News and views
Sam Reviews 'All That I Am' by Anna Funder
Posted By: Sam Ruddock, 18 May 2012
All That I Am – Anna Funder
“When Hitler came to power I was in the bath. The wireless in the living room was turned up loud so Hans could hear it in the kitchen, but all that drifted down to me were waves of happy cheering, like a football match. It was Monday afternoon.”
All That I Am opens with history on a knife edge. The Golden Era of the Weimar Republic – artistic, progressive, intellectual, experimental, permissive, excessive, - is passing and a new one of extremes about to dawn. So well trodden is this history that we think we know what will follow, but one of the outstanding things about Anna Funder’s debut novel is that it reveals a side to the history hitherto largely uncovered: the early years of the Nazi’s terror, the persecution and expulsion of political opposition, the extent to which other countries were desperate not to antagonise Hitler, the long arm of the Gestapo reaching out further than anyone dared believe. As she did in Stasiland – a reportage collection of personal stories from behind the Berlin Wall that won the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction – Funder casts a fresh and vibrant eye on forgotten stories. All That I Am is another marvellous book.
The characters here belong to that Weimar generation: they are the World War One survivors who vowed that war could never be allowed to happen again, the political reformers who saw progressive social democracy as the antidote to imperialist conflict, the artists and journalists who captured the atmosphere of the 1920, the teenagers inspired by the language of the future.
All That I Am is narrated alternately by celebrated German playwright Ernst Toller in New York in 1939 as he seeks to re-write his memoirs, and an elderly Ruth Wesemann in 2001, who receives the recently rediscovered memoirs in the post. Reading these memoirs unlocks her memory and events come flooding back and soon overtake her. Between them, Ruth and Toller bring the unremembered – Hans Wesemann, Dora Fabian, Berthold Jacob, Mathilde Wurm (all whom existed though are here sometimes linked in ways they were not in life) – back to life. Their story is of bravery and conviction in the face of history, of desperate opposition to the reprisals that followed the Reichstag Fire and subsequent exile in London. There, powerless and with threats against their lives growing and the UK government turning a blind eye, they continue to struggle, desperate to warn the world against what is happening before it is too late.
The extent of Funder’s archival research is impressive, and her decision to novelise the events a wise one. It allows her to marry the personal stories of her characters with a broad brush stroke approach to history. Fact, interpretation and biography form the framework for All That I Am, but it is the fiction that makes it a great book. Funder imagines the characters back to life in vivid detail; readers will be quickly engrossed in their milieu, standing alongside them in terrified defiance.
This is white-knuckle storytelling. Through the personal narratives, Funder explores the experiences of the characters, the driving forces behind why and how people are able to be brave, and the results of that bravery on their lives and those around them. She adeptly explores the paradoxical mix of fragility and strength that can sometimes be the make-up of great people.
This is particularly the case with the heroine, Dora Fabian, a ‘sort of German de Beauvior: less sex, but more political”. She is driven by conviction in her cause, self-sufficient and no-nonsense. Ruth and Toller are each enthralled by her – ‘We were the two for whom she was the sun. We moved in her orbit and the force of her kept us going.’ – and so is Anna Funder. In an interview with The Scotsman, she describes the experience of coming across Dora’s story as leaving her ‘thunderstruck and irrational and besotted and intrigued.’ She is a compelling character and it is apparent that, for Funder as well as her characters, this book is a act of love, of recording her courage and self-sacrifice, celebrating and remembering her life.
The same desire to resurrect and testify to those past is apparent in the character of Ruth, whom Funder met in Ruth’s later years, and whose stories first turned her on to the possibility of this book. Ruth is the compassionate core of the novel, an unobtrusive observer of those around her. This personal sympathy could easily turn All That I Am into sycophantic fiction of the worst kind, but Funder impressively maintains a rounded warts-and-all view of her characters. Compassion is a constant theme and one feels that it is the challenge of doing justice to these figures that drove her to write. ‘Imagining the life of another is an act of compassion as holy as any’, says Ruth at one stage, ‘once you have imagined such suffering, how can you still do nothing?’
By presenting humanised stories, and enabling readers to experience these vicariously through the characters, fiction has amazing power to change our understanding of the world and compassion for others one person at a time. Funder and I appear to share this idealistic conviction. All That I Am is an exercise in proving the validity of this conviction. But more than this, it is a wonderful read.
The plot starts slowly, with more set-up than feels necessary, but builds and once the characters come into their own it swiftly becomes an involving, compassionate and wonderful novel of love, friendship, courage, espionage, and betrayal. It is both a page-turning thriller and a considered investigation of courage and conviction. The characters are tested at every step, and they respond in varying ways. Some turn, some break, none is perfect. In the end, as Wystan Auden notes to Toller: ‘All that we are not stares back at all that we are.’
Unmissable Events at Worlds Literature Festival 2012
Posted By: Rowan Whiteside, 17 May 2012
Worlds Literature Festival happens every year towards the end of June in venues across Norwich. This year’s Worlds Festival is taking place from the 18th of June till the 22nd and features evening events from world-renowned authors Michael Ondaatje and J.M. Coetzee amongst others. The Afternoon Reading Sessions are open to the public and are completely free- giving you the opportunity to hear from brilliant writers in a more intimate environment.
Jeanette Winterson is returning to Norwich for an evening event with Jo Shapcott and Dame Gillian Beer. I was lucky enough to hear Jeanette Winterson read and discuss her latest book, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal last year, and I promise you her memoir is even better when read by the author herself! Jo Shapcott’s newest collection of poetry, Of Mutability, is incredibly moving and has been in great demand in the office. I'm sure that Of Mutability will attain even greater poignancy when Jo Shapcott discusses her motivation and writing processes.
I also can’t wait to hear Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee reading from his work. I’ve been a big fan of his work for years and this event is made all the more special because Coetzee rarely appears at public events. Anna Funder and Tim Parks are also appearing alongside J.M. Coetzee. Our other unmissable event stars Michael Ondaatje and Kamila Shamsie. Michael Ondaatje’s novel The English Patient won the 1992 Booker Prize and was adapted into an Oscar winning film. Both of these events are available as part of our multi-buy deal (£20 or £15 concessions for both events).
Teju Cole, whose novel Open City won the Hemingway/Pen Award is visiting Norwich to participate in World Voices, an event which celebrates Refugee Week. Bestselling author Vesna Goldsworthy will also be reading at this event. The closing event of Worlds will celebrate the launch of Granta Britain. How better to commemorate the year of the Jubilee than with wonderful writing?
This over-arching theme of Worlds Literature Festival 2012 is ‘Fiction, Memoir and the Self’. Each of the events will be loosely focused on exploring the relationship between biographical truth and fictional representation.
Find out more about Worlds Literature Festival.
Words, Ideas and Graphic Novels- A Look at the Festival So Far
Posted By: Rowan Whiteside, 16 May 2012
The Norfolk and Norwich festival collaborated with Writers’ Centre Norwich to create a series of events called Words & Ideas. The events so far have all been brilliant in dramatically different ways.
Friday kicked off with an evening event from Alain de Botton where he discussed his latest book
Religion for Atheists. I missed the event because I was at the Spiegletent watching Bourgeois and Maurice perform- a cabaret band with a scathingly brilliant repertoire of tunes, however I heard all about it from my colleagues at WCN. Leila Telford, our Resources Manager, says:
“What a spark of genius to programme Alain de Botton at the start of a cultural festival like NNF12. His premise in Religion for Atheists, which he so convincingly presented to a packed Norwich Playhouse on May 11, is that we can pick and mix symbolic and ceremonial religious experiences, and recreate them through other mediums, such as the arts. This set the stage for a fresh examination of all the upcoming NNF arts events, and a recognition of how we can artistically exploit religious architecture to add a soupcon of the sublime to secular choirs, art films, jazz and classical orchestras and contemporary circus acrobatics.”
Saturday brought two events; Singing the City: From Dawn till Dusk and Tribunal 12. Singing the City took place around Norwich at dawn, midday and dusk, and was an ethereally beautiful experience. Singers performed in Norwich Cathedral, and around the mediaeval streets of Norwich (Elm Hill, Princes Street etc) which added a historical frisson to the event. It was great to hear the words we’d commissioned from George Szirtes and Andrew McDonnell come to life. Anyone who’d like to relive them can have a read of Andrew McDonell’s ‘3 Songs’ and George Szirtes’ 'Frozen Music’ here.
Tribunal 12 at the Norwich Playhouse was concerned with more contemporary issues. Featuring live streaming from Stockholm the event explored human rights violations across Europe, with particular concern for immigration. In between the live streamed events theatre groups performed pieces based around immigrant experiences. The evening brought music and the judgement from the Jury that Europe systematically violates human rights with its immigration policies. I still feel haunted by the immigrants’ stories and know that Tribunal 12 was an event which continues to have great social significance. (More on this soon.)
Finally, Alan Moore and Iain Sinclair visited the Playhouse on Monday for the Writing and Protest event. Iain Sinclair kept the audience riveted with his stories of being banned from Hackney Libraries and of travelling from sea to London via the river in a swan pedalo. Alan Moore read from his never published libretto based on the intriguing life of the alchemist John Dee.
Sinclair and Moore followed their individual readings with discussion and questions from the audience. Both writers talked about finding material in the everyday world and being drawn to the outsider- both in literature and in reality. Alan Moore described his protest writing as being inevitable rather than motivated by anger and categorically stated that he was against violence. Sinclair emphasised the need to trust our own first-hand experiences rather than the digitally imposed and manipulated images which are presented to us.
Alan Moore said that his writing method was to use the ignored and abandoned sections of society for inspiration. He described this as using the bits of wasteland of society to develop something more interesting. The event left me cheering for the outsider and has converted me to the cult of graphic novels- my next book to read will be V for Vendetta.
It’s the end of a fabulous week of events, but there are still more to come! This Saturday Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library will be hosting A New World of Words; an event which explores Persian poetry next Saturday and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy will be visiting Norwich in a sold-out event on Thursday the 24th May.
Take a look at our upcoming events.
Visit our Flickr Page to see more images from the Festival.
Welcome to Summer Reads 2012, where reading is just the start...
Posted By: Sam Ruddock, 09 May 2012
Love Reading
One of the constants throughout my life has been a love of stories. There has always been something special about holding a book in my hands and wondering where it might take me, that sense of possibility, the desire to dive in and explore. I love stories that take me on a journey I don't want to end, and to be accompanied by characters that become my friends. I love stories that make me think, that introduce me to new ideas and ways of seeing the world, or that show me what I already feel but haven’t found the words to articulate.
More than anything else, I believe passionately in the power of stories to transform our understanding of other people and the world, to help us be the best of ourselves. I often find myself emerging from a story feeling as though I have a new, more generous and conscientious, view of others and the world. As one of the characters in
All That I Am (one of our
Summer Reads) notes, ‘imagining the life of another is an act of compassion as holy as any.’ The intimacy between reader and book is a rare and wonderful thing.
That’s why it gives me great pleasure to bring you our
Summer Reads, which seeks to bring readers together to share the experience of reading, because a great book shared is even better than a great book read quietly on one’s own...and that’s saying a lot!
This brings us to the books. This year, for the first time, the books were selected by readers across Norfolk. It is, I think, our strongest list ever: five brilliantly written and readable titles through which you’ll walk in other shoes and experience other lives. Whether you read a lot, or just a little bit, you like to revisit familiar ground or try something completely new, these five books will challenge, inspire and delight readers.
This years Summer Reads books are:
- All That I Am by Anna Funder.
- Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson.
- Open City by Teju Cole.
- Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott.
- Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos (translated by Rosalind Harvey).
There are characters to treasure – Dora, whose spirit and unquenchable belief in her cause make her the heroine of
All That I Am; precocious and lovable child-narrator Tochtli from
Down the Rabbit Hole – and scenarios that remain long in the mind. Common themes run across them, including personal responsibility for the state of the world, compassion for others, transience, and awareness of the plight of refugees both now and in the past. But first and foremost, these books tell stories that we can all enjoy and engage with. I’ve loved them, other readers have loved them, and I hope you love them too.
Bringing Readers Together
Reading the books is where it all begins. From there you can also get to know other readers in real life or online, meet the authors at events, absorb yourself in bonus material about the books, and win prizes by voting for your favourite.
Most of all, Summer Reads is a community rather an imposition. In the past we’ve selected six books, but this year there are only five: the sixth book is whatever you want it to be! While you read these books, I ask you to recommend your own favourites and to ask other readers for theirs. Over the course of the summer, we’ll be collecting readers’ cherished books at events and book clubs and library open day, as well as online. We’ll also be asking authors to recommend their favourite books. At the end of the summer, we’ll have a list of books that are loved by Norfolk readers that we can all share, and that can influence the books selected in future.
People often say that what they love about Summer Reads is that it introduces them to stimulating books, ideas, and people. Do get involved: I love talking to readers and hope to meet you soon (if I haven’t already). Summer Reads is all about the people who are involved in it, we hope you’ll join us in making this our best reading summer yet.
Reading is just the start... 
Hip Hip! Norwich is England's First UNESCO City of Literature
Posted By: Katy Carr, 09 May 2012
We heard yesterday at about 4.30 pm that Norwich has become England's first UNESCO City of Literature, joining an elite international network comprising Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa City, Dublin and Reykjavik. We are absolutely delighted with this news and would like to thank all the many partners who have helped us all to this success.
The UNESCO City of Literature accreditation lends international recognition to Norwich’s literary heritage, contemporary strengths and future potential in the field of literature, creative writing, reading and the literary arts and we are very proud.
See below for some key quotes, and links to more info about what this all means.
“I'm delighted by the news. Literature has deep roots in the beautiful city of Norwich and it was a natural first choice for UNESCO. I'm happy too for personal reasons - Norwich is where my own writing life began. Writers have known for centuries that Norwich is a dreamy city.” Ian McEwan, May 2012
“Congratulations on the success of Norwich’s bid. Thoroughly deserved.” Philip Pullman, May 2012
“This is recognition of the world wide reputation of Norwich as a centre for literary excellence, and acknowledgment that literature and literacy are powerful tools which can inspire people and help change lives." Councillor Brenda Arthur, Leader of Norwich City Council
Click below to read the full bid document:
Rowan Whiteside Blogs About Tribunal 12
Posted By: Rowan Whiteside, 03 May 2012
Immigration and asylum will always be a contentious subject. Whether you yourself have experience of immigration first hand, or have gained knowledge on the subject from newspaper articles and other content, you are sure to have an opinion or stance. Tribunal 12 challenges our preconceptions and forces us to examine our responses to immigration. The day is taking place at Norwich Playhouse from 9am till 11pm and includes live streaming from Stockholm as well as a day long programme of events and music at The Norwich Playhouse Playroom for you to dip in and out of.
Inspired by the International War Crimes Tribunal formed by Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul Sartre in 1967, the live streaming of Tribunal 12 will feature testimonies, documentation, performances and input from acclaimed international artists and experts all beamed to you in your seat in the Norwich Playhouse. Find about more about the live streaming here.
The full day event at the Playhouse also gives you the opportunity to discuss and debate the role of immigration in our society. The day will have a real festival feel and will include several live performances from various theatre groups, including the newly commissioned Label Me Not; a ten minute short which examines the dehumanisation of asylum seekers. There will be DJ’s playing from 4-11pm in the Playhouse Bar, and World Music playing all day.
Tribunal 12 gives you the opportunity to meet like-minded people and discuss key issues in a relaxed atmosphere- and what better atmosphere then the charmingly quirky and fairy-lit Playhouse? There’s sure to be impassioned debate around the plight of immigrants, fiery political discussions and even some dancing.
For those of you who plan to stay the day there will be a Barbecue from 12pm in the Playhouse garden. For those of you who plan to stay all night you can enjoy performances from some of the best DJ’s around. And, for those of you who just want to pop in and out, that’s okay too.
Best of all, it’s only a fiver!
Buy your ticket online.
Get Out Before Dawn With The Voice Project
Posted By: Katy Carr, 18 April 2012
"We are making a piece which features the beauty of a single voice on a rooftop; the harmonic intrigue of a small ensemble in a crypt and the uplifting sound of massed voices in the cloisters and nave of Norwich Cathedral."
Sian Croose and Jon Baker from The Voice Project are well known in Norwich for their original and beautiful musical events. So Writers' Centre Norwich is delighted to support their 2012 Norfolk and Norwich Festival production Singing the City - From Dawn to Dusk, by sponsoring the original libretto created by Andrew McDonnell and George Szirtes. You can read that work soon on our NewWriting site, but for now, here’s a little more info from Sian and Jon about why you’ll want to be getting up before the sun rises in a few Saturday’s time in order to join in...
Singing the City – From Dawn to Dusk – Saturday 12th May
Singing the City is going to be a musical mystery tour animating the medieval streets and buildings from St Andrews Plain to Cathedral Close with exciting new music created specially for the Voice Project Choir by Jeremy Avis, Jonathan Baker,
Helen Chadwick and Orlando Gough.
We plan to stage three performances that make use of a whole variety of interesting and unusual acoustic spaces - interior and exterior: placing singers in squares and streets, crypts and alleys, dark corners and cloisters, courtyards and rooftops.
The Voice Project Choir conducted by Sian Croose with Nik Bärtsch at the piano NNF May '11
The piece will have a more theatrical feel than previous projects and we will be working with a theatre director as part of our rehearsal process.
The libretto is being created by George Szirtes and Andrew McDonnell and will describe worlds of shadow and light and tell the stories of past and present. We are making a piece which features the beauty of a single voice on a rooftop; the harmonic intrigue of a small ensemble in a crypt and the uplifting sound of massed voices in the cloisters and nave of Norwich Cathedral.
To take part in Singing the City - From Dawn to Dusk on Saturday 12th May, please gather at
Norwich Cathedral. There are performances at sunrise (5.11am), 2pm & 10pm.
About The Voice Project
The Voice Project is the umbrella title covering the joint activities of singer/choral leader/composer partnership of Sian Croose and Jonathan Baker. Since 2003 we have been running large-scale vocal performance projects in the UK which bring together outstanding musicians and community choirs in events that combine the ethos of community music with cutting-edge creativity and high performance and production values. Working with partners from Norwich Arts Centre, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the Sage Gateshead, Jazz Sous Les Pommiers, the Norwegian and Swiss Cultural Foundations, Writers' Centre Norwich and international music promoters Serious, we have premiered new works by Barbara Thompson, Karen Wimhurst, Richard Chew, Dennis Rollins, Andy Sheppard, Jon Hassell, Gwilym Simcock, Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang and Nik Bärtsch.
Best wishes
Sian & Jon
Words and Ideas - Our Norfolk and Norwich Festival Programme Launches
Posted By: Mitch Albert, 01 March 2012
I moved to Norwich in December 2011, and began working full-time in January 2012 as the Programme Director of Writers’ Centre Norwich – just in time to join the discussion about programming the literature component of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.
Now, one of the joys of being the new kid on the block is, in no small measure, the pleasure of perpetual discovery: everything is new, fascinating, remarkable … Of course, such wide-eyed effusiveness can grow tiresome very quickly from the point of view of one’s new local acquaintances, jaded Old Norfolk Hands themselves; yet whenever I directed my breathless appreciation toward the general awesomeness of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, I was met with … more breathless appreciation.
That makes sense. The scope and ambition of the NNF are truly remarkable, no less so for thefestival’s having continued to sharpen its cutting edge even after two and a half centuries of existence.
It is within this context that the ‘Words and Ideas’ strand of the NNF, presented by Writers’ Centre Norwich, will offer the chance to hear great contemporary thinkers addressing some age-old themes. Over five days in May, Norwich will get down to some serious thinking with poets, philosophers, writers, and social activists holding forth on faith and doubt, revolution and quiescence, social exclusion and acceptance, and the life of the emotions.
On Friday 11 May,
Alain de Botton will address the moral utility of religious faith even for non-believers. De Botton can always be relied upon to bring reason, compassion, and clarity to such a complex topic; he’ll be drawing from his new book
Religion for Atheists, and is adept at engaging with enquiring audiences on philosophical questions that inspire and perplex us all.
The following day, Saturday 12 May, Europe will stand accused of violating human rights in itstreatment of asylum seekers:
Tribunal 12, organised by the Shahrazad project (an offshoot of the
International Cities of Refuge Network), has been convened to examine the hard evidence. The day-long proceedings will unfold onscreen at the Norwich Playhouse, live-streamed from the Kulturhuset in Stockholm. An impressive jury featuring luminaries from the worlds of literature, music, film, social activism and law will formulate the verdict later that evening. Tribunal 12 is modelled on the International War Crimes Tribunal organised in 1967 by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, which focused attention on atrocities taking place during the US military intervention in Vietnam. This prescient Russell-Sartre project was largely ignored in the US, which was not yet prepared as a nation to examine its actions in Vietnam; will the European Union – that is, will we ourselves – listen any more carefully to the accusations of Tribunal 12?
The sessions (and hence the screenings) will be punctuated by four intervals of up to two hours, so audiences will have a chance to check out other events at the Playhouse that day, related to the themes of refugee issues and human rights. Do check WCN’s website for updates on who will be performing and offering information on the day!
Find out more the about Tribunal 12 event.
‘Legendary’ is an unfortunately abused descriptor, but if you’ve been plugged into the counter-culture at any point during the past couple of decades, you would have stumbled across the names of
Iain Sinclair and
Alan Moore. These two – yes, legendary – writers, psychogeographers, and social critics will appear on Monday 14 May to weigh in on the value of anger and action in the face of encroachment by authority – and the erosion of society’s sense of space, place and protest.
Find out more about the Sinclair & Moore event.Poetry is front and centre during this week as well, in a big way. On
Saturday 19 May three renowned Afghan poets and their esteemed translators will perform their work both in the original Dari (Persian) and English, respectively. If the sum total of your information about Afghanistan derives only from news reports of war and social conflict, be prepared to have your assumptions overturned: these poets are contemporary and electric, investing their language (which dates back millennia) with a fresh, modern energy.
Find out more about the Afghan poets event.
Poetry caps this fine series of events as well, with the Poet Laureate her own self, to boot, on Thursday 24 May.
Carol Ann Duffy will perform alongside the musician John Sampson, with whom she often collaborates, to enchanting, moving and thoughtful effect – and how could it be any other way …? Many thanks to the
Rialto magazine - our partners on this event.
May’s looking good, then; can’t come quickly enough! I hope to meet many of you at NNF. I’ll be an Old Norfolk Hand myself by that time, showing signs of impatience at every gasp of delight by newcomers freshly inducted into this best-kept secret corner of England – many doubtless lured here by the festival itself …
Write For Rights This Saturday With Amnesty
Posted By: Katy Carr, 08 December 2011
Please see below for a note from our friends at Amnesty International about an event this Saturday. As a City of Refuge we hope that Norwich's Write for Rights day is fully supported by the many people we know really do care about these things. And if you can't make it down to the Playhouse, there's a big social media campaign going on on the day too - so get tweeting, buzzing, facebooking away.
Write for Rights Event
Saturday 10th December, Norwich Playhouse, 10.30-4.30
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International, Amnesty International Groups around the world are organising 'Write for Rights' events on 10th December (Human Rights Day) this year. The idea is to hold letter-writing events on behalf of ten particular victims of human rights violations. Here in Norwich, we'll be holding a 'Write for Rights' event at the Norwich Playhouse between 10:30am and 4:30pm. Between those times, people will be invited to drop in and write a letter about one of the campaign appeal cases.
If you are in Norwich on 10th December, please do come to the Playhouse on St George's Street to support the event.
Molly Naylor reports on Strangers and Canaries
Posted By: Molly Naylor, 18 October 2011
Last week myself and James, a refugee from the Congo, visited a range of schools across Norfolk to talk to young people about issues surrounding refugees and asylum seekers. James told them his life story, sharing the details of his emotional and epic journey from Africa to Norfolk. We then explored the themes, ideas and issues that arose through discussion, writing exercises and poetry.
For me, the main impact of these workshops is their power to raise awareness and provoke thought. Norfolk can sometimes feel a million miles from anywhere. It’s easy for me to forget this as I’m up and down from London most weeks and have lived in many places before finding this lovely, dreamy, flat old county. But I met some kids last week who’d never been on a train, and had certainly never met anyone from the Congo.
Despite this, we found the young people hugely empathetic, sensitive and thoughtful as they listened to James’s story of how he came to be in Norwich. Prejudice is often born of ignorance, or a fear of the unknown; so introducing young people to these ideas early on in their lives must go a long way towards avoiding knee-jerk stereotypical responses to asylum issues. I’m pretty sure none of the young people we met will end up saying the sentence ‘they come over here, taking our jobs…’
Instead they are now armed with facts, as well as the personal details of James’s story. They know now for example that only 3% of the world’s refugees live in the UK, and they have a list of examples of cultural and economic contributions refugees have made to our country. The writing exercises helped with the empathy; getting them to imagine themselves in certain situations and consider their own responses and reactions. Exploring the question of what would be in their suitcase if they had to immediately leave town blew some of their minds a bit, and led to heated debate, big hypothetical decisions, and a blast of perspective.
And not just for them. Because although James and I planned and taught the workshops together, there were times when I felt I had more in common with the young people. We’d sit and listen to his story, exchanging glances that said: how lucky we are to have been born here. How fortunate we are to be able to moan about a broken Nintendo DS, a delayed train or a slow broadband connection. And how blessed we are to have James here in Nowich, inspiring us with his honesty, ambition and courage.
Strangers and Canaries
Posted By: Edward Cottrell, 04 October 2011
How would you feel if you had leave your home?
Our Strangers and Canaries workshops are running in schools across Norfolk all this week, part of our work as a City of Refuge. The workshops give students a chance to learn about exile, then imagine what it would feel like if they had to leave their home. The students really engage with issues of exile and identity through meeting exiles and working with writers imaginatively to understand what it involves - as well as learning about the local history of the Strangers and Canaries in the East of England. (Pictured right: Molly Naylor leading a workshop at Reepham High School).
Callum (12, Methwold High School) says, ‘
It was fun and I learned a lot’, and Levi (12, Methwold High School) says ‘I
liked Jack the refugee - I would like them to come back’.
These workshops have been running over the last five years and we have reached many thousands of students in schools across Norfolk through them. We’ve got some examples of their new writing below, showing their creative engagement with complex global issues:
Rwanda
Gunfire is the only sound I hear, dried blood is what I smell. The taste of smoke is strong. The sight of bodies saddens my lonely soul. The feeling of my death is upon me as I fall.
George, Methwold High School
If I had to leave my home country
If I had to leave my home country, and leave to a strange country with nothing but myself, I would feel lonely and sad, because I have nothing. I would try and find some shelter and some understanding people. I would hope I would get some support from the people around.
I am very lucky that I don’t have to, and I’m very lucky I have a house and people around that care.
Abbie, Methwold High School.
I stood there alone
I stood there alone with nothing but my phone, with no signal. I looked around and found myself in a crowd of unfamiliar faces. I walked through a crowded alleyway and into a mud shelter and sat down and broke into tears.
Anon, Methwold High School.
Above: work from previous Strangers and Canaries workshops
About the workshop leaders
Jacques Kalume
Jacques Kalume is a journalist by profession, and was born and lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for most of his life. In 1996 his life was changed by war in the DRC, and its devastating consequences on many innocent victims.
Covering the war from the front line in his capacity as a professional journalist, Jacques was compelled to broadcast the truth about events on radio and television and was arrested by government secret services, accused of violating the sovereignty of the state.
Tom Warner
Tom Warner is a Faber & Faber New Poet, with a pamphlet published by Faber in 2010. In 2010 he was selected to benefit from the prestigious nationwide Escalator Poetry scheme managed by Writers’ Centre Norwich.
Tom was born and grew up in Mansfield, but moved to Norwich to study. In 2001 he won an Eric Gregory Award for poetry and graduated from the University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing MA with a Distinction. In 2009 Tom was poet-in-residence to Newark, Nottinghamshire as part of the Poetry-on-Trent project, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Tom is a tutor of creative writing for groups of all ages and he regularly works in schools as a visiting poet.
James
James is one of seven siblings born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1989. In the early nineties tribal conflict spread across many villages in north-kivu province, and due to this his family was forced to leave and moved to Goma, the provincial capital, where the family started a new life.
Then in 1998 the city of Goma and rest of the province was occupied by rebels who were fighting the central government. They had been kidnapping young boys from their families to work in the rebel army. James’s father was working with a non governmental organisation helping the young boys to reintegrate into the local community and go back to school. The family remained under attack and was forced to leave.
Since they arrived in Norwich their life has completely changed again, they have a better life, filled will more stability. Without fear of war they have hope and can finally resume a normal life, and are back in school where they have made new friends and new families. Most importantly they are safe and have bright future ahead.
Now Norwich is his new home and he loves it.
Molly Naylor
Molly Naylor is a writer, performer and theatre-maker. Her solo show, Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 to critical acclaim which proceeded an international tour. She was commissioned to write an audio adaptation of the show for Radio 4. Molly has written for The Independent and The Rialto and her poems have been featured on BBC Radio and in publications including The Rialto, the Londonist and Pen Pusher. She regularly performs and reads at festivals and events worldwide. Her first book – an illustrated text of her live show - is available from Nasty Little Press. She lives in Norwich.
Missed out on Worlds? We’ve got your back…
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...
More Than a Lit Fest: What's going on at Worlds 2011
Posted By: Katy Carr, 22 June 2011
The Worlds whirlwind started this Sunday evening as this years participating writers all gathered together for a meal at UEA. Having flown in from all corners of the world there were various stories of travel dilemmas and lost connections, but these were soon drowned out by the enthusiastic salutations of old friends or the to-ing and fro-ing of shared backgrounds as new connections began to form.
Worlds has been running for seven years, and is a hard beast to describe; literary festival doesn’t quite cover it. It is partly a literature festival featuring great events yes, but what is often harder to convey publically is really what’s at its soul - the discussion and sharing of ideas at the three round-table morning sessions called the Salon as well as the insights the writers gain into various writing cultures through listening to and discussing each others writing both formally during the daily sessions and informally into the evening.
Worlds cements ideas, friendships and working relationships between the 40 odd writers that attend, even if at the beginning, as one writer said, it initially appears a bit like a school trip. Polish your apple! someone quipped on twitter. Yet, this school trip has no particular school teacher in charge and no hecklers at the back of the bus; so far.
And whilst hard to measure formally, the fruits of this particular outing always turn out to be rich, unexpected and various. At the very least the writers emerge with a reading list and a buzzing head. But normally they’ll come out with much more than that – an enlarged understanding of new ways of thinking; new working connections, and endless fizzing trails leading into the future that will lead to who knows what.
Going back to Sunday evening - as the group settled themselves at two long tables for dinner the chatter settled down to an attentive silence as American poet
C.K. Williams stood up to read.
Charlie has been to Worlds before and was enthusiastic about returning. He read a few poems, the final one ‘Whack’, relating being ‘whacked’ again and again by the brilliance of other writers. It was the perfect introduction to the week’s theme of Influence:
“Every morning of my life I sit at my desk getting whacked by some great poet or other.
Some Yeats, some Auden, some Herbert or Larkin, and lately a whole tribe of others—
oy!—younger than me. Whack!”
And as
Xu Xi stood up to read from an enticing novel, she thanked Jill Dawson for her help with the text; evidence of a former worlds connection that moved into friendship and a strong working relationship.
Then the evening got on its way, as did Worlds. So far it’s been intense, stimulating and exhausting. When asked how it was going on Tuesday, Gwyneth Lewis said "I couldn’t sleep last night. So many ideas going round my head."
I feel the same trying to write this blog. There’s too much to say and I haven’t yet mentioned the events or the afternoon readings, all of which have been corkers. We just need a bit more time to digest them, but soon we’ll get blogs, podcasts, and clips up from these events as well as content from the Salon sessions.
For now Hisham Matar’s just been asking when he’s to be picked up
for tonight’s Refugee Week event up at the Playhouse with Tahmima Anam and Philo Ikonya. If you’re around then please beat the rain back and come and join us; I sure it’s going to be another thought-provoking and lively evening.
Worlds, Writers and Words
Posted By: Richard White, 17 June 2011
The Worlds Literature Festival is very nearly upon us. Writers from as far away as Australia are descending on Norwich for a week of events, readings and discussion, and frankly, I (and the rest of the team) can’t wait!
It’s strange to think by the time I wake up on Friday morning (tired, dishevelled and in need of coffee topped up with some glamorous energy drink) that I’ll have talked to over 40 writers about various aspects of creative writing - just typing that makes me want to lie down.
The good news is that you can take an easier route and make the most of the public events we run throughout the week. I should add that if you’re a UEA student, make the most of our free ticket offers running for certain events. Here’s the rundown:
Monday 20th June, UEA Drama Studio, 7pm. Tickets £5
On Monday we celebrate the launch of Granta 115 with A.S. Byatt. A great honour, and to make it even better, she’ll be joined by writers Urvashi Butalia and Maja Hrgovic. All three will read from their work and discuss feminism in the 21st Century and women in writing with Granta Deputy Editor, Ellah Allfrey OBE.
Tuesday 21st June, Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, 6.30pm. Tickets £2.
Please tell me you’ve already got involved in Summer Reads? If you haven’t, visit our
Summer Reads Project Page and discover six great books by authors you’ll want to hear more from, and the best bit is, you can at this event in the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library with authors Katie Kitamura, Andrey Kurkov & Evie Wyld. It’s a great chance to meet and hear them read from their books and pose any questions you’ve been dying to ask.
Wednesday 22nd June, Norwich Playhouse, 8pm. Tickets £7, £5 concessions
I’m halfway through Hisham Matar’s latest novel, Anatomy Of A Disappearance, and fully intend to have it finished in time for this event. Hisham returns to Norwich to launch and read from said novel and will be joined by Tahmima Anam, who’s been getting some great reviews for her latest novel, The Good Muslim (next on my hit-list) and International Cities of Refuge writer Philo Ikonya.
Thursday 23rd June, UEA Drama Studio, 7pm. Tickets £5
On to our final event of the week: an evening with two brilliant writers from Dublin, UNESCO City of Literature. John Boyne, author of The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas will read from his new novel The Absolutist set in war-time Norwich. Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea will read from his exhilarating love story Ghost Light – all in celebration of Norwich’s bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature.
UEA Student? Click the above link and enter the promo code: UEAfree (ID will be required).
So, come along to that, and the rest, and show your support for Norwich’s flourishing literature scene. It’s going to be quite a week. I want to resist saying this as it’s a little cheesy, but “see you on the other side…” There, I said it.
NPO Status Granted to Writers' Centre Norwich
Posted By: Katy Carr, 30 March 2011
Writers’ Centre Norwich is delighted that Arts Council England has made us part of its National Portfolio of funded organisations for 2012-15.
Chris Gribble, our CEO says:
"Writers’ Centre Norwich (WCN) is a relatively young organisation, but over the course of the past seven years we have established ourselves as one of the UK’s leading literature development organisations. Working to explore the artistic and social impacts of creative writing and reading WCN is leading the bid for Norwich to become England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, we established Norwich as the first and only UK City of Refuge for exiled writers, we have helped some of the brightest new talents develop their work, engaged thousands of young people each year in a range of in and out of school activities and have welcomed a vast range of talented writers from around the world to Norwich to celebrate the best in world literature.
We are very excited about the coming years. In a challenging economic climate, Arts Council England support will be key to our continued development, and the funding we have been granted for 2012-15 will enable us to consolidate our local, national and international work with partners, audiences, writers and readers alike. We could not work as we do without the commitment of our other key stakeholders, University of East Anglia, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support."