Now in its 14th edition, Birmingham Book Festival will be kicking off this year with a bevy of shindigs, including  all night writing sessions, pop-up book shops and workshops; spanning everything from blogging in Libya to a session on finding your own Narrative voice by local print house Tindal Street Press.

The main festival gets things rolling on the 29th September, with a Launch Party on the 4th October, that has associated and Fringe events taking place all the way up to the 13th October.  There is so much happening, that you really are best to check out the programme or their Twitter feed.

…but in my opinion, the unparalleled option to keep abreast of the fest, is to download their app! iPhone and iPad only at present, the app will give you maps, listings and news to your device. Pretty nifty.

It’s difficult to say. Especially given the research I’ve done for this piece. One thing’s certain though: that’s the introduction out of the way. So. Maybe now we can get to the point. And a giddy, feel-good, non-critical point it is too…

There’s a real slobbery bounce about the Birmingham literary scene at the mo, but a balance of vitamins and minerals as well. This spring we have news of everything from the latest release of an internationally renowned Brummie author to the ongoing investment in our creative future.

I’ll start with the former and a writer who – as a nominally ‘genre’ novelist – you may not have encountered. Roger Ellory lives in Yardley and when he was a teenager he was sent to jail for poaching. He wrote twenty-three novels before he sold his first; now he can’t stop bagging French crime-writing awards. His new book is due soon in paperback.

If you prefer murder to homicide – and a considerably more sober author biog to boot – the ever-dependable independent player Tindal Street Press present the first in a new series from former ‘young adult’ author David Belbin. You can read an extract here: http://www.tindalstreet.co.uk/news/sneak-peak-of-crime-novel-bone-and-cane

‘Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures’ said Jessamyn West, Quaker author and cousin of Richard Nixon. And if you think that’s bobbins, then you may be interested in what Candi Miller has to say on the matter. The author of ‘Salt and Honey’ opens Birmingham Book Festival’s Spring Thing on 9th April with a workshop that looks at ‘Truth, Lies and life Writing’. The Festival’s ongoing work includes the Write On! initiative, taking place in schools across the region; among the writers involved is adopted Brummie Helen Cross, who wrote ‘My Summer of Love’ and ‘Spilt Milk, Black Coffee’ and claims to find her inspiration on West Midlands Travel buses.

A bit prosaic? Then I’ll finish with Kings-Heath based author Andrew Killeen. His novels revisit and reinterpret Persian myths. His second is due out in August and I defy you to read its opening and not start counting the days:

I have a story to tell you. It is a tale of adventure, of love, and deception, of destiny and death. It is a tale of kings, and emperors, and of beautiful princesses; but also of poets, pirates, and priests. It is a story to entertain and instruct, to stir the blood, to inflame the senses, to dizzy the mind and rouse the soul…

—————

By Charlie Hill

Charlie Hill lives and works in Kings Heath. His first novel – The Space Between Things – is set in Moseley. www.charliehill.org.uk

The Spring Thing is a short festival hosted by Birmingham Book Festival, on 9 & 10 April with workshops, performances and readings going on throughout both days.

There is crime (and cake!) with Sophie Hannah, performance poetry with Nine Arches Press, the Birmingham Poet Laureate and guests, John Hegley, workshops, pigeons, personae, city gardening with the BBC’s Alys Fowler, the launch of David Lodge’s new novel A Man of Parts, new voices in fiction with Tindal Street Press and intriguing audio installation Bodies In The Library.

They’ll also have a Festival Bookshop in the conservatoire from 11am – 3.30pm.

If you fancy some freebies, they seem to be having a bit of a giveaway on their Twitter at the moment, plus they currently have 10% off booking for festival events.

The event is their third annual gathering, attracting both emerging and established writers along with those involved in the writing industry, including publishers, producers, agents and various organisations. The day is a great opportunity to learn about the business side of being a writer and to network through a mix of panel discussions and Q&A sessions.

For more information on who’s attending and booking, take a look at the Writing West Midlands website.

The deadline for booking is Friday 12 November, and costs £32 (£26 concession).

Anyway, I’ve had an invite to the launch of a publication celebrating the ‘vitality, innovation and diversity’ of this group that comprises:

• Bass Festival
• Birmingham Book Festival
• Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival
• Fierce Festival
• Flatpack Festival
• Rhubarb Rhubarb
• Supersonic Festival

[* not sure what I’m implying here]

**UPDATE**

Ah, it is a Proper Thing, I’ve found a blog post about it and a picture too:

We’ve never had a caption competition on CiB as far as I can remember. Just a thought…

**Another UPDATE**

Ask and you shall receive – this was submitted to the CiB email address:

Splendid.

Published by Punch and OOM Gallery, Birmingham based photographer Pogus Caesar is releasing a book entitled ‘Musik Kinda Sweet‘, which collects his iconic photographs of black performers over the last twenty five years.

This evocative and nostalgic book captures candid snaps on the city streets, along with the contrasting vibrant energy by the stage, including photographs of Stevie Wonder, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Grace Jones and Jay-Z. All of his images were shot on 35mm black and white film, with each negative developed by hand – a far cry from today’s heavily digital performance photography.

The book launch will take place as part of Birmingham Book Festival on 15 October on 6.45pm at mac‘s Terrace Gallery.

Signed copies of the book will be available to buy via the Punch website from 16 October.

The programme of events for this years Birmingham Book Festival has been announced

Taking place from 5 – 21 October, the festival welcomes writers of all kinds, from journalists to novelists, and hosts a variety of events including workshops, lectures and the Fringe Festival. A few highlights include:

Novelists Jonathan Coe and David Nicholls, who also writes for television will be at the Conservatoire on 7 October at 7.15pm.

Join Jenny Eclair for ‘Chin Up Britain!’ at the Library Theatre on 14 October at 6.45pm, where the comedian and novelist will bring helpful and hilarious tips for austere living.

Award winning journalist Fatima Bhutto will be speaking about Songs of Sweat Blood and Sword, her memoir of growing up in Pakistan’s ruling dynasty, at the Conservatoire on 14 October at 8pm.

Novelist and journalist Lionel Shriver will be at the Conservatoire on 19 October to talk about her latest book So Much For That, at 7.15pm.

The Fringe Festival, in association with Birmingham Libraries, is part of a free wider programme which runs through Autumn. Together the Fringe Lounge will host some of the events during the Birmingham Book Festival.

Taking place at the Conservatoire on 5 October at 7.45pm, the Festival Lecture will ask ‘ What is a City’s Culture’, along with the discussion on Birmingham’s own ‘culture’.

Ikon are also joining in, with a workshop in Hitchcock’s Hallway installation.

You can download the full programme or visit their website for all of the events. Booking can also be done online or by calling 0121 303 2323

Birmingham Book Festival are having an extra one-day festival on 29 May this year. The line-up of events (shamelessly nicked from their website) looks like this:

• National Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy returns to Birmingham for another much-anticipated reading.
• Novelist Helen Dunmore talks about her new novel Betrayal.
• Novelists Amanda Smyth (Black Rock), Aifric Campbell (The Semantics Of Murder, The Loss Adjustor) and Samantha Harvey (The Wilderness) talk about their writing experiences.
• Writer, Presenter and Broadcaster Stuart Maconie talks about his Adventures on the High Teas and that elusive ‘middle England’.
• Poet Jo Bell and Novelist Jenn Ashworth come together in Too Much Information, ‘wise wicked and witty words from two lively writers’.

It’ll be held at Birmingham Conservatoire, there’s more detail here and tickets are on sale.

An outdoor dance spectacular that’s part of Birmingham Town Hall‘s 175th birthday celebrations. They’re hoping for up to have had up to 12,000 people take part. It’s being performed on Friday 9 October at 8pm and Saturday 10 October at 3pm and 8pm – and you can learn the steps half an hour before each performance.

It’s part of the People Dancing programme and there’s plenty more info on westmidlandsdance.com and the Bollywood Steps website.

Birmingham Poet Laureate Inaugral Reading

Tonight, at the Library Theatre, our new poet laureate, announced yesterday as Adrian Johnson (ACE West Mids Literature Officer), will be performing for the first time in his official capacity.

Info on the Birmingham Book Festival website.

Goings on in Digbeth

Nicky Getgood, on Digbeth is Good, has linked to a fair amount of interesting stuff happening:

• Eastside Studio are holding an Open Studio on Saturday afternoon from midday to 5pm to ‘celebrate the completion of carving the ‘Rugby Writers’ commission’
• Also on Saturday, VIVID are taking part in The Big Draw with a variety of artists getting visitors to interact with their work

UPDATE – Oops, cheers to Nicky Getgood for pointing out the next one is on Sunday 18 October:

• On Sunday Nikki Pugh is doing a GPS-assisted walk around “the perimeter of the regeneration area taking great care to stop, investigate, prod, document, tell stories about and explore things along the way”

Also, see the comments for more free stuff this weekend.