of a region-wide series of mini-festivals taking place throughout 2010. Featured artists include Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, Mellow Baku, Sureshot, Daljit Nagra and John Agard.

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
Jamaica born artist Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze is the world’s first female Dub Poet and has performed on every continent, apart from the Antarctic. Her published works ponder social and political issues, as well as her own experience of mental health. Jean is a Bloodaxe poet and the author of seven collections of poetry and fiction. Jean is patron for Lyric Lounge Nottingham. She will be running FREE one-to-ones for local writers on Saturday 25 September, 11am-1pm, and has been a mentor for several commissioned Lyric Lounge artists.

John Agard
John Agard is an poet, playwright and children’s writer who has won over five awards for his work, and his poetry is featured in the UK GCSE syllabus. He has been a BBC Poet in Residence and his books include ‘We Brits’, ‘Alternative Anthem’ and ‘Clever Backbone’. See him headline Blackdrop – a vibrant poetry night – on Friday 24 September, 8-11pm (£5/ £3 Concs.)

Sureshot
Michael Brome aka Sureshot is a poet, rapper and music-loving lyricist. He has performed widely including Jazz Café, Phoenix Arts Centre, De-Montfort Hall, Peepul Centre and Nottingham Playhouse. In 2007 he was a contributing artist to the ‘Freedom Showcase’ a spoken word show for the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade cultural series. The same year he won a Spoken Word Commission in a project initiated by Baroness Lola Young in collaboration with Renaissance One, resulting in a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra was born and raised in West London, then Sheffield, and lives in Willesden where he teaches in a secondary school. His first collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover! won a Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award. In 2008 he won the South Bank Show / Decibel Award.

Mellow Baku
Mellow Baku weaves rich musical prose relating stories of transformation, consciousness and relationships. She is inspired by the messages of conscious Reggae, the ethos of Jazz, and experiences of personal faith. She has worked with many artists including Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze and Michie One, at venues including the Barbican, Jazz Café, North Sea Jazz Festival and New York’s Knitting Factory.

http://www.lyriclounge.co.uk

Nottingham groups have come together to organise a special day of events to celebrate the life and works of Nottingham writer and poet Alan Sillitoe which will take place on Saturday, 2nd October at the Council House in the Old Market Square.

The centrepiece of the celebrations will feature an exhibition and a programme of talks, readings, music and discussions on Alan’s life and work.

This programme will include contributions by crime writer John Harvey, reflections by Alan’s son David Sillitoe and the launch of the Alan Sillitoe short story competition with Nottingham writer Nicola Monaghan.

The official launch of the Alan Sillitoe Statue Fund will form part of the celebrations. The Statue Fund aims to raise money to provide a statue of Alan in Lenton Abbey, the location of Alan’s birth in Manton Crescent.

A special beer to celebrate Alan Sillitoe is being brewed by Castle Rock Brewery and will give Nottingham people the chance to raise a glass in memory of Alan during these celebrations.

Details of the day’s events are available at: www.sillitoe.com

Tickets for the Council House event are priced at £5.00 and are available in advance from The Bookcase on 0115 9663219

Ciaran Carson, Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queens University Belfast, heads up the poets appearing at the 2010 Derwent Poetry Festival in Matlock Bath, 12th – 14th November. There will be further guest poets in the 2010 festival and the full programme will be posted on the Templar website during August.

LeftLion presents ‘Scribal Gathering’ at the Nottm Contemporary Gallery.

7.00 Doors
7.15 Intro – 10 mins
7.25 Joe Coghlan – 15 mins
7.40 Rachael Pennell (play) – 15 mins
7.55 May contain Notts: Al Needham – 15 mins
8.10 Break – 10 mins
8.20 Open mic (Break) – 30 mins
8.50 Poetry Bingo – 15 mins
9.05 WORD! – 30 mins
9.35 Break – 10 mins
9.45 Hhymn – 30 mins

Joe Coghlan is a performance poet and a member of Derbyshire outfit ‘Hello Hubmarine’. His powerful and emotional beat style poem ‘15th December’ is about a young boy who saves a man from committing suicide on a bridge.

Rachel Pennell runs Lucky Fin Productions and gives voice to women written out of history. She will be performing a scene from one of her current plays Chocolateria Hysteria. As France explodes into bloody revolution, Pauline Leon trades in the world’s most seductive substance – chocolate. A compelling and imaginative tale of four women and their struggle for love and liberty.

Al Needham needs little introduction to Nottingham folk. The author of sex blog of the year ‘Todger Talk’ will be giving his very unique view of local life. He is the Editor at LeftLion magazine, alright duckeh…

Open Mic slots are mostly booked in advance but we’ll also sign a few up on the day.
Poetry Bingo is your chance to win the latest books by local authors and publishers so steal your nana’s big red marker pen or better still, bring her down with you and learn how to call out in style.

WORD! Is a Leicester event run by Lydia Towsey and Pam Thompson. They’ll be bringing some of their crew down to give you a taste of other wordy events going on in the East Midlands.

Hhymn are quite simply the best band in Nottingham and have sponsored our literature podcasts Write Lion with their beautiful alternative folk tunes. Expect violins, trumpets, mandolins and a vocal that will melt you to the floor.

Contact: books@leftlion.co.uk

Now in it’s 7th Year the D.H. Lawrence Festival brings togehter a diverse programme of events and activities including reading groups; lectures; events as part of the national Heritage Open Weekend; film screenings, exhibitions; guided walks; workshops and family events.

The full programme will be available from July 2010.

For further information telephone 01773 717353, email culture@broxtowe.gov.uk, visit www.dhlawrenceheritage.org or join the D.H. Lawrence Festival Facebook page.

Music, book, film and food events with all the fun of a village fair. 28 – 30 August 2010.

Saturday 28 August – Books, film, family and food: Including authors Sophie Hannah and Tim Butcher; Roald Dahl Museum Storytellers; children’s events; floating opera; local writers CW@M; local producer food stalls; mini-beer festival; family film “Fantastic Mr Fox.” Braunston Village Green & Village Hall.

Sunday 29 August – Crafts and sports: Crafts marquee and workshops from Stitch and Make artists; climbing wall; coaching sessions; fun races; Owls Galore; family film “Avatar.” Braunston Playing Fields and Village Hall.

Monday 30 August – Music and dancing: Open air concert with leading UK folk musicians Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood; world music band Sheelanagig; DJ slots; Royal Oak Morris dancers.

Full programme at www.braunstonfestival.org.uk from early June. Contact info@braunstonfestival.org.uk to find out more or get involved.

This year’s Southwell Library Poetry festival takes place from 13-18 July 2010 and boasts what could be our most exciting programme yet.

For a full programme please visit: http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/home/leisure/libraries/poetryfestival.htm

Headline names include:

Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate 1999 – 2009
Michael Rosen, one of the UK’s most-loved children’s poets
Jo Shapcott and Don Paterson, two of Britain’s leading contemporary poets.

How to book
Bookings for any of the events can be made at Southwell Library.

By phone: 01636 812 148

By e-mail: southwell.library@nottscc.gov.uk

By post or in person:

Southwell Library
The Bramley Centre
King Street
Southwell
Nottinghamshire
NG25 0EH

Please make cheques payable to Nottinghamshire County Council.

Please note that the library cannot accept credit card bookings.

Credit card bookings
Credit card bookings for Andrew Motion, Michael Rosen, Siobhan Logan, Jo Shapcott and Don Paterson can be made at

The Bookcase, Lowdham: tel: 0115 966 414

For more information please contact Ask Libraries: tel: 0845 0267972 e-mail: asklibraries@nottscc.gov.uk.

Lowdham Book Festival – theoretically slimmed down after its big tenth year, and the absence of significant public funding – has ended up with a longer festival, and a line up of around 75 writers, two thirds from the region, plus a couple of music events. The Festival begins on 15 June and runs until 1 July. The full programme is available from info@fiveleaves.co.uk and, from the end of this week, on www.lowdhambookfestival.co.uk. Visiting speakers range from the actor Robert Lindsay to the children’s writer David Almond, and from the novelist Barbara Trapido to the naturalist Mark Cocker. Advance notice is also given of a Lowdham Book Festival literary trip to Paris, following the previous Nordic and Nile book cruises!

http://www.lowdhambookfestival.co.uk

Derby’s Festival of Horror, Fantasy and Sci-fi
Saturday 12th June
http://altfiction.co.uk

Derby’s festival for alternative fiction is a one-day event focusing on the genres of science-fiction, fantasy and horror, featuring some of the top authors in the field such as Paul Cornell, Ramsey Campbell, Robert Shearman, Steven Erikson, Mike Carey and many others.

The day is made up of a number of different types of sessions, including author talks, Q&A sessions, discussion panels and workshops. There will also be a number of publishers in attendance, including Angry Robot Books, Gollancz, Solaris, Abaddon and BBC Books, while genre agents John Berlyne and John Jarrold will also be sharing their considerable experience.

http://altfiction.co.uk

During the Festival fortnight you’ll have the opportunity to meet and be inspired by celebrated authors, many of whom are based in Derbyshire or feature the county in their work.
We hope you enjoy the diverse range of more than 100 events featured in this year’s Festival.

We’re delighted that authors including Angela Huth, Judith Allnatt, Bernardine Evaristo, Lynda Page, Stephen Booth and Jude Morgan will be sharing their experiences and reading from their latest books. Poets Dorothea Smartt, Jane Weir and Ann Atkinson will also be reading from their latest collections.

If you like to practice or talk about sports, there is something for you too! Talk Football with journalist Paul Walker, get tips on how to write about sport from Duncan Hamilton, or experience something different with the Great Shakespearean Workout.

You can also try your hand at Chinese brush painting or bookbinding, or pick up tips on how to write fiction with Judith Allnatt and crime writer David Hewson, or take part in a Renga workshop with Linda France.

If you fancy something more relaxing enjoy a free pampering session at Buxton Library before getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse into writing for women’s magazine with Maria McCarthy.

More information: http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/arts_entertainment/literature_development/literature_festival/

Festival Information Hotline
The Festival Information Hotline is:
Call Derbyshire 08 456 058 058
(8am-8pm, Mon-Fri; 9.30am-4pm Sat)

30th July, 31st July, August 1st.
10.00am – 10.00pm
New Walk Museum

‘The Lyric Lounge’ is a groundbreaking, site specific festival of poetry and spoken word. Following its sell out success at The Y Theatre in 2009 and after 12 months of eager anticipation, this year it comes to New Walk Museum…

A whole range of free activities will run from 10am until 10pm and take place in the main gallery, studio rooms and cafe. In the day, chill out with coffee, books and films, draw with festival artist in residence; Tim Clarke, or choose from an impressive host of poetry workshops. Be entertained with music and poetry over ‘Lyrical Lunchtimes’, chat to The Book Doctor, or take to the mic yourself.

In the evening catch everything from WORD! with Mark Gwynne Jones and his amazing band, to John Hegley, The Godfather of performance poetry. John will be performing his brand new show, ‘The Adventures of Monsieur Robinet’ – against a back drop of museum objects.

With a line up that includes poetry from the internationally acclaimed, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze and music and lyrics from the likes of Kenny Wilson, Mike Sole and ILUVLYRICS, ‘Lyric Lounge Leicester’ invites participation from people of all ages and is definitely not to be missed. For the full programme, associated projects and information on the festival’s late night cabaret, visit www.lyriclounge.co.uk .

‘Lyric Lounge Leicester’ is part of the ‘Igniting Ambition’ programme. It is artistically directed by Lydia Towsey with patronage from Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze. ‘Lyric Lounge Leicester’ It is managed by Writing East Midlands, in association with WORD!. It is funded by MLA (Museums Libraries and Archives), with further support from Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester Libraries and Leicester Arts & Museums Service. It’s delivery group includes: The Literature Network, Find Your Talent and 2Funky Arts.

The seventh annual Lincoln Book Festival returns to Lincoln from 12th-16th May and features an exciting and varied programme of events celebrating books and all that they inspire. The programme will once again see writers from across the globe descend upon Lincoln City.

The festival attracts local, national and international writers and artists and celebrates both historical and contemporary works of art spanning from Lincolnshire’s past with the Magna Carta and Tennyson, to new writing. This richness has ensured the public have access to a wide range of authors and experiences and helps them to engage with reading and writing in many non-traditional ways.

For the box office call (01522) 873894 or www.lincolndrillhall.com.
Programme of Events

There are events for the whole family and all age groups, including the usual mix of themed days, workshops, theatre, poetry and performance. Over the past six years Lincoln has been pleased to play host to an array of artists including Benjamin Zephaniah, Michael Morpurgo, Frank Gardner, Sir David Frost, Melvyn Bragg, Alastair Campbell, John Boyne, Michael Connelly, The Hairy Bikers, Iain Banks, Louis de Bernieres, Colin Dexter, Chris Ryan and BBC’s In the Night Garden As well as a wonderful programme of creative writing workshops and a Children’s Educational and Outreach Programme.

Taking centre stage at the festival is a World first – Mercury Prize Winner musician Speech Debelle; a north London poet and musician who shares the prestigious award with past winners Suede, M People Dizzie Rascal and Arctic Monkeys. Speech Debelle will be taking part in the festival’s new Desert Island Books programme.

Other headline acts and authors include:
• Simon Callow CBE – English actor, writer and theatre director who has starred in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• Anthony Horowitz – author and screenwriter of novels and TV adaptations including Agatha Christie’s Poirot, plus his own creations for TV that include Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders.
• Lynda Bellingham – presenter from Loose Women and author of a new autobiography ‘Lost and Found’.
• Martyn Ware – founding member of The Human League and Heaven 17, and currently working with La Roux.
• Dotun Adebayo – Radio 5 Live presenter in Desert Island Books.
• Preston from the band Ordinary Boys and his brother, author and ex-banker Alex Preston, who will be looking at the recession through fiction and non-fiction.
• Jake Arnott – crime writer whose book was dramatized by the BBC into the series ‘The Long Firm’.
• Jeremy Hardy – comedian and co-presenter of Sorry I haven’t a clue will be searching into his family roots.

**** St. George’s Day Festival 24th April****
As part of the St. George’s Day festival at Orton Square on April 24th there will be a celebration of local literature. A mini expo of Literature organisations from the city will be sharing their expertise and information and putting on a series of short readings. There’ll be a workshop on improving your performance skills & on the main stage the world premiere of 4 new spoken word commissions. So come along from 1pm if you’d like to find out about creative writing in the city.

For younger readers the Bookbus will be in attendance with storytelling & crafts and there will be lots of other eyecatching entertainments at Orton Square so don’t miss it!