Posted By: Richard White, 04 August 2011
Blimey – how macho and melodramatic that title sounds.
Essentially, it’s true though. Throughout the week-long
Worlds Literature Festival we make sure to capture as much of the literary action as we can, from audio and film footage to mercilessly flogging the photography skills of Martin Figura.
The upshot is you can now forgive yourself for missing our public events. Grab a cuppa and I’ll take you through the week, with Figura’s pictures and some audio/visual footage that, although nothing like hearing and capturing the atmosphere of a reading in the flesh, will certainly help you get a taster of the events, and may encourage you not to miss out on next year’s festival. Your tea will taste better too.
So where to start? The first event with Granta Magazine seems like a good idea:
We welcomed Granta Magazine to Norwich for the launch of ‘The F Word’. Contributors A.S. Byatt, Urvashi Butalia and Maja Hrgovic gave wonderful readings and the Q&A after with Granta Deputy Editor, Ellah Allfrey, was just as rewarding and insightful.
So we reward you for getting this far with a film of A.S. Byatt’s reading from The Children’s Book.
And to help set the scene, some images:
Three Servings of Summer Reads
Next up, and most definitely the following day – they all start to blur into one if you’re not careful – we were at the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library for a highly anticipated reading from three of our Summer Reads authors: Katie Kitamura, Andrey Kurkov and Evie Wyld.
Summer Reads has been a great success this year, so the opportunity for participants to hear the authors read, having already discussed their work in book groups and online, was a real treat.
Starting with Katie Kitamura reading from her novel The Longshot:
Followed by Andrey Kurkov reading from The Good Angel of Death:
And Evie Wyld reading from her debut novel After The Fire, A Still Small Voice:
World Voices for Refugee Week
If you want a touch of atmosphere in your literature events, then this set of readings and conversation for Refugee Week was the place to be. The Norwich Playhouse is a great venue for it, but something about the combination of writers Hisham Matar, Tahmima Anam and Philo Ikonya struck a chord I’m not sure I’d heard or felt before, and I like to think I wasn’t the only one. I’m sorry to say that and not follow it up with some audio – that will be arriving shortly. But for now, enjoy these photos by, yes, you guessed it, Martin Figura:
A touch of the Irish – UNESCO City of Literature
John Boyne and Joseph O’Connor are two writers that make Dublin, UNESCO City of Literature proud. As WCN is currently leading the bid for Norwich to attain the status, we were delighted to welcome them both to the Worlds Literature Festival. Both read with charm and poise, and you can also enjoy a great Q&A hosted by our Director Chris Gribble with both writers and guest Jane Alger, Director of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.
Joseph O'Connor reading from Ghost Light: Chapter One by Writers' Centre Norwich Joseph O'Connor reading from Ghost Light: Chapter Three by Writers' Centre Norwich John Boyne and Joseph O'Connor, UNESCO City of Literature by Writers' Centre Norwich
Well that’s your lot for the moment. Hope you enjoyed the coverage and do RSS this page for the latest news, media and general goings-on at WCN. We specialise in goings-on, don't you know...
