Interest area: Literature

Black History Month 23: Letter To Gil ...

Discover the incredible journey of author, poet, and academic Malik Al Nasir as he unveils his powerful memoir, Letters to Gil.

As part of Black History Month 23, join WoW in discovering the incredible journey of author, poet, and academic Malik Al Nasir as he unveils his powerful memoir, Letters to Gil.

Malik Al Nasir’s academic research into his family history and the transatlantic slave trade recently made headline news in the media when former Tory MP Antoinette Sandbach threatened legal action after he revealed the links of the Sandbach Tinnes family involvement in the slave trade.

Letters to Gil unveils the deeply personal narrative of Malik Al Nasir’s tumultuous childhood, where he navigated the harsh landscape of the care system in 1970s Liverpool. At a mere nine years old, Malik found himself thrust into a world marred by violence, neglect, exploitation, and racial prejudice. The system inflicted upon him lasting trauma, left him partially literate, homeless, and destitute by the time he reached eighteen.

Yet, fate had a different design for Malik. An unexpected encounter with the iconic poet, musician, and civil rights advocate, Gil Scott-Heron, altered the trajectory of Malik’s life, when Gil took him under his wing, becoming his mentor. Within the pages of this captivating memoir, Malik sheds light on how this serendipitous meeting lighted a spark within him, setting him on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, unwavering resilience, and remarkable success.

Malik Al Nasir, who won a prestigious ESRC scholarship, is a third-year PhD history student at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Malik’s extraordinary accomplishments include receiving the esteemed ‘Sydney Smith Memorial Prize’ for ‘outstanding achievement’ at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, as well as The Vice Chancellor’s Award for ‘Global Impact.’

Event

This extraordinary book launch, will take you on a heartfelt journey through Malik’s life, filled with adversity, transformation, and inspiration.

Colliers Moss Activity Book Launch 

Colliers Moss Activity Book Launch 

Saturday 23rd September, 10.50am – 3pm, Colliers Moss, Free 

Join collaborative art duo Juneau Projects for the launch of a new children’s activity book, created in collaboration with the local community. The book, which people can use to explore ‘the Moss’, features drawings made by local families over a number of workshops this summer.

Books will be available on site, and distributed locally to groups in Parr who have worked on the project over the summer of 2023.

Intros 

10.50am

A welcome moment with the Heart of Glass team and Dave McAleavy from The Mersey Forest.

Nature Walk

11am – 11.45am 

Phil and Ben (Juneau Projects) share their new activity book as part of a walk led by the Green Task Force Veteran Rangers, and Heart of Glass staff.

Bush Crafts 

11.45am – 1.30pm

Take part in a range of outdoor activities led by The Green Task Force Veteran Rangers. 

If you are joining us for the majority of the day, please bring your own packed lunch. There will be a campfire and basic tea facilities only on site. 

Nature Walk 

2pm – 3pm

Phil and Ben (Juneau Projects) share their new activity book as part of a walk led by the Green Task Force Veteran Rangers, and Heart of Glass staff.

Finish

3pm – 3.15 pm

Refreshments

Suitable for families.

Part of A Sense of Green. In partnership with Green Task Force Veteran Rangers.The Mersey Forest.

Access information for Colliers Moss:

Colliers Moss is part of Bold Forest Park

Mostly level, well surfaced paths

Accessible by car and train (nearest station St Helens Junction – 20 minutes walk) with no parking on site*

Please note there are no toilets on site at Colliers Moss. The nearest toilets are a 15 minute walk away at Derbyshire Hill Family Centre

*For those with access needs, please let us know before 23rd September, and we can arrange for parking on site.

Public Talk: 1981 People’s March...

Q&A between historian Dr Greig Campbell and author Mike Carter at Bar Casa, Liverpool @ 1pm on Saturday 16 September.

The talk will explore the 1981 People’s March for Jobs by delving into Mike’s experiences when researching his 2018 book All Together Now: One Man’s in Search of His Father and a Lost England.

Mike’s father, Pete Carter, was one of the three principal March organisers and, as part of his research for the book, he retraced the full route taken by the Green Army in May 1981.

Here’s a Guardian review of All Together Now:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/28/all-together-now-one-mans-walk-search-of-father-lost-england-mike-carter-review

The full address of the venue is:

Bar Casa
29 Hope Street
Liverpool
L1 9BQ

If you plan to come, can you please RSVP to info@thepeoplesmarch.co.uk

An Evening with Deborah Morgan

Join Waterstones in Liverpool for a fantastic evening with local author Deborah Morgan.

Hear all about her most recent novel, “Imagine Living” – the long-awaited sequel to her best-selling debut novel “Disappearing Home”.

The evening will be in conversation with local and bestselling author, Jeff Young.

The Brain Charity – Midsummer Po...

Shortlisted Liverpool Poetry Prize entrants will read their poems at this event and the winning entry in each category will be announced on the night – with the overall winner receiving a prize of £1,000.

Ticket price includes nibbles and a welcome drink. There will be a bar available on the night too.

The Brain Charity are not issuing paper tickets for this event, but will be operating a guest list system on the door.

All profits support The Brain Charity’s front-line work.

Folk Tales From Japan

Join the Storyhunters on this journey through time and imagination in the Japanese Garden where every leaf and stone holds a secret waiting to be discovered.

The Storyhunter will lead you through winding paths telling ancient folk tales, and these will be brought to life through creating your own shadow puppetry.

Best suited for children aged 4 – 9 but everyone’s welcome. Under 1s can join for free but will still need to book a ticket. Session running time – 90 minutes

Tiny Acorns

It’s never too early to read for pleasure with your little one!  Want to start on this magical journey, but not sure how to begin?

Sessions starting:

8 June every Thursday 10 – 11.30am
9 June every Friday 2.30 – 4pm

£49 for 6 weeks – booking includes a copy of their featured baby board book to keep and share again and again!

They’re excited to create a warm and welcoming space to explore sharing stories together.  They’ll share hints and tips to make reading with your little one fun as well as allowing time for a little relaxing Shared Reading for adults! Held in the whimsical Storybarn and facilitated by one of their wonderful Storyhunters you’re sure to have a delightful time.

Free tea or filter coffee from The Ice Cream Parlour to enjoy after each session. An opportunity to come together to share great stories and great company.

Ilya Kaminisky – Poetry in a tim...

The Poetry Society Annual Lecture will this year be given by Ilya Kaminisky on poetry in a time in crisis.

The lecture is free to attend and will take place at the Yoko Ono Centre in Liverpool at 7.30pm on the Monday 15th of May. Focusing on poets from Ukraine, and including examples from many of the poets writing out of the current conflict, Kaminsky will also draw on a wider historical context (discussing poets such as Paul Celan) as well as poems that touch on contemporary crisis in the West (referencing poets such as m nourbeSe philip).

Selected by the BBC as ‘one of the 12 artists that changed the world’, Kaminsky is author of the award-winning collections Dancing in Odessa and Deaf Republic – poems which confront the atrocities of our time and our collective silence in the face of them. Born in Odesa, Ukraine in 1977, he’s lived in the United States since 1993 when his family was granted asylum. He is Professor of Poetry at Princeton University.

Tickets can be booked through their website. The online event will stream in unison with the in-person lecture and you can book to attend here.

Spoken Word 19

Spoken Word events encompass a huge variety of writing and performance styles, from the intimately personal and heart-breaking to the uproariously funny and celebratory.

Poetry in all its forms will be the main feature, along with memoirs, stories, monologues and any number of almost-indefinable types of prose. Head along, grab yourself a free slice of pizza and enjoy some of the best poetry and spoken word artists from around the North West.

Spoken Word 19 features Grace du Noyer, Rachel Robbins, Fionna Inward Allen, The Queen of Heartbreak, Saint Vespaluus, Sally Porter and Mersey Wylie.

The event is held at The Reader, Mansion House, Calderstones Park

Tickets – £10

Breaking the Class Divide: Pulp Idol 2...

This May, join Writing on the Wall as they discuss how to make the publishing industry more accessible to diverse voices in the North.

Their panel of experts from Comma Press, Liverpool Literary Agency, and Writing on the Wall will demystify the publishing process and provide insight into the current state of diversity and inclusivity in publishing. Along with the panel, we will be launching the Pulp Idol Firsts 2023 anthology featuring brand new novelists from Liverpool.

The anthology features the winning chapters of Addae G, Chandana Das and Lee Stevenson, alongside eight other finalists. Don’t miss this exciting event to support and celebrate diverse voices in the North!

Join them for an evening with Isabelle Kenyon and Nia Thomas from Comma Press and Clare Coombes from Liverpool Literary Agency as we demystify the publishing process and talk about accessibility to publishing in the North.

PLUS, this panel event will be followed by the launch of Pulp Idol – Firsts 2023 – featuring brand new novelists from Liverpool.

Nia Thomas – Events and Marketing Coordinator at Comma Press. Nia graduated from The Courtauld Institute of Art before moving back to Manchester and co-founding Salt, an independent magazine on arts and Culture. A freelance arts writer, Nia has interviewed various artists and poets and was selected as a Barbican Young visual artist to be exhibited at the Feminist Literary Festival.

Isabelle Kenyon – NFA & Writer Development Coordinator. Isabelle is the Northern Fiction Alliance and Writer’s Days Coordinator for Comma Press. She manages Fly on the Wall, a Manchester-based political publisher, and has a background in arts marketing and PR for theatres and publishers. She works on freelance PR campaigns for authors and publishers and coordinates the annual Northern Publishers Fair.

Clare Coombes – Founder of the Liverpool Literary Agency. Clare set up the first Liverpool-based literary agency in 2020 to help address inequality and underrepresentation in the publishing industry. With more than 15 years’ experience of writing and editing professionally, including the publication of two novels, Definitions (2015) and We Are of Dust (2018 – which has received development funding from the Liverpool Film Office for a TV adaptation), she has developed an in-depth knowledge of what commissioning editors and publishers expect to see from a submitted manuscript.

With a background in PR and marketing, alongside teaching on creative writing programmes, Clare also has extensive experience in pitching and promoting writers.

Pulp Idol 2023 – Writing on the Wall have been running our annual Pulp Idol competition for over ten years, publishing the first chapters of the competition’s finalists in an anthology. Many new novelists, including Ariel Khan (Raising Sparks), James Rice (Alice and the Fly), Clare Coombes (Definitions) and most recently Phiippa Holloway (The Half Life of Snails) and Ashleigh Nugent (LOCKS), have found their first publishing success through Pulp Idol.

Wednesday 3rd May

6:30pm

£4

Liverpool Arts Bar Baltic

Customers with disabilities who would like to discuss specific seating requirements can call 0344 335 0437 Mondays to Friday from 9am – 5pm.

Or you can visit them at the Ticket Quarter Box Office for over the counter ticket purchases:

Ticket Quarter Box Office

M&S Bank Arena, Kings Dock, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool L3 4FP.
The Box Office is currently open from 12 noon on M&S Bank Arena event days only.