Hexham Book Festival 2013

New Writing North have sent me the following information about the Hexham Book Festival that I thought I would share with my followers:

Mystery, Magic and Midnight Feasts: The Many Adventures of Enid Blyton Seven Stories, Newcastle: From Saturday 4 May One of the best-selling writers for children of all time, Enid Blyton’s stories have delighted generation after generation. This exhibition will show, for the first time, Seven Stories’ unique Enid Blyton Collection of original typescripts and illustrations. Admission fee applies. For more information, visit www.sevenstories.org.uk.

An Audience with Jenni Murray The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed: Saturday 4 May, 7.30pm Jenni Murray is one of radio and television’s most respected broadcasters and author of numerous books, the most recent of which is My Boy Butch. Her wide-ranging expertise in politics, business and the arts has led commentators to write admiringly of her ‘well-stocked mind’. Join her for this very special evening, during which she will talk about her fascinating life and career, followed by a Q&A. Tickets £16/£15. For more details and to book, see www.maltingsberwick.co.uk.

Derek Walcott King’s Hall, Newcastle University: Wednesday 8 May, 7.15pm Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 for his Homeric epic, Omeros, Derek Walcott is one of the contemporary era’s most important poets. Tickets: £8/£5. For more details, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla.

European Crime Night Lit & Phil: Thursday 9 May 2013, 6.30pm A special event in partnership with Speaking Volumes Live Literature, bringing the best in European crime writing to Tyneside. Zygmunt Miloszewski is an award-winning Polish crime novelist, whose most recent book is A Grain of Truth. Joining him will be Pia Juul, one of Denmark’s most celebrated writers, whose most recent novel is The Murder of Halland. Tickets: £3 on the door. For more information, see www.newwritingnorth.com/event_details-european-crime-night-details-2230.html.

Pink Lane Poetry and Performance The Jazz Café, Newcastle: Thursday 9 May, 7pm Open-mic poetry event. Tickets: £3. For more details see www.pinklane.webs.com.

Doncaster Literary Festival presents Mari Hannah and Russ Litten Central Lending Library, Doncaster: Friday 10 May, 2pm Meet Read Regional authors Mari Hannah and Russ Litten. Tickets: £1.50 including refreshments. For more information, visit http://library.doncaster.gov.uk/web/arena/literary-festival. And for more information about Read Regional, see www.readregional.com.

Electronic Voice Phenomena: poetry and music The Sage Gateshead: Friday 10 May, 8pm A night of sonic innovation inspired by Konstantin Raudive’s 1970s experiments into hearing unidentified voices in electronic interference. Part séance, part avant-garde cabaret, EVP features exclusive new commissions and collaborations from artist and performer Hetain Patel, poets Ross Sutherland, Hannah Silva and SJ Fowler, indie experimenters Outfit, and others. Tickets: £10. For more details and to book, visit www.thesagegateshead.org/event/electronic-voice-phenomena/.

James Kirkup Competition launch event Central Library, South Shields: Saturday 11 May, 2pm Red Squirrel Press invites you to the Fourth James Kirkup Memorial Poetry Competition event, featuring the launch of 2011 winner Maggie Whyte’s pamphlet, No Mud No Lotus, and 2012 winner Nikki Magennis reading her work. The 2013 competition will also be launched. Free event, no booking required. Please contact Catrin Gait on 0191 424 7995 for more information or see www.redsquirrelpress.com.

Linda France: Border Song Lit & Phil: Wednesday 15 May, 7pm A reading of Linda France’s thrilling Border Song, a long poem transposing the Bible’s Song of Songs to the North Tyne Valley, celebrating love of the land, love between two people and love of spirit. Free event. For more details visit www.litandphil.org.uk.

The Iron Age: 1973-2013: Forty Years of Good Books Cullercoats sea front: 15-19 May For five days in May 2013, come and join us in celebrating 40 years of Iron Press with a whole range of events linked to the press and its authors. Cullercoats has been home since the mid-70s to Iron Press, which has brought out an eclectic list of literary titles from authors in this region, nationwide, and abroad. Iron Press will be launching Nesting, a new book of stories by the North East’s famous literary son, David Almond, whose first two books were from Iron Press. Finally, the festival welcomes back Iron Press’ former assistant editor and bard of Barnsley, the irrepressible Ian McMillan. There’s also a late night Festival Club and a special Cullercoats beach spectacular too. Events from Wednesday 15-Sunday 19 May. Tickets from free to £8 with weekend pass available. Full details and booking at www.ironpress.co.uk.

Nick Montgomery: Something Mortal Lit & Phil: Friday 17 May, 6pm Join Laurel Books for the launch of Something Mortal, a book of poems by the late Nick Montgomery, with an introduction by Nick’s tutor and mentor John Fuller. Nick was an astonishingly talented teacher, musician, songwriter and poet, who died tragically early. Free entry. For more information, email mail@laurelbooks.co.uk, or call 01225 782 874.

Cosmic Travels with Paul Magrs Caedmon Hall, Gateshead Central Library: Friday 17 May, 7pm Meet Paul Magrs, author of 666 Charing Cross Road, as he talks about his work including Doctor Who, Iris Wildthyme and Vince Cosmos. Tickets: £3. For more details and to book, visit https://online.gateshead.gov.uk or call 0191 433 8420.

TS Eliot Prize tour Culture Lab, Newcastle University: Tuesday 21 May, 7.15pm The TS Eliot Prize is one of the world’s top poetry awards and was set up by the Poetry Book Society in 1993 in memory of its founding poet. As part of a national tour to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Prize, three of the world-class poets who have been shortlisted in recent years will be reading their work, alongside a well-known local poet. Details TBA. Tickets: £6/£4. For more information, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla.

Literary and philosophical Jesmond Jesmond Library, Newcastle: Friday 24 May, 6pm Interested in Jesmond’s literary history? Come along to the Jesmond Community Festival, where Keith Jewitt, Michael Chaplin and Dr Lucy Pearson will be talking about literary and philosophical Jesmond. After the lecture, there will be a Q&A in which audience members can share their own knowledge and reminiscences of writers in Jesmond. Free entry. For more information and to book, call Jesmond Library on 0191 278 4215.

Aminatta Forna in conversation Culture Lab, Newcastle University: Friday 24 May, 7.15pm Born in Glasgow and raised in Sierra Leone and Britain, prize-winning novelist and memorialist Aminatta Forna also spent periods of he childhood in Iran, Thailand, and Zambia. Her Commonwealth Writers’ Prize-winning novel, The Memory of Love (2010), is a thought-provoking story about friendship, war, and obsessive love. Tickets: £6/£4. For more details, see www.ncl.ac.uk/ncla.

Kids: spoken word poetry performance Lit & Phil: Saturday 25 May, 7pm A multi-vocal, multimedia, spoken word poetry performance, written by North East poets Andy Willoughby and Bob Beagrie and set to a live piano score composed by Anthony Flint, inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 film ŒThe Kid. Tickets: £5/£3 (concs). Tel: 0191 232 0192 for more information.

Catherine Graham: Things I Will Put In My Mother’s Pocket Lit & Phil: Thursday 30 May, 7pm Join Newcastle poet Catherine Graham for the launch of her new collection, Things I Will Put In My Mother’s Pocket (Indigo Dreams Publishing). Catherine’s chapbook Signs (ID on Tyne Press) was one of The Poetry Kit’s top five recommended books for 2011. Free event. For more details visit www.litandphil.org.uk.