Now in its fourth year the Being Human Festival is a
national forum for public engagement with humanities research. It highlights
the ways in which the humanities can inspire and enrich our everyday lives,
help us to understand ourselves, our relationships with others, and the
challenges we face in a changing world. There are over 300 free activities taking place across the
UK and you can view the full
programme here.
Between November 17th and 25th Nottingham
is playing its part in the festival with a series of talks and activities. Here is NottsLit’s pick of those events:
How to lose and find
yourself in words. The launch
A Free Event at Broadway Cinema, November 17, 6pm-7:30pm, organised by the University of Nottingham
in association with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature.
Hear the inside story of the BBC National Short Story Award
with the 2017 judge and author Jon McGregor, winner of this year’s
National Short Story Prize, Welsh novelist and TV scriptwriter, Cynan Jones,
and special guests. Cynan was presented with the £15,000 prize for his story
‘The Edge of the Shoal’. The panel, chaired by Sandeep Mahal, Director of
Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, will explore how to lose and find
yourself in words – the special power in short stories to capture the
imagination of the reader.
(Re)connecting with
nature through the power of wild words
A Free Event at Attenborough Nature Centre, November 18, 10am–3pm, organised by
University of Nottingham and Nottingham Wildlife Trust
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Dr Rob Lambert will host
a day exploring our lost connection with nature (particularly in modern urban
environments) due to our busy, fast-paced technological lives. Explore the
value of ‘wild words’, writing and language in a wild setting. Through
discussion, workshops and interactive sessions participants will unlock and
share the power of language to reconnect minds and bodies with nature all
around us. Connecting with nature is, after all, part of being human. Activities
will be suitable for a wide range of ages.
Gallery Tour of the
exhibition ‘Collected Words’
A Free Event at Weston Gallery, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, on
November 20, 11am-12pm
Join one of the curators for a guided tour of the
Manuscripts and Special Collections’ City of Literature exhibition ‘Collected
Words’. Hear some of the stories behind the unique archives, manuscripts and
rare printed books on display. Learn why DH Lawrence’s Pansies had to be
smuggled into the country, discover the writings of Margaret Cavendish of
Welbeck Abbey, the world’s first female science-fiction author known as ‘Mad
Madge’, and view a masterpiece of medieval poetry.
Migration stories –
then and now
A Free Event at Nottingham Central Library on November 18, 1pm-3:45pm, organised by
University of Nottingham and Nottingham Library Services
Explore and create stories about migrants to the East
Midlands from over a thousand years ago. Men, women and children from
Scandinavia settled across the region in the Viking Age (AD 750-1100). Once
here, the new residents engaged and interacted with existing communities in
farming and trade, while maintaining aspects of their own culture such as
language, dress and religion. Today their traces can be seen in the place-names
of the East Midlands, and in the objects they brought with them and used here
that survive until today. Get creative! With the support of creative writers,
participants will develop short stories, poems and plays which weave together
the experiences of past and present migrants.
The rise, fall and
revival of the modern bookshop
A Free Event at Five Leaves Bookshop, on November 21, 7pm-8pm,
organised by University of Nottingham and Five Leaves Bookshop.
A few years ago it appeared that bookshops were in a state
of terminal decline. Between 2005 and 2011 nearly 2000 bookshops had closed in
Britain, a sign that the days of physical bricks and mortar bookshops were
coming to a close. However, in 2015 the American Booksellers’ Association
announced a rise in the number of new independent bookshops, and boldly claimed
that the word ‘endangered’ could be decoupled from the word ‘bookstores’.
This discussion, led by Professor Andrew Thacker, will
explore how independent bookshops such as City Lights in San Francisco
(publisher of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl) and Shakespeare and Company in Paris
(publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses) have been important institutions in the
development of modern literature and culture. The discussion will consider what
the modern bookshop can learn from looking at these earlier examples of book
selling, and what the future prospects are for the independent bookshop.
Your first digital
story
A Free Event at The Mac Suite, National Videogame Arcade, on
November 22, 5pm-7pm, organised by
University of Nottingham with National Videogame Arcade.
Ever thought about creating and publishing your own digital
story? If so, this event, hosted by the National Videogame Arcade, is for you.
Participants will take part in a two-hour ‘storyfest’ workshop led by Dr
Spencer Jordan, in which you’ll be introduced to the Twine digital platform and
taken through the basics of interactive, digital narrative building. You’ll
create your own story and then be shown how you can publish it to the web.
No skills or knowledge of digital storytelling is necessary.
Simply bring enthusiasm and lots of creativity.
Losing yourself in a book – the ‘Boots Booklovers Library’
A Free Event at Five Leaves
Bookshop on November 22, 6:00 pm - 7:00
pm, organised by University of Nottingham and Five Leaves Bookshop.
Between 1899 and 1966 Boots the
Chemist operated an extensive, national, circulating library, one which was
renowned for service and the environment it created for subscribers. Come and
find out why Jesse Boot went to the trouble of running such a popular service
as a loss leader. This talk will remember the style and elegance of the
libraries which were show pieces of contemporary interior design and most
importantly the stories of the librarians who worked there.
Drawing on archive research and
oral histories, hear how the libraries celebrated the reading year with a
calendar of displays, subscription drives, holiday influxes and joining in with
local events.
Discussion led by Dr Nickianne
Moody of Liverpool John Moores University and Boots archivist Judith Wright.
Lost authors: Geoffrey Trease
A Free Event at Weston Gallery, Nottingham
Lakeside Arts, on November 24, 2pm-3:30pm,
organised by University of Nottingham.
Nottingham-born Geoffrey Trease was
a successful 20th-century writer of historical fiction for children. This
workshop will re-exam the impact of Trease through two of his books, his very
first book, Bows Against the Barons (1934) and Tales out of School (1949). Both
are radical books in their very own way: Bows Against the Barons is an
early depiction of Robin Hood as a radical anti-establishment leader in the
shape of Wat Tyler, and Tales out of School challenges ideas about the role of
fiction in the education of young readers.
This talk, which explores
literature and its place in Nottingham’s local history and culture, will be led
by Dr Gaby Neher.
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