With party season in full flow, you may have a rueful eye on a resolution or two for the new year. Vying for your attention is The Year of Readers. The organiser is Jodie Baker and she’s based in Birmingham. Here’s her explanation: It’s an easy concept (which is probably why I thought of it). … [Read more…]
News of a short story competition: As part of the National Year of Reading and to tie in with the Birmingham Library Service’s Write the Future events, Birmingham Writers’ Group is launching a short story competition which is open to everyone. We’re looking for well-written and original stories of less than 2 500 words set in … [Read more…]
The University of Birmingham has arranged for the 1951 original typescript manuscript of On the Road – the world-famous scroll of 1951 – to come to the Barber Institute at the University during December 2008 and January 2009 They’re having a two-day conference (11-12 Dec) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of book’s publication in the … [Read more…]
The Birmingham Book Festival starts 1 October with a programme of events that will cover fiction, non-fiction and poetry, as well as a series of workshops and seminars. The festival ends on 24 October. There’s a few big names listed in the festival diary – the ones that stand out for me are Mark Thomas, … [Read more…]
Gaynor Arnold has been nominated for the Booker Prize longlist for her book ‘Girl in a Blue Dress’ which will be released by Tindal Street Press in November. This sort of thing’s getting to be old hat for Tindal Street Press, who had Catherine O’Flynn’s ‘What Was Lost’ longlisted last year. Gaynor Arnold, on the … [Read more…]
Live Box Special at The Drum This season of the Soweto Kinch-hosted Live Box draws to a close with Yusa, a young Cuban singer and multi-instrumentalist. Volunteer Placement with The Big Picture The Big Picture are after someone to spend two weeks scanning photos submitted by the general public to contribute to their world record … [Read more…]
Birmingham: England’s 2nd largest city is a true musical melting point Short vid about Birmingham’s musical heritage from Guardian.co.uk/02 Wireless “whatever your favoured musical genre, you’re sure to find it in the midlands”. Spotted by Simon Howes. Birmingham International Film Society (B.I.F.S) Facebook Group BIFS has a Facebook group. Next step, a blog with film … [Read more…]
ArtsFest – Short Cuts submissions to be in by 30 May As blogged previously but I’ve just been told the submission date is 30 May. Contact Kate Sullivan (kate.sullivan[at]birmingham.gov.uk) at ArtsFest for details/submission forms. Rhubarb Rhubarb News of “what is now known as Europe’s premiere review of the image, bringing to Birmingham 60 of the … [Read more…]