Welcome to the Bournemouth Literary Festival website!

We are alive and kicking, evaluating, fundraising and developing the festival.

Our 2009 programme, which again featured events (for all ages) with an international flavour and a particular focus on literature in lifelong learning, is now over. 

Thank you to all of the many people who helped to make it a great success: the organisers were delighted with the audience numbers and the overall level of support.  This gives us a great platform for the development of next year's festival and other events to stretch ahead into the future.

The dates for 2010 are: 22 - 28 October and the theme is: Fredoom, Books & Imagination. The events include: a literary luncheon with a top writer, poetry slam, genre-specific workshops and panel discussions, literary walk, words into pictures session, a writers' group networking party, a literary walk celebrating Bournemouth's 200 years anniversary and an event involving local charities.

Stop Press News:
We are happy to announce the pre-launch of Debut Books, a new adult literary and commercial imprint for debut writers that have never been published before nor negotiating a contract.  This is a real opportunity to get your first book published.   Debut Books will be launched in autumn 2010.  Please visit our Debut Books page for more details.


A reminder of our 2009 programme below:

Dates: Monday 12th October to Saturday 18th October 2009.

Monday 12th October, 7pm - 9.30pm, £3.50 in advance or £4.50 at the event.
Haiku Double Event
The Literary Festival will be presenting a Haiku double-event open to all: a talk / reading followed by a workshop. The first part will provide an exciting introduction to the haiku form through a number of readings and an enlightening talk that dispels many of the myths surrounding the form and opens us to its real poetic power.

Following straight on from this will be an interactive haiku workshop in which all attendees will learn how to write their own haiku. Together these events promise to be an experience to remember and it is hoped that all participants will take away with them the beginning of a life-long love affair with, and learning process of, a poetic form of deceptive simplicity.

Christopher White, published haiku poet and member of the British Haiku Society, along with a guest speaker and veteran haiku workshopper, will be presenting these two fantastic events in the hope of sharing the wonderful world of haiku literature with the general public. This form of poetry, which has its roots in Japan, has expanded globally and is finally finding its feel in languages other than Japanese. Given this it seems timely that such a beautiful poetic form should be shared with a broader audience and a greater understanding of it be promoted.

Whether you are a novice or veteran poet, begin a lifelong love affair with Haiku's deceptive simplicity. The introductory talk will be followed by an interactive workshop presented by Christopher White and David Cobb, founder of the British Haiku Society.

For more information or to book your place at this event, please call Christopher White on 07816 571167. Cheques should be made payable to Christopher Andrew White.

Ticket is £3.50 in advance or £4.50 at the event.
Venue: The Wessex Hotel, West Cliff Road, Bournemouth.  BH2 5EU.


Above: Julia Churchill, leading Children's literary scout from the Greenhouse Literary Agency.

Tuesday 13th October, 11 - 6.30 pm, £15.
Writing for Children with leading literary scout & publisher
Are you the next J.K. Rowling?
Come to this event and showcase your work to Julia Churchill, leading London Children's Literary Scout from The Greenhouse Literary Agency - www.greenhouseliterary.com. Julia is looking for unusual books or stories and will give a talk, run a question and answer session and conduct one-to-one 10-minute surgeries together with Leah Thaxton, Children's Fiction Publisher at Egmont Publishing - www.egmont.co.uk.
Ticket is £15.
Venue: Wentworth College, College Road, Bournemouth. BH5 2DY. 
The one to one surgeries were quickly fully-booked and the talk and Q&A session were also very popular with local writers, budding authors and the intrigued!


Above: the jacket of Brian Jenner's new book - "I'm just phoning to chase my invoice".

Tuesday 13th October, 7.30 - 9pm, £10.
Book launch: "I'm Just Phoning to Chase My Invoice" by Brian Jenner.
Seasoned speech writer Brian Jenner will be launching his new, humourous guide to the pitfalls of starting your own business. Brian will read excerpts from his book and answer any questions that members of the audience may have about this useful topic. There will be potential for business networking after the event itself. Brian's new book is a collection of funny stories about the perils of self-employment. Brian collects the popular quotations for The Business every month, and his book includes quotations, jokes and wisdom about the challenges of running a business. “I spent nearly three years running BoMoCreatives in the town and that gave me lots of insights and amusing stories about entrepreneurs, especially those who do creative things,” says Brian. Brian will be giving a talk on how you can improve your writing skills when composing letters, website copy or presentations for your business. This will be followed by networking in Bournemouth’s most bohemian bar.
Ticket price is £10, which includes a glass of wine and a £2 discount on Brian's new book, "I’m Just Phoning to Chase My Invoice". For more details and to book this event, please call Brian on (01202) 551257.
Venue: Conference room at the Ink Bar, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth.

 
Above left: Stephen Grey, Sunday Times reporter, on the frontline. 
Above right: David Loyn, BBC Corrrespondent.

CANCELLED - Wednesday 14th October, 6.30 - 9.00 pm, £3 in advance, £4 at the event.
The State of Afghanistan - Past, Present and Future with David Loyn, BBC Correspondent and Stephen Grey, Sunday Times reporter.
Two award-winning reporters give their gripping accounts of Aghanistan. Ask, debate and learn about the socio/political/historical contexts of Afghanistan. The evening will be chaired by retired lieutenant colonel Jeremy Ashton and includes a talk, question and answers and book signing.
Venue: Bournemouth Library, 22 The Triangle, Bournemouth BH2 5RQ.


Above: Penny Legg, chair of the "Getting into Print" panel discussion.

Thursday 15th October, 7pm - 9pm, £3 in advance, £4 at the event.
Getting into Print - various ways of getting your writing published - panel discussion featuring published writers Janine Pulford, Pam Fudge and David Hay.  This discussion will be chaired by Penny Legg, of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists.

Janine Pulford runs her own publishing company and also produces a monthly regional magazine.  She was educated in Reigate in Surrey. She is married with two sons and lives in Dorset. In 1990, she wrote her first novel, then decided to join a creative writing class to learn ‘how to write a novel’. Since then she has written two more. In the mid-nineties Janine became a columnist with her local daily paper and in 1998 she was invited to become editor of a local community magazine, Viewpoint Magazine. In 2002 she was presented with a prestigious NUJ (National Union of Journalists) award for her journalistic capability and professionalism. The following year she became a director of a publishing company and in that role she now edits four community magazines. Though she loved her work, her ambition was to publish her own novel. Aggracore has presented her with this opportunity. This inspired work started as a couple of doodles until she had fifty-four A4 size pen-and-ink doodles, which joined in all directions and almost filled the entire floor-space of her lounge. Following the illustrations, the novel took twelve weeks to write. Despite the unique concept of her work, Janine could not arouse the interest of any publishers or agents. “For this, I am grateful,” she says, “because it made me set up my own publishing company, Pulford Paperbacks, so that I could publish Aggracore myself.” She believes the format of her novel is unique - the first of its kind.

David Hay has published his epic novel "The Fundamentalist" through Authorhouse and will be on hand to describe his experiences of getting his book into print.  David was born in St Pancras, London in 1947. He was educated locally before embarking upon a career in teaching, not only in the UK but throughout Africa - Uganda (1968-69), Zambia (1970-73), Botswana (1975-78), Lesotho (1984-85), Saudi Arabia (1990-2003) and Libya (2003). He has travelled extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East. Teaching enabled him to get a close insight into people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religions. Students of all ages speak openly to their teacher. "The Fundamentalist" is his first novel, about the march of Islam to take over the world, and he is putting the finishing touches to the sequel, "The Suicide Bomber", which is due out later this year!

Pam Fudge started her writing career with short fiction and her stories have been published on a regular basis since 1984 by the majority of women’s magazines in the UK. She has also had two full-length Romances, Reluctant For Romance and Romantic Melody published in the nineties. Pam’s third book, and her first mainstream novel, Widow On The World, was published in 2006, followed by High Infidelity in 2007, A Blessing In Disguise in 2008, Second Best in 2009 and A Change For the Better has just been accepted for publication in 2010. For eleven years Pam tutored Writing For Pleasure And Profit classes for the local Adult Education Service, with a number of successes among her students. She was also a Home Study tutor for Writers News. Pam also works as an administrator at Bournemouth University.

This discussion will be chaired by Penny Legg, of the Society of Women Writers & Journalists. Penny Legg is a freelance writer, photographer and editor. Her work has been published in a number of newspapers and magazines in the UK and abroad. She is the Editor of 'The Woman Writer' for the Society of Women Writers and Journalists and is also a member of the National Union of Journalists. She is currently working on four local history books, to be published in 2010 and 2011, and is a non-fiction tutor for the distance learning college, The Writers Bureau.

Venue: The Wessex Hotel, 11-13 West Cliff Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5EU.

Friday 16th October, 7 - 10pm, £2 (advance ticket) / £3 on the door.
Bournemouth Literary Festival Five Years Birthday Party - A great opportunity to network with other literary and arty types and for us to say 'thank you' to our supporters as we celebrate the first 5 years of the festival
Party goers who still have a spring in their step and stardust in their hair will be able to stay on after our festival party and boogie the night away - in fact, into the early hours of Saturday!
Venue: Be Bar & Club, 4 Terrace Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5NN.

Saturday 17th October, 10 am - 1 pm (ages 7-11), Free.
A World of Wonder: discovering, imagining and writing folktales
This Children's Creative Storytelling includes art, writing and music and opens children to a world full of mischievious, magical and entrancing stories from England to India, Africa to New Zealand. Children will delve into stories that have been passed on through generations, write their own tales and create a collage to celebrate the stunning diversity of imagination across our plannet.
Ticket is Free and can be booked at Creative Creatures on www.creativecreatures.moonfruit.com or tel: 01929 555157.
Venue: Bournemouth Library, 22 The Triangle, Bournemouth BH2 5RQ. 

    
 
Above left: Peter John Cooper emoting!
Above centre: Keith Bennett, performance poet in full flow!
Above right: the debonair Mario Reading!

Saturday 17th October, 5.30 - 7 pm, £3 in advance or £4 at the door.
Poetry Trio Mash Up
An entertaining evening of comedy, improvisation, music, magic and poetry with the effervescent trio of: Keith Bennett, Peter John Cooper and Mario Reading.
Tickets are £3 in advance or £4 and include one drink.
Venue: The Winchester Pub, 39 Poole Hill, Bournemouth BH2 5PW.

Sunday 18th October
Bournemouth Literary Heritage Walk with John Walker, local guide and historian
Official Bournemouth guide and local historian John Walker will be leading his annual "Bournemouth's Literary Heritage" guided walk on Sunday 18th October 2009. This walk, which lasts about 1 3/4 (1.75) hours at a reasonable pace and ends at the Square, aims to cover all Bournemouth's links with the literary greats - what they wrote or said while living in and/or visiting the town. Reference will be made to Shelley, Stevenson, Hardy, Tolkien, Wilde and many more. See www.bournemouthwalks.com for further details. The walk leaves from outside St Peter's Church, Hinton Road, Central Bournemouth at 2pm on Sunday 18th October.
The cost is £3.50 per person. There is no need to book, just turn up.
For further details, contact John on Johnwal@hotmail.co.uk

For more details or to book tickets, please contact Lillian Avon on 01202 417535 or email her at: info@bournemouthliteraryfestival.co.uk

STOP PRESS - on 3 October 2008 ITV filmed a documentary on the festival which was aired in June 2009. 

Coming soon: Online discount book store selling antique, new, second hand and special edition books!  Watch this space!

A world of words!

Report on the 2008 Bournemouth Literary Festival 

"An evening in the Den with Theo Paphitis" - our headline event certainly grabbed the headlines and was mentioned in over 40 separate local, regional and national publications, on the radio and even made it onto ISSTV.


The photo shows, from left to right: David Jones (Co-Director, BLF), Theo Paphitis, Lillian Avon (Director and Founder, BLF), Steve Worth (MC for the evening) at the Opera House in Boscombe, Bournemouth.
Photo: copyright of Noel White, Rowan White Photographic, 2008.  Noel is the festival's official photographer.  Find more photos of the festival at: www.rowanwhite.co.uk

The theme for the Bournemouth Literary Festival 2008 was “International culture – a world of words”.
The organisers invited expressions of interest from international writers active in the local community (novelists, short story writers, poets, dramatists, screenwriters, etc) who were interested in participating in the 2008 festival.  The festival dates were Monday 29th September until Sunday 5th October, with most events taking place on 4th and 5th October (ie. the weekend).

Here is the Festival programme for last year's festival:

 
Left: David Jones and Lillian Avon, two of the Directors of the Bournemouth Literary Festival.
(Photo by Noel White of Rowan White Photographic).
Right: Theo Paphitis will be reading from his autobiography.

Check out Listed Magazine's recent interview with Theo, downloadable at: www.listedmagazine.com

You can also listen to the latest Festival podcasts here:
http://bournemouthliteraryfestival.mypodcast.com/index.html

Bournemouth Literary Festival 2008 – A World of Words
The arts are growing in Bournemouth and the town’s impressive literary heritage, international community and language schools are the festival’s inspiration. The festival is an annual celebration of all genres of creative writing from around the world.

See below for details of how to book a place at one of the festival events.

Please check the time and date of events with the festival organisers before setting out.  This website will show the latest information.

Monday 29th September, 2008
6.30pm – Theo Paphitis - reading and book signing session. Theo will be reading from his autobiography “Enter the Dragon”, which recounts how he travelled from Limassol in Cyprus as a young boy and went from working as a tea boy / filing clerk with Lloyds of London insurance brokers to work in retail and finance, specialising in business turnarounds. Amongst others, he purchased and turned around ailing companies like Movie Media Sports, Ryman the Stationer, and the Contessa and La Senza lingerie chains. He has been in the public eye recently because of his appearance on the successful BBC TV series Dragons’ Den and his acquisition of the experience company Red Letter Days. This session will be followed by a book signing and business networking session from about 8.15pm.
Venue: The Opera House, 570 Christchurch Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth. BH1 4BH.
Price: £30 per person (to include a drink on arrival, a copy of Theo's book and networking opportunities).
For the Theo Paphitis event, please book via the Opera House Box Office:
Telephone: 08701 98 98 98 or book online at:
http://www.operahouse.co.uk/event.php?eid=8817

 
Enter the Dragon - Theo Paphitis - interview / reading / networking session

Tuesday 30th September, 2008
6.30pm – "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” – a post-colonial perspective, by Penny Stanley, MA (Hons) Literature.  This iconic novel gives a fascinating insight into political, social and economic conditions at the beginning of the 20th Century.  It is descibed by the author, Robert Tressell, (who died in a workhouse before the book's publication) as 'twelve months in hell written by one of the damned.'  However, this realistic tale of poverty and hard labour also contains a strong sense of irony and humour, which has helped endear it to the reader.  Indeed, since 1914 it has not been out of print and has now been published in 27 different countries, most recently Turkey, and workers everywhere still seem to empathise with the characters.  Because of its consciousness-raising narrative, it has often been cited as helping the Labour Party first gain power in England.  Politicians such as Tony Benn and Neil Kinnock, and the actor Ricky Tomlinson have often claimed it as their favourite book.  Indeed, voters in the latest BBC "Big Read" poll put it ahead of the very contemporary "Bridget Jones's Diary"!  This talk shall centre on post-colonial issues such as race and class and is intended for fans of the recent radio series as well as those who have read the book, or simply students who are interested in social and political history.
Venue: ETC International College café, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

Wednesday 1st October, 2008
2pm – Louisa Parker (Manager of the Black History in Dorset project) – poetry reading and workshop. Louisa Adjoa Parker, West Dorset writer and poet of British and Ghanaian heritage says her experience of being mixed heritage informs her work. Louisa has lived in the Westcountry since the age of 13, when her family moved to South Devon, and has found her experiences both in Devon and Dorset difficult as a member of an ethnic minority. She also writes about issues of domestic violence, abusive relationships, parenting and the deaths of partners. Recently her poem 'Rag Doll' - from her critically acclaimed debt collection 'Salt-sweat and Tears' - was included in the Forward Book of Poetry 2008. Louisa also writes about Dorset's 'hidden histories' - the experiences of people of African and Caribbean descent, and worked with Development Education in Dorset to produce a book and exhibition highlighting this in 2007.  For more information about Louisa's current work, visit her website at: http://louisaadjoaparker.co.uk
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

 
Louisa Parker, poetry reading and workshop

3pm – Kazakh Music and Words. Bakhtiyar Amanzhol and his wife Gulzhan present a showcase of traditional Kazakh music, played on the dombyra, kobyz, kolkobyz and sibizgy. This event is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Venue: ETC International College café, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

4pm – Japanese calligraphy demonstration by Mr Umon Tachibana. This event is supported by the Embassy of Japan.
Venue: the Nippon Inn (Japanese Izakaya bar / restaurant), Charminster Road, Bournemouth.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

6.30pm – Sulaiman Addonia, “The Consequences of Love”. Bournemouth Literary Festival invites you to an evening with debut novelist Sulaiman Addonia, whose erotic love story reveals a sexually repressive society amid Saudi Arabia’s bustling cafés and street markets. “The Consequences of Love” (published by Chatto & Windus) is inspired by the “mysterious girls of Jeddah who made love possible with their secret love notes” and discloses a secret world where the quashing of individuality and forbidden practices elicits clandestine relationships and a culture of complicit homosexuality. Sulaiman S.M.Y. Addonia was born in Eritrea to an Eritrean mother and an Ethiopian father. He spent his early life in a refugee camp in Sudan following the Om Hajar massacre in 1976, and in his early teens he lived and studied in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has lived in London since 1990. Sulaiman says he is moved by people who strive to assert their identity under a repressive regime and admires the women and youth of Saudi Arabia who aren’t afraid to defy the system.
Venue: Boscanova Café, 650 Christchurch Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth. BH1 4BP.
Price: Free.

7.00pm - Salsa around Latin America!  Grevel Lindop author of "Travels on the Dance floor", recently serialised on Radio 4, will be speaking about his journey to South America to experience the best salsa clubs and salsa teachers in Panama, Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.  Find out how you can plan the salsa holiday of a lifetime!  This event is sponsored by http://www.pooleacademyofsalsadancing.co.uk (Salsa courses for beginners in Dorset and Hampshire - for information about salsa dancing sessions, call Duncan on 07594 772227).
Venue: Bar Ink at the Print Room, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth town centre. 
Price: Tickets will be £5 and include a tea or a coffee.  Minimum age: 18 years.  To reserve your place, please call 01202 551257.

 
Salsa around Latin America, presented by Grevel Lindop

6.30pm - Reading and book signing session by Pam Fudge from her new novel “A Blessing in Disguise”. When Alex Siddons suddenly discovers she is pregnant after twenty-five years of a childless marriage, her comfortable life is turned upside down and her relationship with her husband, Phil, hangs in the balance. Pamela Fudge has written poetry since she was a child and started writing fiction in 1983. Her first short story was accepted for publication in 1984 and since then, her short stories have been published in most of the national women’s magazines in the UK.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

8pm – Strange Sea Sighed – poetry performance by Peter John Cooper.
A funny, acerbic, witty and melancholy performance of poems from the new book by Peter John Cooper and Kate Cross counterpointed by readings from some of the literary greats who found Swanage just as weird. This is not the view of the tourist brochure and the gushing romantic.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / Adults £5. Space limited.

Thursday 2nd October, 2008
2pm – Federico Garcia Lorca – by Suzannah Spencer-George. Lorca is Spain’s most deeply appreciated poet and dramatist. His reputation puts him as one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century and the singer songwriter Leonard Cohen said that he was: “Probably my greatest influence”. He is perceived especially by readers in the English-speaking world to be the epitome of what it is to be a Spanish writer, with images of guitars and moons and the themes of violence and passion appearing throughout his work. This talk will be a personal appreciation of the man and his work, focusing in particular on the play “The House of Bernarda Alba”.
Venue: ETC International College café, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

6.30pm - International Story Writing Workshop led by Mary Scharnhorst. This workshop is designed for international students of intermediate level and above. Writing a ghost story from the participant’s culture by means of answering a set of questions, the answers to which should produce a spooky tale. There will be a prize for the best story.
Venue: ETC International College café, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: IEF or RALSA staff and students – Free / Adults - £3 /

Friday 3rd October, 2008
3pm – Reading / performance by Tena Stivicic. This event is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia.
Venue: ETC International College café, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.


Tena Stivicic

5.00pm – “Diving into Light” by Natasha Farrant. The novelist will be interviewed by speechwriter Brian Jenner.  Brian Jenner will interview Natasha about her new book, how she writes, where she gets her inspiration, her work as an agent and her experience in the world of children's books. Guests will then be able to ask questions. Costa (the cafe within Waterstones, Bournemouth town centre branch) will remain open until 6pm to allow guests to buy coffee and cakes during the event.
Venue: Waterstones bookstore, Bournemouth Arcade, Bournemouth town centre. 
Price: £3 per person.  Guests can redeem the ticket as a £2 off voucher on signed copies of Natasha's book.
To reserve your place and buy tickets for the "Diving into Light" event, please contact Brian Jenner on telephone 01202 551257, or buy them from Waterstones bookstore in Bournemouth Arcade.

 
Natasha Farrant - "Diving into Light"

5.30pm – John Kay, poetry reading session.  John Kay is a seasoned TEFL teacher and respected poet with a very impressive poetry CV, having performed at many poetry / literary festivals, won several major poetry prizes (eg. 1st prize in Ottaker’s / Faber Poetry Competition 2004) and had his poetry published in various anthologies, including "Poetry as a Foreign Language".  Check out his poetry on the following website:
Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall: www.poetrymagazines.org.uk
Venue: All Fired Up café, Bournemouth town centre.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

7pm (for 7.30pm start) – "Quotable Quotes" panel quiz, hosted by Brian Jenner and featuring a panel of VIPs.
Venue: All Fired Up café, Bournemouth town centre.
Price: £5 per person - TBC.
To reserve your place and buy tickets for the "Quotable Quotes" event, please contact Brian Jenner on telephone 01202 551257.

 
Above left: Tobias Ellwood, MP - one of the VIPs at the "Quotable Quotes" event.
Above right: Brian Jenner, host of the panel quiz.

9pm – 11.00 pm – The Rob and Jo Show – an evening of performance poetry.
This event has been moved to Sunday evening. 

Saturday 4th October, 2008
11am – “A Slice of Apple Pie: Your One Stop Guide to Living in America”. Local writer and editor Julie Musk was living happily in Frampton near Dorchester, when her husband’s job uprooted the family and took them to the States for two years. In this book, she describes the family’s experience of moving from Dorset to Ohio and passes on exclusive first-hand knowledge about life in the great US of A. Reading and signing session.
Venue: The Ink Bar at the Print Room, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth.
Price: Free. Minimum age: 18 years.

12.30pm - Selling your Father’s Bones – by Brian Schofield (former editor of the Sunday Times Travel magazine and a regular travel writer for the Sunday Times).
Brian Schofield Travel Writing Workshop incorporating readings from Brian’s book.
The former editor of the Sunday Times Travel Magazine and writer for Conde Nast Traveller, The New Statesman and the Sunday Times will offer help and guidance to budding travel writers. What information should you bring home from your travels, how do you style and structure a great piece of travel writing and, most importantly of all, how can you get your work published? The travel writer and historian’s book recounts one of the great adventure stories of the American West, the Nez Perce Exodus of 1877, in which 700 Native American men, women and children were chased for over 1,700 miles of frontier mountains, forests and torrential rivers. Four armies of the United States chased the Nez Perce, under the guidance of their charismatic Chief Joseph, towards the Canadian Border. But would they escape?
Brian Schofield's first book, Selling Your Father's Bones, combines travelogue, history and environmental studies to follow the story of the Nez Perce Native American tribe, whose exodus of 1877 is one of the great unknown adventure tales of American history. Brian, who lives in East Sussex, is a travel and features writer for the Sunday Times, the New Statesman, GQ and Arena. This workshop / reading session will be followed by a book signing session.
Venue: The Ink Bar at the Print Room, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth.
Price: Free. Minimum age: 18 years.

 
Brian Schofield, Travel Writing Workshop

3.30pm - “Finderworld” – reading and book signing session by Doreen Kellett. 
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.  Doreen and the organisers apologise to all interested parties and we aim to reschedule this event at a later date. 

 
Velta Snikere - a unique poetry performance artist

4.30pm – Velta Snikere, Marta Praulina and Marta Landmane – Latvian poetry performance, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £2 children (under 14) / £3 adults.

 
Seethrewmusic show "The Pioneers" - left: Angeline Conaghan; right: David Leahy.

7pm – Seethrewmusic show "The Pioneers". Bringing alive New Zealand poetry through a combination of story telling, visual projection and a mesmerising musical performance.
A musical tale that follows the lives of three individuals who decide to leave Victorian England to settle in the wilderness that was New Zealand 150 years ago. On the way, they encounter hardship and uncertainty, freedom and love, but most importantly the prospect of a new beginning full of possibility. Live music featuring ex-pat musicians Ben Brewer (guitar, vocals), Angeline Conaghan (vocals, guitar) and David Leahy (double bass, vocals).
Venue: ETC International College cafe (at the rear of the college), 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: £3 IEF or RALSA staff and students / £7 children (under 14) / £10 adults.

9pm - Festival party with disco.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £4 adults.
Please note that the Salsa demonstration by Latino Beat will now take place on Sunday 5th October.  (Please see below for details).

Sunday 5th October, 2008
2pm - Bournemouth's Literary Heritage - Guided Walk (max 2 hours), led by local historian John Walker. Come and hear about Bournemouth's connections with the Shelleys, R.L. Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Beardsley, Tolkien, D. H. Lawrence, Rupert Brooke, etc.
Venue: starting from St Peter's Church, Hinton Road, Bournemouth town centre. No need to book, just turn up.
Price: £3.50 per person.

3.30pm – “Your own world of words” – poetry performance and interactive workshop, led by Keith Bennett. 'An interactive workshop and reading'. Attendees produce a short piece of creative writing which they share with those present; Keith will lead the workshop and MC/critique the feedback, which will be intercut with performance pieces. The workshop aims to prove that culture has an international dynamic and we are adding to that by generating our own “world of words”.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: £3 IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

 
Keith Bennett, performance poet

5pm – Teflonstage performance - Authentic and boisterous!

The festival organisers very much appreciate what Kestrel Books and the Teflonstage theatre company did for us and we were all very impressed by their enormously entertaining “One in Five” performance.

The show offered a dynamic blast of poetry in performance, combining poetry, music, prose, wordplay and humour based on the theme of being an international student dealing with the wonderful variety of Englishes, identities, rivalries, customs, tribal behaviours, etc, in the world today.


Photo: copyright of Noel White, Rowan White Photographic, 2008. Noel is the festival's official photographer. Find more photos of the festival at: www.rowanwhite.co.uk

Aimed at international students and their teachers, the performance was followed by a presentation on the practice book “Just Connect”, which is a very-well written collection of texts, tasks and activities inspired by and focused on real, everyday English.

Authenticity was the watchword and so many of the characters and vignettes that appeared struck a chord with the audience. At one stage, the actors jeered, chanted and yelled at each other in the guise of football supporters and the atmosphere created was scarily authentic!

By turns boisterous, rhythmic, melodic and inspiring, the show gripped everyone through to its tumultuous climax.

By all accounts, the performance was a “first” for the company, but it was a resounding success in several ways. The company was brought together and rehearsed at very short notice, but they obviously get along wonderfully well and in the event, they managed to put on a superlative performance that had members of the audience all but falling off their chairs with laughter.

All in all, it was a highly entertaining show and one that the festival organisers cannot recommend highly enough. It is telling that the ELT practitioners present, including the Principal of ETC International College and several of his staff members (plus a handful of international students), also remarked that the material would lend itself perfectly to pedagogical use. The format they used is apparently very flexible, and Tony Childs-Cutler (of Kestrel Books) told us afterwards that the group can vary it according to the English language levels in the audience. They are already discussing versions for ESOL students, for example, and one for a largely British audience. They also have available some pre- and post-performance materials if teachers would like to exploit these in the classroom. Jamie, the Director, evidently has a genuine interest in theatre for educational purposes and the festival organisers are convinced that he and the company are bound for great things!

The producers have managed to put together a great team and it will be exciting to witness how the show develops in future performances. Thank you and well done to the whole team!
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.

7.30pm - late - Poetry @ The Ink Bar.  A delightful evening of poetry.  Classic and new works read by local poets.  Open mike poetry.
Venue: The Ink Bar, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth (town centre).
Price: Free.

8pm - 10.30pm - Salsa dancing demo by “Latino Beat”.
Venue: ETC International College, 24 West Hill Road, Bournemouth. BH2 5PG.
Price: Free to IEF or RALSA staff and students / £3 children (under 14) / £4 adults.
This event rounds off the festival with a splash of colour and a latin beat!

Hopefully there was something to interest everyone!

Some events are free and others require payment. To confirm your attendance at a future free event please contact Lillian Avon on telephone 01202 417535 or send an email to: info@bournemouthliteraryfestival.co.uk

To buy tickets please write a cheque made payable to LILLIAN AVON and send to BLF, 20A Parkwood Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH5 2BH.

Background / history of the Festival

The Bournemouth Literary Festival was established in October 2004 and launched with aplomb on 2nd - 4th September, 2005 with the media headline: “It’s set to be a big success, literally”. Our master of ceremonies, Tobias Ellwood, MP kicked off the ‘around the world’ launch party and guest speaker, award-winning writer and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare, mesmerised guests with a lively speech and the glamorous Thai dance troupe, ‘Stars of Siam’, wowed the audience with their flowing oriental movements.

Other artists invited to the 2005 festival were acclaimed dissident Chinese writer Ma Jian, renowned Jewish writer Howard Jacobson, Noah Messomo African drummer, storyteller and musician extraordinaire and Bournemouth-based Christine Aziz, winner of the Richard & Judy prize for new writers.

2006 saw events that fused literature with events relating to cats in literature, comedy, food, speed dating plus a short story competition, and we enjoyed the humour of Guy Browning. 

In 2007, we spread the wings of "love", "romance" and "erotica" with a world of romance evening and erotic fiction workshop and party.

The arts are growing in Bournemouth and its impressive literary heritage and language schools are the festival’s inspiration – an annual international and multicultural festival that exhibits and introduces new and old fiction and poetry set in an international arena both in original English text and translations, with music, dance and drama as a backdrop.

If you are interested in collaborating with us or helping us to develop an event, please contact Lillian Avon at: info@bournemouthliteraryfestival.co.uk or David Jones at: davidjones@etc-inter.net

Thank you for visiting our website.

Lillian Avon Director & Founder
email: info@bournemouthliteraryfestival.co.uk

The Bournemouth Literary Festival is a self-funded voluntary association.


© Lillian Avon 2008.  All rights reserved.