East Midlnds Book Award - winner announced

Jon McGregor won the East Midlands Book Award 2013.

The £1000 cheque and trophy was presented by crime writer John Harvey as part of the Oakham Festival.

Jon’s book, This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You, published by Bloomsbury, was the unanimous choice of the judges – John Harvey, Mel Read and Robert Gent.

After the awards ceremony Jon McGregor said: “I’m honoured to have won this year’s EMBA, not least because it was a shortlist of real strength and breadth. I’ve always felt supported by the community of writers in Nottingham and the East Midlands, so this prize is particularly welcome.”

This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You is set in the flat and threatened fenland landscape, where the sky is dominant and the sea lurks just beyond the horizon.

A man builds a tree house by a river, in anticipation of the coming flood. A sugar-beet crashes through a young woman’s windscreen. A boy sets fire to a barn. These aren’t the sort of things you imagine happening to someone like you. But sometimes they do.

Jon McGregor is the author of the critically acclaimed If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, So Many Ways to Begin and Even the Dogs. He is the winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award, and has been twice longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

The aim of the East Midlands Book Award is to raise the profile of published writers living in the East Midlands, writing on any theme, in any setting.

The full shortlist for this year's award comprised:

• Will Buckingham – The Descent of the Lyre, Roman
• John Gallas – Fresh Air, and The Story of Molecule, Carcanet
• Graham Joyce – Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Orion
• Jon McGregor – This Isn’t the Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like you, Bloomsbury
• Alison Moore – The Lighthouse, Salt
• Neil Roberts – A Lucid Dreamer, The Life of Peter Redgrove, Random House
• Jonathan Taylor – Entertaining Strangers, Salt

The Trustees have secured private funding to run the East Midlands Book Award for ten years. Nominations for books published this year are already open. To find out how to enter your book, visit www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/awards.

 

Children's Hour at the Hucknall Book Day

 

Don't miss Ian Douglas and his History Roadshow on Sat June 29th, 3pm.

 

At: Hucknall's Central Methodist Church in the heart of Hucknall.

 

Cost: FREE

 

Suitable for all.

 

Part of the International Byron Festival and the Hucknall Book Day

 

SIX Free to attend TALKS from 11.45am - 4pm

 

 

 

 

Free parking is available at the venue.

Military Heritage Exhibition

Nottingham's Military Heritage Exhibition 24th June - 13th July

Floor 1 Exhibition area, Nottingham Central Library

FREE

Glimpse into Nottingham's military past from the 15th century to the present day. This will include Civil Wars at home, conflicts abroad, regimental history and our famous local heroes.

To coincide with the exhibition there will also be a talk 'Their Names Will Live On' by Andy Smart, writer of the Bygones supplement in the Nottingham Post onThursday 27th June 2 - 3pm. The talk will cover the stories of local unsung war heroes. These inspiring stories have been collected together in his book 'Their Names Will Live On'. The stories reflect the bravery of ordinary local men and women and cover all branches of the Armed Forces and major conflicts from 1914 to the present day.

Tickets for talk priced at £2, to book contact 0115 915 2873 or emaillocal_studies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

A Cartoon History of Here

A Cartoon History of Here

Upton Cricket Pavilion

Friday July 12^th at 7.30pm.

Tickets are priced at £12.50

Ian McMillan and Tony Husband at Upton

Barnsley Football Club has a poet in residence, he is local legend and performer Ian McMillan. Not afraid of a bit of contrast he’s also resident poet at English National Opera. However, his contributions are strictly confined to commentary, on the art of both football and opera, never knowingly mixing the two! His distinctive vocal style and delivery endures Ian’s continued presence on such shows as Just a Minute and his own show The Verb on Radio 3. He has been described as combining the verbal gymnastics of a northern Spike Milligan with the comic timing of Eric Morecambe. 

A Cartoon History of Here is not a one man show. Ian is joined at Upton by award winning cartoonist Tony Husband whose cartoons have appeared in newspapers, magazines, books and websites including The Times, Playboy, The Sunday Express and The Sun. He has won more than 15 major awards, including the Pont Award, for depicting the British way of life. His draws a regular comic strip, Yobs, for Private Eye that began in the 1980s. Tony remains one of Britain’s best known satirical quick-draw cartoon artist. 

A Cartoon History of Here will be a night like no other. Created by the attending audience, Ian and Tony cook up poems and cartoons 'to go' relying on audience participation to steer the performance.

The show is raising funds for Theatre Imp’s production of Irena’s Vow in February 2014.

Tickets are available from Chantelle on 01636 822742 0r 07857 662089 or online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/theatreimp - a handling fee applies to all card transactions whether online or by phone.

Anthology Launch

The Competition Results and Anthology Launch!

The dust may have settled on Nottingham’s first Festival of Words but the inspiration is just gaining momentum. Please help us in supporting all the talented children and teenagers who entered the Festival of Words Lace Competition. What could be more important than nurturing Nottingham’s future generation of literary talent? Whether it is a budding Shane Meadows or the next Alan Sillitoe, this night is a good opportunity to say you discovered them first! Come down to Waterstone's, hear some great stories and poems and meet some wonderful young Nottingham writers!

Author Talk: Alison Moore

Author Talk: Alison Moore   

Tuesday 11^th June, 7.30pm at Wollaton Library  

Tickets £2

Join us to hear acclaimed novelist Alison Moore speak about her writing.

Alison is the author of the Man Booker Prize short listed novel The Lighthouse and a new short story collection The Pre-War House.

Tickets cost £2 and are available at Wollaton Library.

Telephone 0115 915 5715 

or email wollaton.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Crime Writers and Other Liars

Crime Writers and Other Liars  

Friday 7 June, 2pm   Nottingham Central Library   

Tickets £2.00

Peter Guttridge looks at crime writers and crime writing and discusses how deceitful and scheming crime writers need to be to do their job well.   

The other liars, other writers of course.

Peter is the author of ten crime novels and was The Observer's crime fiction critic for eleven years.

Tickets cost £2 and are available from the helpdesk at Nottingham Central Library.

 

Telephone  0115 9152825

or email enquiryline@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Women's Prize for Fiction

Women’s Prize for Fiction Evening
Wednesday 5^th June 7pm Nottingham Central Library    Free

The Orange prize is no more!  It’s now the Women’s fiction prize!  Join us at Nottingham Central Library to hear extracts from this year’s shortlisted books.  Come along and share your thoughts, or just sit back and enjoy the discussion.

Light refreshments provided.

This is a free event, please ask for a ticket at Nottingham Central Library, telephone 0115 9152825 or email enquiryline@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

If you would like to borrow one of the short listed books to read in advance, please email jane.brierley@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Shortlist:

      Zadie Smith  NW

A.  M Holmes  May we be forgiven

Hilary Mantel   Bring Up the Bodies

Maria Semple Where’d you go, Bernadette?

Kate Atkinson   Life After Life

Barbara Kingsolver   Flight Behaviour