Saturday 12th June, 10am – 4pm

Crime Reader’s Day

Venue: Nottingham Central Library

Join us for our annual reader’s day devoted especially to readers and lovers of crime fiction, including talks by well-known crime writers, discussions and activities.

Authors Rod Madocks, Stephen Booth and Martin Edwards will be joining us.

All day tickets cost £5.00 (£4.00 concessions), half day tickets also available for £3.00 (£2.50 concessions). Tickets available from Nottingham Central Library Ground Floor Helpdesk – 0115 9152824.

For programme details, please contact Jane Brierley on 0115 915 2813 or email jane.brierley@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

Wed 3 March, Empyrean Pagan Interest Group, 8pm, £3
Deirdre O’Byrne: Irish folktales, Theosophical Society Hall, Maid Marian Way, Nottingham
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Saturday 13 March, 10.30 – 12.30, Mansfield Library, Free,
Irish storytelling for children, Info: paula.fraser@nottscc.gov.uk
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Monday 29 March, 7-9pm, Beeston Library, £6 / £4
Brian McCormack and Deirdre O’Byrne read extracts from the writings of Samuel Beckett
Info: sheelagh.gallagher@nottscc.gov.uk
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Mon 12 April: Salvation Army, King Edward St, Nottingham, 2 – 3pm
Deirdre O’Byrne: Workshop on ‘The Family in Irish Literature’
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Tues 13 April,7.30 – 9pm, Nottingham Irish Centre, £3 / £1.50
workshop: Humour in Irish literature

Saturday 27th March
Off the Page: Simon Hoggart – Potty Politicians, Loony Letters, & Wonderful Wines
2pm, Nottingham Central Library.

Second in the Off the Page series, Simon Hoggart is the award winning parliamentary sketch writer of The Guardian. Well know as the chair of Radio 4s The News Quiz and as frequent contributor to TV’s Grumpy Old Men and Radio 4’s Today and PM shows. He is also the wine correspondent and TV critic for The Spectator and a contributor to Punch, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, New Statesman and The Oldie. He is the author of 17 books including the best selling “The Cat That Could Open the Fridge”. Simon Hoggart will talk about his latest book “Potty Politicians, Loony Letters, & Wonderful Wines” a selection of wry hilarious readings from this best selling tireless observer of the eccentricities of Presidents, Prime Ministers, teenagers and their mums.

TICKETS: £5/£4 concessions. Advanced booking is recommended. Tickets can be purchased from Nottingham Central Library Help Desk – 0115 915 2824 or email jane.brierley@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

This June, the Althorp Literary Festival will celebrate its seventh anniversary, presenting an exhilarating weekend of talks, readings and debates, in some of the most beautiful rooms of Althorp House.

Alan Davies will talk at the Althorp Literary Festival in June, about his latest book ‘My Favourite People and Me’, which is a childhood memoir about growing up in the late 70s and 80s. Alan Davies, currently appears as a resident panellist on the BBC’s popular QI quiz series and known for his starring role in mystery series Jonathan Creek.

Join much loved travel writer Bill Bryson as he discusses his latest release ‘At Home’, which stems from Bryson’s realisation that we devote a lot more time to the Wars of the Roses or the Normandy Landings than considering what most of history really consists of: centuries upon centuries of people quietly going about their daily business – eating, sleeping, having sex, endeavouring to be amused.

Join Jenni Murray at Althorp as she shares her remarkable story ‘Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter’, detailing her childhood, and most significantly, her relationship with her mother. As the regular presenter of Radio 4 Woman’s Hour since 1987, she has daily demonstrated her incredible range and depth and a unique ability to understand the feelings and complexities of those she interviews, talents she has also brought to BBC Newsnight and Everyman and BBC Radio Today and Thursday Call.

Award winning journalist, author and Newsnight presenter Gavin Esler will be joining us to discuss his new release, ‘Powerplay’. Join Gavin as he tells his story of the decline in the US – British ‘special relationship’, as seen through the eyes of Alex Price the British Ambassador to Washington, at a time of crisis. Gavin Esler has anchored the BBC News Channel since 1997 and reported for news and documentary programmes across Europe, Russia, China and North and South America. He joined the presenting team of BBC Two’s Newsnight in January 2003. Gavin is also the author of several novels.

John Julius Norwich, English historian and travel writer will be providing an insightful talk on his new release, The Great Cities in History. John Julius Norwich is the author of many varied publications, including The Normans in the South, The Architecture of Southern England, A History of Venice and Byzantium: The Early Centuries. He has written and presented some thirty historical documents for television and radio, and is a regular lecturer on his many travel subjects.

Tickets for the 2010 Althorp Literary Festival will go on sale mid April. Further details can be found at www.althorp.com or telephone 01604 770107. For media enquiries, please contact: mail@althorp.com.

Northamptonshire Libraries and Information Service and Oundle Festival of Literature have joined forces to produce a Readers’ Day for all of the counties readers. Readers’ Days are a real treat for anyone who loves books and reading.

The day will be hosted by poet John Siddique and there will be the opportunity to meet four authors: Jake Arnott, Stella Duffy, Sophie Hannah, and Jojo Moyes. 20th March 2010, 10.00am – 3.30pm, Great Hall, New Street, Oundle.

Tickets £12. Ticket price includes tea and coffee – please bring a packed lunch. Pre-booking is essential. Please complete the form overleaf to book your place. Booking forms are to be returned to Kettering Library (or Oundle Library by hand). Tickets will be sent in the post.

For further information about the day and to book please contact Kettering Library: Ketlib@northamptonshire.gov.uk or 01536 512315.

Best selling Author of “wannabe a writer?” & “one Glass is Never Enough”

24th March 2010 at 6:30pm
We are privileged to Welcome Jane Wenham Jones to the Radmoor Centre for an outstanding evening of Fine Food and Entertainment. Attendance includes:

• A champagne reception
• A luxury 3 course meal
• Tea and Coffee
• A special presentation by our guest speaker
• Book signing and socialising
• Bar service available throughout the event in a relaxed environment

The whole evening will be hosted by the well known Leicestershire Writer Keith Morley
Due to the special nature of this event it is requested that guests attire in smart dress and attendance to the event is ticket only.

All this entertainment is available for the exceptional price of only £24.95 per ticket. (Discounts may be available to large bookings)

For more information please contact Keith Large by email keith.large@loucoll.ac.uk or contact the Radmoor Centre on 0845 1662959.

Tuesday 26th January
10.30-11.30am, Basford Library.
David Mellor will be presenting this talk for the library club. Anyone is welcome to attend this talk. The club is for adults of all ages, with an event once month and includes have a coffee morning with a speaker/entertainer. All are welcome to this free event. For more information contact Basford Library on 0115 915 5797 or email basford.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

As part of the Lunchtime Literary Cafes series, 1.10pm – 1.50pm, Nottingham Central Library. Get your hit of literature from these accessible and varied lunchtime talks.

17^th February: Colin Grant on ‘Negro with a Hat’
With masterful skill, wit and compassion, Colin Grant chronicles Marcus Garvey’s extraordinary life, the failed business ventures, his misguided negotiations with the Ku Klux Klan, the two wives and the premature obituaries that contributed to his lonely, tragic death. This is the dramatic cautionary tale of a man who articulated the submerged thoughts of an awakening people.

Also in the series:
3rd February: Deirdre O’Byrne – ‘Other Voices’
10th February: Writing the Past: Memoirs and Memories with Pewter Rose

All talks from 1.10pm – 1.50pm at Nottingham Central Library.

Tickets £2.50 (£1.50 conc.), including tea and coffee. Buy all 3 tickets for £5.00 or £3.00 concessions. Tickets available from Nottingham Central Library ground floor helpdesk or call 0115 915 2824.

As part of the Lunchtime Literary Cafes series, 1.10pm – 1.50pm, Nottingham Central Library. Get your hit of literature from these accessible and varied lunchtime talks.

10^th February: Writing the Past: Memoirs and Memories with Pewter Rose
Writing Memory:  Local authors Roberta Dewa  and Frances Thimann will discuss their recent short story collections  ’Holding Stones’ and ‘Cello’ which are concerned with memory, and the past, and have many local connections.  They will read from their stories and other work in progress.

Also in the series:
3^rd February: Deirdre O’Byrne – ‘Other Voices’
17th February: Colin Grant on ‘Negro with a Hat’

All talks from 1.10pm – 1.50pm at Nottingham Central Library.

Tickets £2.50 (£1.50 conc.), including tea and coffee. Buy all 3 tickets for £5.00 or £3.00 concessions. Tickets available from Nottingham Central Library ground floor helpdesk or call 0115 915 2824.

As part of the Lunchtime Literary Cafes series, 1.10pm – 1.50pm, Nottingham Central Library.  Get your hit of literature from these accessible and varied lunchtime talks. 

3^rd February: Deirdre O’Byrne – ‘Other Voices’
Deirdre O’Byrne, lecturer in English at Loughborough University, gives an introduction to Multicultural British Fiction.

Also in the series:
10^th February: Writing the Past: Memoirs and Memories with Pewter Rose
17^th February: Colin Grant on ‘Negro with a Hat’

All talks from 1.10pm – 1.50pm at Nottingham Central Library.

Tickets £2.50 (£1.50 conc.), including tea and coffee.    Buy all 3 tickets for £5.00  or £3.00 concessions.  Tickets available from Nottingham Central Library ground floor helpdesk or call 0115 915 2824.

3^rd, 10^th, 17^th February 2010, 1.10pm – 1.50pm, Nottingham Central Library.

Get your hit of literature from these accessible and varied lunchtime talks. 

All talks from 1.10pm – 1.50pm at Nottingham Central Library.

3^rd February: Deirdre O’Byrne – ‘Other Voices’
Deirdre O’Byrne, lecturer in English at Loughborough University, gives an introduction to Multicultural British Fiction.

10^th February: Writing the Past: Memoirs and Memories with Pewter Rose
Writing Memory:  Local authors Roberta Dewa  and Frances Thimann will discuss their recent short story collections  ’Holding Stones’ and ‘Cello’ which are concerned with memory, and the past, and have many local connections.  They will read from their stories and other work in progress.

17^th February: Colin Grant on ‘Negro with a Hat’
With masterful skill, wit and compassion, Colin Grant chronicles Marcus Garvey’s extraordinary life, the failed business ventures, his misguided negotiations with the Ku Klux Klan, the two wives and the premature obituaries that contributed to his lonely, tragic death. This is the dramatic cautionary tale of a man who articulated the submerged thoughts of an awakening people.

 Tickets £2.50 (£1.50 conc.), including tea and coffee.    Buy all 3 tickets for £5.00  or £3.00 concessions.  Tickets available from Nottingham Central Library ground floor helpdesk or call 0115 915 2824.

An illustrated Lecture with screenwriter Michael Eaton
Sat 12 Dec 1pm
www.phoenix.org.uk

Dickens and Christmas go together like a slice of plum pudding and a foaming glass of negus (whatever that is!). Michael Eaton, compiler of Dickens Before Sound, presents a seasonal selection of silent delights based upon the works of The Inimitable. This yuletide programme contains not only the earliest extant cinematic version of A Christmas Carol, made in 1901 and entitled Scrooge, Or Marley’s Ghost, but an even older animated Magic Lantern treat: Gabriel Grub, Or The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton. There will also be a rare chance to see D.W. Griffith’s only Dickensian adaptation, The Cricket On The Hearth from 1909. And no Christmas would be complete without a benevolent visit from Mister Pickwick.

We are delighted that writer Leo McNeir has agreed to do a short stint as Writer in Residence at Deanshanger Library, the small library that is closest to his home. He will be ‘in residence’ on Wednesday Dec 16th, Thursday Dec 17th and Friday Dec 18th from 2 – 5 pm each day.

Leo McNeir is the author of the series of crime novels with a waterways setting featuring Marnie Walker, her lover Ralph Lombard, her close friend Anne Price and several others. That is until one or other of them gets bumped off! Look out for such titles as No Secrets, Kiss and Tell, Sally Ann’s Summer and, the latest, Smoke and Mirrors. Leo’s books are easy to spot as the covers all feature beautiful artist’s pictures of canals and canal boats.

When not writing novels, Leo is a linguist and lexicographer. He has compiled and edited ten dictionaries in fifteen languages since the first one was published by Cassell in 1993.

Leo will be working on his new novel and welcomes anyone who wants to come and watch him working or talk about the intricacies of plotting and character development.  For further information contact: JMDavies@northamptonshire.gov.uk.  Deanshanger Library location: http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Leisure/Libraries/publib/Pages/Deanlib.aspx.