Programme
Events will be posted on the website as they are confirmed, so keep checking back to see who we've got lined up…
Main Programme – Gala Theatre
Monday 20th October: Kate Atkinson
Critically acclaimed and universally popular author Kate Atkinson will be interviewed by Durham University's Head of English, Patricia Waugh.
Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. She is the author of a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World, and of the critically acclaimed novels Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories, and One Good Turn.
The publication of a new novel by Kate Atkinson has become a major event in the literary calendar. In her new book, When Will There Be Good News?, which effects a third outing for her much acclaimed fictional detective, Jackson Brodie, she produces a virtuoso display to produce one of the most engrossing, brilliantly written and piercingly insightful novels of this or any year.
Tuesday 21st October: Mark Thomas - Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola and its logo are everywhere. In our homes, our workplaces, even our schools. It is a company that sponsors the Olympics, backs US presidents and even re-brands Santa Claus. A truly universal product, it has even been served in space.
From Istanbul to Mexico City, Mark travels the globe investigating the stories and people Coca-Cola's iconic advertising campaigns don't stretch to mentioning: Child labourers in the sugar cane fields of El Salvador, a Colombian deliveryman threatened with death by vigilantes simply for joining a trade union, and many other stories.
Provocative, funny and stirring, Belching Out the Devil uncovers the truth behind one of the planet's biggest brands.
Sunday 26th October: Ian McMillan Talking Myself Home
Ian's new verse autobiography, Talking Myself Home (John Murray Publishing, Oct'08) is a few ripples in a pond far from the centre of things, a few lines written in celebration and commemoration of places and times that deserve better. In another way it's a shout of hope, that we can find the centre anywhere and celebrate it. Well on his way to becoming a National Treasure, Ian McMillan hosts weekly words show The Verb on R3. He's been a regular on Newsnight Review, The Mark Radcliffe Show, The Today Programme, You & Yours and Have I Got News For You? He was recently celebrated by The South Bank Show. His poetry shows are the stuff of legend. Cats make him sneeze. www.ian-mcmillan.co.uk
Fringe Programme
Friday 17th October 6pm: Debut Poetry: Paul Batchelor, Frances Leviston, Kathryn Simmonds
These three emerging poets have each received a prestigious Eric Gregory Award for writers under 30 and their work has appeared in the country's most respected poetry magazines and newspapers. This year their debut collections will place them in the literary spotlight.
Paul Batchelor's debut is The Sinking Road (Bloodaxe)
Frances Leviston's debut is Public Dream (Picador)
Kathryn Simmonds's debut is Sunday at the Skin Launderette (Seren)
7.30pm: Colpitts Poetry present Paul Durcan
Poet Paul Durcan was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 16 October 1944. He was educated at University College, Cork, where he studied archaeology and medieval history.
In 1974 he won the Patrick Kavanagh Award, and published his first collection O Westport in the Light of Asia Minor in 1975. Subsequent collections include The Selected Paul Durcan (1982), Jesus and Angela (1988) and Cries of an Irish Caveman: New Poems (2001), a central theme of which is death and disintegration. His 1985 collection, The Berlin Wall Café, a series of poems about the break-up of his marriage, was a Poetry Book Society choice and is regarded by many critics as his most important work.
He was Poet in Residence at the Frost Place, New Hampshire, in 1985, and Writer in Residence at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1990. He was awarded the Irish American Cultural Institute Poetry Award in 1989 and his collection Daddy, Daddy (1990) won the Whitbread Poetry Award. He was joint winner of the 1995 Heinemann Award. His most recent collections of poetry are The Art of Life (2004), and The Laughter of Mothers (2008).
Sunday 19th October 1.30pm: Workshop 'Writing a Synopsis'
Debbie Taylor leads a workshop for novelists, preferably with a novel close to completion, with exercises that involve mapping out the narrative arc of the book.
6pm: Vane Women book launch
Vane Women is a writers' collective from the North of England who run a Press and workshops and are performers on the stage as well as on the page. They take their name from Darlington Arts Centre's address at Vane Terrace – their base camp.
They will be launching two new books:
Love in Vane anthology
Lindsay Balderson, Stripping the Blackthorn
Monday 20th October 6pm: Avril Joy
A first novel from this North East based author, The Sweet Track (Flambard), is set on the Somerset flats, exploring themes of friendship and reconciliation. The book was awarded a Northern Promise Award by New Writing North. Until recently Avril worked at Low Newton Women's Prison near Durham.
Wednesday 22nd October 6pm: ID on Tyne
Sheree Mack, Crista Ermiya, Shirley-Anne Emmerson, Maggie Tate and Catherine Graham
Thursday 23rd October 10am – 4pm: New Writing North Regional Roadshow
- 10 - 12 am:
- Professional Development Planning workshop for writers - create a plan of how to develop your creative ambitions
- 12 - 1pm:
- Writers’ Lunch and Launch of the Northern Writers' Awards 2009
- 1 - 2pm:
- From Blog to Book - How can writers utilise new opportunities on the web to enhance and develop their work?
With Judith O'Reilly (author of Wife in the North and www.wifeinthenorth.com), and a London Literary Agent who specialises in blog writing and publishing. - 2.30 - 4pm:
- One to One surgeries for writers with NWN staff and agents (to be booked in advance – see www.newwritingnorth.com for more details from 1st September)
7pm: Storytelling ‘Shaped by the Wind’
An evening of storytelling and music with Storyteller Pascale Konyn and Musician Callum Stewart, with stories of restlessness and transit in search of a sense of place.
Friday 24th October 7:30pm: Colpitts Poetry present Arnold Wesker
Arnold Wesker, considered one of the key figures in 20th Century drama, is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings. His plays have been translated into 17 languages, and performed worldwide. 2002 celebrated his 70th birthday and his 45th year as a playwright. 2006 celebrates his knighthood.
