Past Events | Worcestershire Literary Festival

Calendar of Events

March 1, 2012

Parole Parlate: The Spoken Word With Special Guest Theo Theobald, Worcestershire Poet Laureate

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is back on Thursday 1st March 2012 and is a dedicated spoken word and “music that tells a story” platform. If you would like the chance to read your short stories, poems, prose, try out your performance poetry or music that tells a story, this evening is for you!

We will also be launching our competition to find the next Worcestershire Poet Laureate at this event. So if you would like to find out more about how you can enter to become our second Bard of Worcestershire we would be delighted to see you and answer your questions.

Hosted by Little Venice in Worcester, there will be a full bar service, cakes/snacks and you can of course take advantage of their full menu and enjoy their delicious pizzas, pastas or salads. Try out their £7.95 menu which includes a main course and a drink.

Already confirmed to perform on February 2nd:

Lyndsay Stanberry-Flynn
Amanda Bonnick
Fergus McGonigal
Beth “Knuckles” Edwards
Nathan Williams
Sue Thompson
Rowan Standish-Haynes – Worcestershire’s second Young Poet Laureate

Plus a very special performance by Worcestershire’s first ever Poet Laureate, Theo Theobald. Theo will also be talking about his time as Poet Laureate and how you can benefit from winning the title of Worcestershire Poet Laureate.

ENTRY FEE AND HOW TO PAY

The entry fee for this event is £3.00 on the door, but if you pay in advance using Paypal the entry fee is reduced to £2.00.

Please visit our facebook shop – www.facebook.com/worcslitfest or pay below using paypal:

We will then email you an entry ticket on receipt of payment via paypal. NB – if you are purchasing more than one ticket, please enter the amount you need in the quantity section on the paypal page.

Please note that all money raised will go towards funding these events and future Worcestershire Literary Festival events.

TAKING PART AND PERFORMING

If would like a slot to perform on one of these dates please let us know by emailing info@worcslitfest.com, leave a post on the wall of this event or visit www.facebook.com/worcslitfest and leave a post on the wall.

Performers get free entry, a choice of an alcoholic or soft drink and cake for taking part.

ADVANCE INFORMATION

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is on the first Thursday of every month, so advance dates for your diary will be:

Thursday 5th April 2012
Thursday 3rd May 2012
Thursday 21st June 2012 – Worcestershire Literary Festival “Parole Parlate” Special

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 1st March for an amazing night of spoken word and poetry performances.

Start:	March 1, 2012 7:30 pm
End:	March 1, 2012 10:00 pm
Address:	Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Cost:	£2.00 in advance, £3.00 on the door

February 19, 2012

Learn : Eat : Perform With Ben Mellor – 19/2/2012

The first in our series of Learn : Eat Perform workshops will take place on Sunday 19th February 2012, 11.00am till 3.00pm at Worcester Arts Workshop and will be lead by Ben Mellor.

More Information About Ben Mellor

BBC Radio 4 National Slam Champion 2009, Ben is a writer, performer and educator who has performed his work nationally and internationally at venues and events including Contact Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe, Latitude Festival, the RSC’s New Work Festival and Kathmandu International Theatre Festival.

He was Commonword’s poet-in-residence after winning the Dike Omeje Slam Poetry Award. He presented his first solo theatre show, Voices of Dissent, in 2008 and plans to tour the piece nationally by bicycle.

Ben is also a founder member of new spoken word collective, Pen-ultimate, whose debut show, A Night On The Tiles, was a sellout success in Manchester and will tour nationally in 2010/11.

Ben is an experienced workshop facilitator and has delivered educational programmes to diverse groups including young offenders and adult mental health survivors. His workshop interests include creative writing (poetry, lyrics, scripts and stories), drama and performance skills, basic beat-boxing and theatre of the oppressed.

www.moksha-arts.org

ENTRY FEE AND HOW TO PAY

This workshop costs £6.00 in advance of the event or £7.00 on the door of the event.

Please visit www.worcslitfest.com to pay in advance using paypal.

We hope to see you all at this exciting workshop, which gives you the chance to:

Learn – from some of the top performance poets in the UK

Eat – share lunch with other like-minded poets and budding poets, while sharing hints and tips.

Perform – put into practice what you have learnt by reading your poetry to a group for feedback.

Buy Tickets For This Event Now Using Paypal:

Start:	February 19, 2012 11:00 am
End:	February 19, 2012 3:00 pm
Venue:	Worcester Arts Workshop
Phone:	01905 24435
Address:	21 Sansome Place, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR1 1HB, United Kingdom
Cost:	£6.00 in advance, £7.00 on the door on the day.

February 2, 2012

Parole Parlate: The Spoken Word With Special Guest Richard Tyrone Jones

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is back on Thursday 2nd February 2012 and is a dedicated spoken word and “music that tells a story” platform. If you would like the chance to read your short stories, poems, prose, try out your performance poetry or music that tells a story, this evening is for you!

Already confirmed to perform on February 2nd:

Michael R Brush
Catherine Crosswell
Michelle Crosby
Amanda Bonnick

Plus a very special performance by Richard Tyrone Jones

ENTRY FEE AND HOW TO PAY

The entry fee for this event is £3.00 on the door, but if you pay in advance using Paypal the entry fee is reduced to £2.00.

Please visit our facebook shop – www.facebook.com/worcslitfest or pay below using paypal:

Please note that all money raised will go towards funding these events and future Worcestershire Literary Festival events.

TAKING PART AND PERFORMING

Performers get free entry, a choice of an alcoholic or soft drink and cake for taking part.

ADVANCE INFORMATION

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is on the first Thursday of every month, so advance dates for your diary will be:

Thursday 1st March 2012
Thursday 5th April 2012
Thursday 3rd May 2012
Thursday 7th June 2012
Thursday 21st June 2012 – Worcestershire Literary Festival “Parole Parlate” Special

Start:	February 2, 2012 7:30 pm
End:	February 2, 2012 10:00 pm
Venue:	Little Venice (upstairs)
Phone:	0190524435
Address:	1 - 3 St Nicholas Street, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR1 3LD, United Kingdom
Cost:	£2.00 in advance, £3.00 on the door

January 5, 2012

Parole Parlate: The Spoken Word – New Year Special With The Decadent Divas

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is back on Thursday 5th January 2012 and is a dedicated spoken word and “music that tells a story” platform. If you would like the chance to read your short stories, poems, prose, try out your performance poetry or music that tells a story, this evening is for you!

Already confirmed to perform on January 5th:

Suz Winspear
Nathan Williams
Edward Unique
Shabz Ahmed
Tony Judge
Ruth Stacey
David Calcutt

Plus a very special performance by The Decadent Divas, which is the creation of Charlie Jordan (past Birmingham Poet Laureate), Maggie Doyle (Birmingham Poet Laureate finalist and Bard of Worcestershire finalist), Lorna Meehan (poet and actor) and Laura Yates. They launched themselves on an unsuspecting public at The Mac Theatre, Birmingham during the Birmingham Arts Festival this year, where they received an extremely warm welcome. Further performances in Birmingham have included the Highlight Comedy Club, Rhymes and The Road House. This foursome wittily, nostalgically and, on occasions, poignantly, take you through their various decades from twenties to sixties via chatty conversation on a “girls night in”. Skillfully crafted in their personal styles there is something for all, even men!

ENTRY FEE AND HOW TO PAY

The entry fee for this event is £3.00 on the door, but if you pay in advance using Paypal the entry fee is reduced to £2.00.

Please visit our facebook shop – www.facebook.com/worcslitfest to pay via paypal or pay via paypal below:

Please note that all money raised will go towards funding these events and future Worcestershire Literary Festival events.

TAKING PART AND PERFORMING

Performers get free entry, a choice of an alcoholic or soft drink and cake for taking part.

ADVANCE INFORMATION

“Parole Parlate : The Spoken Word” is on the first Thursday of every month, so advance dates for your diary will be:

Thursday 2nd February 2012
Thursday 1st March 2012
Thursday 5th April 2012
Thursday 3rd May 2012
Thursday 7th June 2012
Thursday 21st June 2012 – Worcestershire Literary Festival “Parole Parlate” Special.

Start:	January 5, 2012 7:30 pm
End:	January 5, 2012 10:00 pm
Venue:	Little Venice (upstairs)
Phone:	0190524435
Address:	1 - 3 St Nicholas Street, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR1 3LD, United Kingdom
Cost:	£2.00 in advance, £3.00 on the door

December 18, 2011

Learn: Eat: Perform – Performance Poetry Workshop Led By Rob Gee

The Worcestershire Literary Festival in association with Apples and Snakes is proud to announce the latest in our series of Learn: Eat: Perform workshops, taking place at the Arts Workshop in Worcester on the third Sunday of every month.

This workshop will be led by Rob Gee.

Poet, comic, and reformed psychiatric nurse, Rob has performed over 2000 shows around the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. He’s performed with Harold Pinter, Jo Brand, Alan Carr, Frankie Boyle and Jimmy Carr, and won numerous poetry slams, including The Arts Council’s Lit Up Slam and BBC2’s Why Poetry Matters Slam. He leads poetry and comedy workshops with mental health service users, and is sometimes sent into schools as a warning to children.

www.robgee.co.uk

Take part in a workshop in the morning – have a wonderful lunch – then put into practise what you have learnt at the morning workshop. So you simply Learn: Eat: Perform.

Eat at lunchtime in Cafe Bliss, who have a wide range of different cuisines available.

Book your tickets via Paypal belowor visit our Facebook shop

Start:	December 18, 2011 11:00 am
End:	December 18, 2011 3:00 pm
Venue:	Worcester Arts Workshop
Phone:	0190521095
Address:	21 Sansome Street, Worcester, WR1 1UH, United Kingdom
Cost:	£6.00 in advance - £7.00 on the door

November 24, 2011

’60th Lovatt Lecture in Geography – Worcestershire: an England in miniature?’ Mike Parker

Thursday 24^th November ~ 6.00pm ~ Urwin Lecture Theatre

Urwin Lecture Theatre, Edward Elgar Building, University of Worcester

St John’s Campus, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ

Mike is the author of the bestselling Map Addict, described by The Daily Telegraph as an “excellent book on the pleasures of maps and navigation … a withering attack on the infantilisation of the SatNav age”. His follow-up book, The Wild Rover is a passionate celebration of our rights of way network, and an examination of its chequered history. Veteran author Jan Morris describes it as “a wonderfully exhilarating literary excursion on and off a hundred beaten tracks”. Mike grew up in Kidderminster but has written and presented numerous TV programmes on his adopted home territory of Wales including the phenomenally popular Great Welsh Roads. He also wrote the cult book Neighbours From Hell?, a passionate polemic about the history of English attitudes to their nearest neighbours. He has written or co-written ten guide books, including five editions of the Rough Guide to Wales, and he occasionally performs as an actor and stand-up comedian.

Date:	November 24, 2011
Venue:	Urwin Theatre
Address:	Edward Elgar Building, University of Worcester, Worcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom

November 23, 2011

Worcester Poetry Christmas Trees – Send In Your Poetry Submissions

With the Christmas holidays just around the corner, we wanted to find a way to celebrate the festive season. This year the Worcestershire Literary festival will be putting up two poetry trees in Worcester town centre.

One tree in Reindeer Court will be for adult poetry contributions, and one tree in the Crowngate Shopping Centre will be for poetry contributions from our under 16 poets. The theme is Generosity.

We will display the best 50 poems submitted per group, written on ornaments, on each tree. The trees will be on display from November 23rd 2011 until January 2nd 2012.

If you would like to submit a poem, please send your submission to taliah.drayak@googlemail.com, by November 21st 2011. Poems must be no more than 24 lines long.

Start:	November 23, 2011
End:	January 2, 2012
Venue:	Reindeer Court & The Crowngate Shopping Centre
Phone:	0190524435
Address: Google Map	Worcester, WR1 1HB, United Kingdom
Cost:	Free

November 20, 2011

Learn: Eat: Perform – Performance Poetry Workshop – Led By Jo Bell

The Worcestershire Literary Festival in association with Apples & Snakes is proud to announce the second in the Autumn 2011 series of Learn : Eat : Perform workshops, with a highly anticipated one run by Jo Bell on Sunday 20th November 2011.

More Information About Jo Bell:

Jo Bell pops up everywhere in the contemporary UK poetry scene. She is a poet, project manager, producer and promoter. Since 2006 she has directed National Poetry Day in the UK. This year she was the co-programmer of Ledbury Poetry Festival, the UK’s largest, with Jonathan Davidson.

She has been a poet in residence for Glastonbury Festival and for the Royal Derby Hospital. Collaborations include work within the Companion Stones project, and live poetry shows with other artists. She produces and performs poetry shows such as Fourpenny Circus, nominated for the Ted Hughes Award in 2010. She is a former Cheshire Poet Laureate and her play First Person about the explorer Gertrude Bell was performed at Chester Literature Festival. She was the co-creator with David Calcutt of the hugely popular eavesdropping/ writing project Bugged and is poetry editor at the online journal, Word Gumbo.

www.bell-jar.co.uk

Workshop Cost & How To Pay:

This workshop costs £6.00 in advance, or £7.00 on the door on the day.

You can pay in advance via paypal below:

Start:	November 20, 2011 11:00 am
End:	November 20, 2011 3:00 pm
Venue:	Worcester Arts Workshop
Phone:	0190521095
Address:	21 Sansome Street, Worcester, WR1 1UH, United Kingdom
Cost:	£6.00 in advance - £7.00 on the door

November 10, 2011

Registering Your Events For The Worcestershire Literary Festival 2012

The programming team at WLF HQ are currently wading through the applications for events that have already been received and we have been overwhelmed by the quality of the applications. The 2012 festival is already looking to be a very exciting and amazing event.

For the inaugural 2011 festival we opened the doors far and wide and had a myriad of different events, workshops, talks and seminars to choose from. Sadly some of these did not reach us until very close to the festival itself, and this unfortunately caused some problems.

In 2012 our message about the festival and the events that we will choose to undertake is quality over quantity. We want to make the festival as accessible to all as possible but with limited funding and staffing in place we have decided to put a cap on the amount of events that the festival undertakes to organise and promote in 2012, and so we will be arranging and hosting no more than 40 individual events in Worcester, including the appointment ceremony of the second Worcestershire Poet Laureate and the second Worcestershire Poetry Slam Championship. It was always intended that the “hub” or “capital” of the festival would be Worcester, with other events taking place in other locations within the County.

Organisations in other areas of Worcestershire may organise their own events under the festival banner but these events must be completely self organised, self managed and self contained.

There will be a separate programme of children’s events, organised by Taliah Drayak.

We will be starting the process of confirming events, performers and speakers and choosing the ones we would like to have in the 2012 festival so if you would still like to take part and you would like to be considered as a speaker, run a workshop or run other events you need to submit your event application forms to us as soon as possible.

The official closing date for event applications to reach us is February 28^th 2012, but the sooner you get them to us the sooner we can look at whether we would like to include your event in our programme.

You can download the event application form here:

Worcestershire Literary Festival – Event Application Form 2012

We look forward to receiving your event submissions, and if you have any questions at all please feel free to contact the Festival team on 01905 24435 or email info@worcslitfest.com.

Lisa Ventura
Festival Director, Founder & Chairman
On behalf of the Worcestershire Literary Festival Committee

Start:	November 10, 2011
End:	February 28, 2012
Venue:	The Worcestershire Literary Festival Office
Phone:	0190524435
Address: Google Map	County House, St Mary's Street, Worcester, WR1 2HU

October 31, 2011

Gothic Horror Halloween

Halloween is nearly upon us…. And as the dark season draws near, and shadows grow in the firelight, we have a particularly Dark celebration in mind….

The Worcester Vigornia Rotary Club is staging a special Halloween night of Gothic tales around the bonfire…..

Join us, as some of the most talented and accomplished writers and performers in the region brave the All-Hallows moonlight, and send shivers tip-toeing down your spines…..

Tickets can be purchased on arrival at the gate. All proceeds go to Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign.

FOOD (Included in Ticket Price):
Baked Potatoes, Cheese, Chilli, etc.

DRINKS (Not Provided):
Please bring your own drink (paper cups will be provided)

DRESS:
Halloween Dress positively encouraged. Please wear sturdy shoes (bumpy field) & bring a torch (limited street lights).

Start:	October 31, 2011 6:30 pm
End:	October 31, 2011 10:00 pm
Venue:	Hillcrest
Phone:	0190524435
Address:	Bromyard Road, Crown East, Worcester, WR2 5TR, United Kingdom
Cost:	£7.50