Event type: Literature

Writer’s Bloc: Ginni Manning –...

For the fourth session of the Writer’s Bloc, Writing on the Wall is delighted to welcome Ginni Manning, a playwright, writer, theatre maker and facilitator.

This session will focus on the various kinds of opportunities available to you as a writer. Ginni will be talking to you about seeking opportunity, taking you through some writing exercises and giving you a chance to practice free writing.

This session is about seeking opportunities through ideas, reflection and regular writing practice; for learning and developing a community, and for getting your work out there through competitions, online opportunities, organisations and social media.

The Writer’s Bloc –offers fortnightly free sessions with professional writers, and representatives from educational and career organisations to develop your skills and discover new opportunities.

Please do not turn up to a Writer’s Bloc session without receiving a confirmation from us first. Registering for the Writer’s Bloc does not guarantee acceptance onto the next session as numbers are limited. If you turn up on the day without having received a confirmation we won’t be able to allow entry.

If you have any queries please email us at write2work@writingonthewall.org.uk.

Folk Horror for Summer: Midsummer Nigh...

Step into the wilderness this summer for tales of the woodland weird, unholy rites and ancient places of cosmic power.

Following two years of sold-out performances of Ghost Stories for Christmas (featured in the New York Times), ArtsGroupie CIC continue to revive the storytelling tradition with a summer solstice slant, performed by local authors John Maguire and David Griffiths at performance gardens across the city.

“Each year we have so much fun writing and performing Ghost Stories for Christmas that we wanted to keep that momentum during the year. It has given us a reason to explore different facets of horror fiction. For this event, we’re taking inspiration from British classics such as The Wicker Man and the nightmare fuel of 70’s kids’ TV Children of the Stones to keep your senses heightened before the nights grow dark again. After all, those rituals around ancient stones and strange songs sung on the village green might just be keeping at bay the horrors that walk in broad daylight. Remember, the shadows might not be as long in the summer, but all that means is…they’re right behind you!” David Griffiths, Writer and Director

Liverpool City Region Dates

Thingwall Community Centre, Wavertree Garden Suburb
Tuesday 11th June at 7pm
Liverpool,
L15 7JX
Tickets

Incredible Edible Knowsley, Court Hey Park
Friday 14th June at 5pm and 7pm
Liverpool,
L16 2LR
Tickets

METAL Culture
Tuesday 18th June at 4pm & 6pm
Metal Culture,
Liverpool,
L7 6ND
Tickets

Shakespeare North Playhouse
Wednesday 19th June at 6:30pm
Prospero Place,
Prescot,
L34 3AB
Tickets

ArtsGroupie CIC

ArtsGroupie CIC is a Liverpool based community interest company that is promoting and providing access to the arts in the North West and beyond. They achieve this through developing their own touring theatre and music productions, and by facilitating educational workshops for both adults and children in creative writing and spoken word. We use our walking tours to help fund our theatre productions and community outreach work. Artsgroupie took their highly acclaimed production of Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse in 2023 on a mini tour and played Shakespeare North Playhouse and London’s Kings Head, Islington. The production has now been staged 32 times.

David Griffiths

David Griffiths is a playwright, director, screenwriter and author from Liverpool. His plays have been staged at fringe festivals in Edinburgh, Buxton and Camden. He recently directed an adaption of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four (“a powerful production” North West End) and is touring his adaption of Charles Dickens’ The Signalman for ArtsGroupie CIC across the north west (“suspenseful” North West End). His latest stageplay, “The Hammer and Helena” will be produced by ArtsGroupie CIC in October 2024.

John Maguire

John Maguire is a playwright, historic walking-tours operator, community activist and Creative Director of ArtsGroupie CIC. John has had nine of my plays staged professionally, including KITTY: Queen of the Washhouse, a play that revisited the life of public washhouse pioneer Catherine Wilkinson. He has written 235 articles for online international magazine Ten Million Hardbacks 10mh.net and published two children’s books, Sophie and the Spider and The Liver Bird. John’s most recent play focuses on Liverpudlian Icon, William Roscoe, A Portrait of William Roscoe, exploring his life in the arts and political activism.

 

Liver Bards poetry event ‘Unendi...

The fifth Liver Bards poetry event of this year is titled ‘Unending Love’. It is coming to Ma Boyle’s in Liverpool on Tuesday 7th May 2024.

May 7th 1861 marks the birthday of Rabindranath Tagore. He was an Indian poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter during the age of Bengal Renaissance. In 1913, he became the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore’s poetic songs are spiritual and mercurial. His elegant prose and magical poetry were widely popular in the Indian subcontinent. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and was referred to as ‘The Bard of Bengal’.

Tagore wrote many poems, including ‘Unending Love’. Below is its first of four stanzas:

Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…
In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,
In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Performing bards and audience will come together downstairs in Ma Boyle’s Rum and Rumour Bar.
Come speak your truth and listen to others speak theirs.
Please choose to adopt, adapt or ignore the theme.
Please contact me (Ali) if you know you would like a poetry slot and will be there (5 minutes maximum in total – shorter is fine. Please stick to the time).
There may be the opportunity for poets to sign up on the night at the venue from 7.30pm if all the spots are not filled.

Jake Archer is due to start the music from sometime after 7.
The poeteering begins at 8.
This will be my 90th Liver Bards as host.
Thank you to the 102 bards who’ve performed thus far this year in our four previous events.

 

April Writing Advice Desk

The Writing Advice Desk is back!

After being exclusively online since 2020, The Windows Project writing advice desk service is returning to the Liverpool Central Library to offer help for any and all writers! 😄

The advice desk will be conducted on the FIRST WEDNESDAY of every month 📆

April’s writing advice desk will be run by Dave Ward from The Windows Project and Dr Eleanor Rees from Liverpool Hope University

For more details, contact us at windowsproject@btinternet.com or 07710644325

Burns Night Dinner

Celebrate Scotland’s national poet with an atmospheric evening of hearty food and traditional poetry.

The night begins with a warm welcome and a whiskey cocktail as you arrive at the beautiful Mansion House. Settle into our elegant dining room to enjoy a delicious Scottish themed tasting menu prepared by our in-house chefs, each course will be carefully paired with a specially selected whiskey.

The Reader team will be sharing some of Robert Burn’s most famous works throughout the evening.

Age 18+ only.

Starter

Traditional Cullen Skink Soup/ Scottish Tattie Soup (VE) both served with Toasted Sourdough

Main Course

Haggis or Vegan Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, Carrot Puree and a Roasted Onion Jus

Dessert

Cranachan – Dalwhinnie 15 whisky cream/Oat Cream (VE), raspberry coulis, toasted rolled oats, topped with fresh raspberries and mint

Bath of Herbs talk hosted by Centre fo...

Bath of Herbs is a beautifully crafted, honest and thoughtful first collection. It explores the complexity of mixed-race, hybrid identities and relationships to the English and Welsh mountains, fells, rivers and shorelines from an ‘othered’, unmappable, positionality.

It honours the lives of Black and Brown women and asks how they can reclaim space, both practically and conceptually. It celebrates and mourns the unspoken pain and joys of motherhood; of menstrual cycles, childbirth, tending to sick children with life-threatening illnesses, the death of mothers, love in all its myriad forms and the desire to escape the constraints of domestic and family life towards different kinds of freedoms.

Join them for a presentation of Emily Zobel Marshall’s work alongside a Q&A.

This event is hosted by the Centre for the Study of International Slavery.

Liverpool Literary Festival 2023

Discover, connect, and celebrate all things literature at this year’s festival.

Join the University of Liverpool for their annual celebration of some of the country’s finest writers with an unmissable weekend of live events.

Their brilliant lineup include authors, TV personalities and poets for you to enjoy.

Programme of Events

Jonathan Coe and Anthony Quinn in conversation
Friday 6 October, 6pm
More Information & Tickets

Join the University of Liverpool for the opening event of their Literary Festival which sees bestselling authors Jonathan Coe and Anthony Quinn in conversation with Dr Lucienne Loh, Reader in the University’s Department of English, to talk about their shared interests in time, memory, film, music and art.

Arranged marriages and debut fiction with Dr Amir Khan
Saturday 7 October, 10am
More Information & Tickets

Following his sell-out event in 2021, where he discussed his fly-on-the-wall account of a GP’s role in the bestseller The Doctor Will See You Now, Amir has now turned his hand to fiction. How (Not) to Have an Arranged Marriage is due to be published this September, so join us to hear excerpts from his forthcoming book alongside a Q&A with the audience.

The John McGahern Annual Book Prize
Saturday 7 October, 11.30am
More Information & Tickets

Now in its fourth year, the Prize was established by the University’s Institute of Irish Studies to promote new Irish fiction and to celebrate the memory of one of Ireland’s greatest masters of prose fiction, John McGahern (1934-2006).

Locks: Ashleigh Nugent
Saturday 7 October, 1pm
More Information & Tickets

Ashleigh’s one-man-show won a bursary from Live Theatre, Newcastle and has received rave audience reviews following showings in theatres and prisons throughout the UK. For the past 22 years he has used rap, poetry and literature to help the most vulnerable to develop positive mindsets, empowering prisoners to turn their lives around by taking control of their own thoughts, feelings and actions.

True crime and the writing process with Emma Flint
Saturday 7 October, 2.30pm
More Information & Tickets

Join us to hear Emma talk about her latest novel Other Women, based on the true story of a love triangle in 1920s London that ended in a horrific murder. The book was selected as a Zoe Ball BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. Emma will also be talking about her writing process, how she became a writer and the process of finding an agent. This event will be chaired by Dr Melissa Raines from the Department of English.

Hannah Lowe: Writing Arrivals
Saturday 7 October, 4pm
More Information & Tickets

In this event, poet Hannah Lowe will be reading from her latest book The Kids which won the Costa Poetry Award and Costa Book of the Year in 2021. She will also be talking about the importance of Liverpool as a port city, reflecting on her father’s experience of arriving here from Jamaica on the SS Ormonde.

The Full English with Stuart Maconie
Saturday 7 October, 5.30pm
More Information & Tickets

Stuart’s latest Sunday Times bestseller The Full English follows in the footsteps of novelist, playwright and social commentator J. B. Priestley’s English Journey. Join us to hear Stuart discuss the timeliness of his travelogue with Dr Matthew Bradley from the Department of English.

Psychology, security…. and the odd criminal heist with Jenny Radcliffe
Saturday 7 October, 7pm
More Information & Tickets

Jenny Radcliffe, AKA ‘The People Hacker’, is a world-renowned ethical social engineer, con-artist and burglar for hire. She joins us to talk about some of her most memorable assignments and career highlights.

Between the Acts – a performance from a script in progress
Saturday 7 October, 8.30pm
More Information & Tickets

In this stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s final novel, Between the Acts, an ordinary family in contemporary Britain is tasked with performing a pageant of the nation’s history by the mysterious director Miss La Trobe. Funny, frightening, tender, and provocative, their version of our story compels us to think deeply about who we are, what we should remember, and what we choose to forget. It holds a mirror up to possible futures and asks: how will we get there?.

Professor Dame Averil Mansfield: Life in Her Hands
Sunday 8 October, 10am
More Information & Tickets

University of Liverpool graduate Professor Dame Mansfield is a key figure in the medical world. One of the leading vascular surgeons in the country and the UK’s first ever female Professor of Surgery, she fulfilled a lifelong dream to become a surgeon at a time when just 2 per cent of her colleagues were female.

Q & A with debut novelist Aidan Cottrell-Boyce
Sunday 8 October, 1pm
More Information & Tickets

Join Liverpool-born Aidan Cottrell-Boyce who will be talking about his debut novel The End of Nightwork with Danny O’Connor, Colm Toíbín Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University’s Department of English.

Making Orlando Live: Neil Bartlett in conversation with Dr Eleanor Lybeck
Sunday 8 October, 2.30pm
More Information & Tickets

British novelist, playwright and theatre director Neil Bartlett created the script for the acclaimed staging of Orlando at the Garrick Theatre in London in 2022-3. In this event he’ll be talking to Dr Eleanor Lybeck, Senior Lecturer in Literature at the University’s Institute of Irish Studies and Department of English (herself adapting Woolf’s Between the Acts), about the nuts and bolts of theatrical adaptation, the process of creating that script in particular, about his own very personal relationship with Woolf – and what it’s like to work with actor Emma Corrin, who played the lead in his adaptation. Neil’s recent work includes publishing his fifth novel Address Book, a meditation on queer courage, and creating a live staging of Derek Jarman’s final film Blue with much-loved British actor Russell Tovey.

Illuminated – with Melanie Sykes
Sunday 8 October, 4pm
More Information & Tickets

Writer, speaker and former TV presenter Melanie Sykes was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 52. In her memoir Illuminated: Autism and all the Things I’ve Left Unsaid she tells her story in full for the first time, discussing how her autism diagnosis has shed new light on her life, and how she believes society needs to completely change its understanding of neurodivergent minds.

Writing the beautiful game: in conversation with former footballer Pat Nevin and author Anthony Quinn
Sunday 8 October, 5.30pm
More Information & Tickets

For our festival finale, we’re delighted to welcome broadcaster and former Everton, Tranmere and Chelsea FC star, Pat Nevin, who’ll appear alongside Anthony Quinn, author of Klopp, for a lively discussion on the beautiful game. Whether you’re a red, a blue (or any other colour), join us for what promises to be an excellent talk of two halves.

Meet The Author: Flavia Z. Drago

Join New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Flavia Z. Drago (Gustavo, the Shy Ghost Leila, the Perfect Witch) at the magical Storybarn in Calderstones Park.

Flavia is excited to meet young book lovers and share a special reading of her brand-new children’s story Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire.

Tickets £5 per child (includes 1 accompanying adult)
Under 1’s go FREE but need a ticket

Write To Work Bootcamps 25+YRS

Calling all aspiring writers! Want to be part of creative discussions, connect with professional writers and gain access to resources aimed at taking your writing skills to the next level? Sign up for this FREE one-day Write to Work Bootcamps and immerse yourself in a day filled with knowledge, inspiration, and valuable resources.

Sessions include:

* Routes into getting published – including self-publishing as well as traditional
* Script writing for TV – how to get started and accessing opportunities
* Becoming a copy and content writer and pitching for work.

Write to Work is a FREE course for unemployed residents from the Liverpool City Region, looking to gain confidence in their writing skills and meet a creative community.

Sign-Up

Event

The Write to Work Bootcamp will take place at The Women’s Organisation, 54 St James St, Liverpool L1 0AB on Wednesday 27 September 2023. Space limited. Don’t miss this opportunity!

BHM23: Great War To Race Riots Walking...

1919 Race Riots Walking Tour

The highly popular 1919 Race riots walking tour returns for Black History Month, exploring the murder of Charles Wotton and the social and political backdrop of these tragic events.

The race riots of 1919 were a watershed moment for Liverpool’s longstanding black community. On the night of 6th June 1919 unprecedented racial violence erupted in the modern-day Chinatown area that would continue for days as gangs of people, reportedly in the thousands, hunted out “any black man they could find … severely beating and stabbing” them. Black homes and businesses were looted and wrecked as over 700 members of the black community were housed in bridewells for their own protection.

During 1919 such racial violence was mirrored in other port towns and cities across mainland Britain including Glasgow, Cardiff and others. Across the Atlantic Ku Klux Klan activity was at its height and Chicago witnessed race riots in what came to be termed as ‘The Red Summer.’

Using official reports from the time the 1919 walking tour traces the events of the 6th of June 1919 visiting the residences of those involved as well as trailing the tragic last movements of Charles Wootton, a 24-year-old Bermudan sailor and victim of the 1919 riots, who was chased by a mob into the Queens Dock where he was pelted with rocks until he drowned. Not a single person was charged in connection with his death and the coroner’s ruling was ‘death be drowning’. We finish the tour at the site of the murder of Charles Wotton.

Event

Inspired by the hugely successful Great War to Race Riots Archive project and ‘Black Lives and Legacies 1919’ project, our volunteers have researched and mapped a history yet to be recognised in mainstream accounts of our city’s well documented past.