Writing on the Wall festival brochure 2012

Crew mates include: Benjamin Zephaniah Rebel Rant, Owen Jones Chavs, Mike Carey Sci-fi, Ahdaf Soueif Arab Spring, Peter Hitchens Mail on Sunday, Pauline Black The Selecter, Gillian Slovo Feral Britain, Brian Turner War Poetry, Peter Hooton The End, Eamonn McCann Bloody Sunday, Bidisha The Guardian, Francis Wilson Titanic on Trial, Danny Dorling Fair Play.

www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Below Decks: 28th April – 31st May If Liverpool were to set sail on one of the many ships that have left its shores, Below Decks, where Garrett’s ‘Subterranean Theatre’ puts in its nightly shift, is where it would find itself. WoW’s Annual Festival will celebrate all things beneath the water line.

Buying Tickets Unless otherwise stated all tickets available from The Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, L1 9BG. Tel: 0844 873 2888 or to purchase online and for all further details visit www.writingonthewall.org.uk For access and BSL signing contact WoW on 0151 703 0020 or email info@writingonthewall.org.uk

Saturday 28th April

Thursday 3rd May

All aboard with Julie McNamara and pirates, plotters & poets, as WoW sets sail for a month-long voyage of discovery.

Join the Pirate Party, the Open Rights Group and Ian Prowse (Amsterdam) to discuss the rights and wrongs of copyright theft and downloading.

Below Decks Festival Launch

Copyright & Piracy in the Digital Age

Stavros S Niarchos, Liverpool Cruise Terminal, Princes Parade, L3 1DL 7.30pm £15/£12 (inc drinks)

The Attic, 33-45 Parr Street, L1 4JN 7pm-9pm £4/£2

Tuesday 1st May

Feral Britain

A Rebel Rant with Benjamin Zephaniah Multiculturalism or Muscular Liberalism?

One of the UK’s greatest poets and storytellers, Benjamin Zephaniah, explores issues of race, culture & identity. In partnership with Diverse Voices Award.

The Small Concert Room, St Georges Hall, L1 1JJ 7.30pm £9/£6

Wednesday 2nd May The War Tour

Friday 4th May Feral youth or feral elite? Join writers Gillian Slovo and Deborah Morgan, community activist Earl Jenkins and others for an event that should be as explosive as it’s subject matter.

The Bluecoat, School Lane, L1 3BX 7.30pm £6/£4 Tickets available from Bluecoat boxoffice 0151 702 5324 or online www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Saturday 5th May

Gillian Slovo Book Signing

Gillian Slovo reading from her latest novel An Honourable Man.

Poet and former U.S. soldier, Brian Turner, visiting in partnership with The Reader Organisation, writer Zoë Lambert, and the Liverpool premiere of Bullets and Daffodils, a musical drama based on First World War poet, Wilfred Owen.

News From Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, L1 4HY 2.00pm Free

The Casa, 29 Hope Street, L1 9BQ 7.30pm £6/£4

Manchester’s premier performance poetry collective pays respects to Gil Scot Heron and the music of Jill “Golden” Scott.

Saturday 5th May

Speakeasy presents: Scotts on the RoX

Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre, 4 Princes Road, L8 1TH 7.30pm £6/£4

Tuesday 8th May

Spare Rib to Slutwalks

Liz Kelly, Bidisha, Helen Walsh & Helen Millne ask ‘Has the women’s movement really moved on?’

The Women’s Organisation, 54 St James Street, L1 0AB (opposite Chung Wah Supermarket and St Vincent’s Church) 7pm £6/£4

Wednesday 9th May

77 RPM – The Titanic, the Clock and the Dock

The Titanic – speed, deference and resistance on the waterfront.

With Tony Wailey & Ian Morris.

Sunday 13th May

Hacked Off & the Death of News of the World

Tom Watson MP, campaigners and journalists discuss one of the major scandals of our time.

The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, L1 5EW (next to the Chinese arch) 6pm £6/£4

Tuesday 15th May

Bloody Sunday and the Children of Conflict?

Eamonn McCann and Phil Scraton explore the aftermath of Bloody Sunday 30 years on.

The Casa, 29 Hope Street, L1 9BQ 7.30pm £6/£4

The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, L1 5EW (next to the Chinese arch) 7pm £5/£3

Thursday 10th May

Wednesday 16th May

99% of Nothing: Can change Ever Come from Below?

Join Danny Dorling (Fair Play), Peter Hitchens (Mail on Sunday) and others to discuss Occupy and the recent protest movements.

The Bluecoat, School Lane, L1 3BX 6.30pm £6/£4 Tickets available from Bluecoat boxoffice 0151 702 5324 or online www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Friday 11th May

Flash Fiction at the End of the World

National Flash Fiction Day: Readings from Sci-fi author Mike Carey who announces the winner of our on-line Flash Fiction Competition. Read the entries to our competition online or see our Flash Fiction Exhibition at Fact throughout May. 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4DQ. Studio 2, 33-45 Parr Street, L1 4JN 7pm £4/£2

Made in Dagenham with William Ivory

Thursday 17th May

Fact, 88 Wood Street, L1 4DQ 6.30pm £8/£6

Toxteth Library, Windsor Street, L8 1XF 6.30pm £3/£2

Q&A with screenwriter William Ivory and screening of the BAFTA nominated portrayal of the battle of Ford’s female machinists for equal pay.

Saturday 12th May

Derry/Londonderry – So Good They Named it Twice!

Writer Dave Duggan, poet Gerard McKeown and singer/songwriter Alan Burke - a night of drama, poetry and song looking forward to Derry 2013.

With Croxteth Communiversity.

Alt Valley Skills Centre, Parkstile Lane, Croxteth, L11 0BS 8 till late £6/£4

Book Launch - Dave Duggan A Sudden Sun News From Nowhere, Bold Street 2pm

Was Dickens a Radical?

Deborah Mulhearn, (Mersey Minis) explores Dickens’ social and radical legacy in this bicentenary year of celebration.

Friday 18th May

Black by Design with Pauline Black

Lead-singer of Two-Tone Ska legends The Selecter delivers an evening of readings and solo acoustic classics.

The Rodewald Suite, Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, L1 9BP 8pm £10/£6 Tickets available from The Philharmonic box-office 0151 709 3789 or online www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Saturday 19th May

Monday 28th May

Ken Worpole, Tony Wailey and Francis Boyce launch the George Garrett Archive Project. Exhibition of newly discovered archive of George Garrett’s life & work in the Bluecoat Creative Hub throughout May.

June Francis grew up in Liverpool and has now had thirty books published.

Her latest, It Had to Be You, is set in the North-West in the 1950’s.

George Garrett – A Stoker with Punch

The Bluecoat, School Lane, L1 3BX 1pm £4/£2 Tickets available from Bluecoat boxoffice 0151 702 5324 or online www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Saturday 19th May

Eight Legs Good - a Spider Project retrospective

A tenth anniversary celebration of Spider’s work featuring film, poetry performance and prose.

The Bluecoat, School Lane, L1 3BX 8pm Free but ticket required Tickets available from Bluecoat boxoffice 0151 702 5324 or online www.writingonthewall.org.uk

Tuesday 22nd May – Thursday 24th May Waiting for Brando

Premiere of debut play by Mike Morris & Steve Higginson, directed

by Carl Cockram, starring Paul Duckworth and Joe Shipman. www.waitingforbrando.co.uk The Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, L1 9BG 8pm £10/£8

Friday 25th May Titanic on Trial

The Titanic still excites and provokes the imagination. Join the discussion with authors Frances Wilson, Nic Compton, Steve Turner & Alan Scarth. Ragtime music and more.

Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool Waterfront, L3 4AQ

7pm £15/£12 (incl. drink on arrival)

Saturday 26th May The Art of Rhyme

WoW & URBEATZ present… performances by some of Liverpool’s best young Urban poets and writers.

The Brink, 15-21 Parr Street, L1 4JN 8pm Free Entry

For the Love of Liverpool An Evening with Romantic Novelist June Francis

Trinity Methodist Church Hall, High St, Skelmersdale WN8 8AT. 7.30pm

Tuesday 29th May

Chavs, Scavs and Hijabs

Owen Jones (Chavs) will be joined by Peter Hooton (The Farm, The End), Phil Thornton (Casuals), and activist Sanum Ghafoor, to discuss the politics of media representation.

The Black-E, 1 Great George Street, L1 5EW (next to the Chinese arch) 7pm £6/£4

Wednesday 30th May The Arab Spring with Ahdaf Soueif

Award-winning Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif discusses the Middle East Revolutions with Guardian journalist, Bidisha.

Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre, 4 Princes Road, L8 1TH 7pm £6/£4

Thursday 31st May

Pulp Idol Final & WoWFest Closing Party

Join our novel writing competition finalists for a night of superb readings on the road to publication, (judges include Luke Brown, Senior Editor at Tindal Street Publishers), and for celebrations all round as the festival closes for another year. For entry details see our website.

Studio 2, 33-45 Parr Street, L1 4JN 7pm £4/£2