23 June 2009

Book your place at Literary Festival to avoid disappointment

Book-lovers have been quick to snap up tickets for the 2009 Dundee Literary Festival, with the sold out signs set to be put up for many events.

No ticket is priced at more than £5, including the headline events and workshops which take place between Thursday, June 25th, and Sunday, June 28th, 2009. Tickets can be obtained from Borders Dundee, from the 5th Floor of the University of Dundee Tower Building on Perth Road, from 01382 384413 and on www.literarydundee.co.uk.

The programme for the annual celebration of literature has been devised to bring together as broad a selection of talks, workshops and other events as possible over a four-day period.

A special Children’s Programme has been developed to help encourage literacy, and an exciting line-up featuring authors, publishing industry professionals and graphic novelists promise to keep book lovers entertained. Several events aimed at helping budding writers realise their ambitions will also take place.

The Festival is now in its third year, and is bigger than ever, with star names from the fields of philosophy, fiction, politics and poetry set to appear in Dundee. It begins on Thursday when Gerald Scarfe discusses his incredible career as a political and pop cartoonist over the last four decades.

Later that day, the most talked about writer in the UK, David Peace, will discuss his work and read extracts from his new novel, Occupied City, and there will also be talks from Adam Mars-Jones and Beatrice Colin.

Crime writers GJ Moffat and Russell D McLean will appear on the Friday and there is a treat in store for history buffs the following day. Rob Ryan will talk about his new book ‘Death on the Ice’, the tale of Robert Falcon Scott and his fatal journey to the South Pole and Angus Konstam will discuss ‘There was a Soldier’, his new book that contains first hand accounts of the Scottish soldier from 1707 to the present day.

The programme sees a number of special events take place, and readings from ‘New Writing Dundee’ authors, accompanied by a local Fest N Furious band, will take place on Friday. The Nethergate Writers will read from their latest collections on the same day.

A workshop focusing on the skills required to write for magazines will be held on the Friday, while local writers Jim Stewart and Rachel Marsh will lead creative writing workshops the following day.

The Children’s Programme is packed with exciting features to keep younger visitors entertained. Preceding the main Festival activities, the much-loved author Joan Lingard will visit Dundee to talk about ‘The Eleventh Orphan’, a Victorian mystery, on Tuesday.

Former Children’s Laureate, Anne Fine, will read from her new book ‘Eating Things on Sticks’ on Thursday and the Children’s Programme will conclude with Natalie Russell hosting a pair of events on Friday and Saturday.

Natalie is a local author of beautifully written and illustrated children’s books, and she will be sharing with us her imaginative characters Hamish the Highland Cow and Donkey.

The Festival will be rounded off with this year’s Comics Day on Sunday. Renowned writer of comics, graphic novels, television programmes and video games Warren Ellis will be joined with a number of writers and other influential figures from the comics industry for this unique event.

The Dundee Literary Festival proudly thanks the University of Dundee, EventScotland, The Landmark Hotel, Apex Hotel and Borders Books, without whose support the event would not be possible.

The full line-up of events, and associated photo opportunities follows. All events take place at the University’s Dalhousie Building unless otherwise stated:

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009.
10.30am
Joan Lingard will read to P6/P7 and S1 pupils from the Dundee area.

Thursday, June 25th, 2009.
10.30am - 11.30am
Gerald Scarfe, one of the world’s greatest living caricaturists, will discuss his career.
Entry is £3/£2 concession.

12pm - 1pm
Prose and a piece with Beatrice Colin. The author will read from her hit novel, The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite, answering questions from the audience, and signing books.
Entry is £5 (roll and tea or coffee included)

2pm - 3pm
Anne Fine, a former Children’s Laureate, is one of the best loved children’s writers alive will speak to pupils aged between P7 and S2 and reading from her new book, ‘Eating Things On Sticks’.
Entry is £2 per pupil.

2.30pm - 3.30pm
Adam Mars-Jones, former Granta Best Young British Novelist will discuss his new book and his work as a novelist, short story writer and critic for national newspapers.
Entry is £3/£2 concession.

4pm - 5pm
John Gray, one of Britain’s foremost political philosophers will be talking about his writing, his lifetime's work and answering questions
Entry is £4/£2 concession.

5pm - 7.30pm
New Writing Dundee and Fest n' Furious
The popular New Writing Dundee anthology will be officially launched with short readings from this, its fourth volume. Music will be provided by Fest 'n Furious, the popular Dundee music festival.
Entry is free.

6pm
Screening of Red Riding:1974, the adaption of David Peace’s novel, at Dundee Contemporary Arts. David Peace will deliver a talk before the screening begins.
Entry is £5.40.

7.30pm
David Peace, author of the Red Riding Quartet, Tokyo Year Zero and The Damned United will talk about his books, influences and future as well as answering questions.
Entry is £5 with no concessions.

Friday, June 26th, 2009.

9am - 11am
Workshop - Writing Fiction for Magazines
A class of writers will have the opportunity to acquire the skills needed for writing fiction for magazines under the tutelage of experts from People’s Friend and My Weekly.
Entry is £5 with no concessions.

10.30am - 11.30am
Dundee-born Natalie Russell has created many beautiful books blending simple illustrations and sweet stories. She will be reading from her books, discussing their themes and explaining how she illustrates them to an audience of P1 - P3 pupils.
Entry is £2 per pupil.

11am - 12pm
The Nethergate Writers, a local writing collective, will read extracts from their new anthology, If Stones Could Speak.
Entry is free.

12pm
Dundee International Book Prize 2009 winner announced at Camperdown House.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Poem and a piece with Kenneth Steven
Kenneth Steven will be reading from his recent publication, Making the Known World New, a collection of poetry and prose meditations.
Entry is £5 (includes a roll and tea or coffee)

2pm - 3pm
The New Crime Wave - Russel D McLean and GJ Moffat
GJ Moffat and Russel D McLean are the new Scottish crime writers that everybody is reading - tough, gritty and thrilling - and they will read extracts of their work in Dundee.
Entry is £3/£2 concession.

3.30pm - 5pm
The Publishing Panel
Influential figures from the publishing world discuss the various ways that writers have of getting their book published and answer questions from the audience.
Entry is £5/£3 concession.

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

9am - 11am
Creative Writing Workshop
Dr Jim Stewart and Rachel Marsh will offer expert tuition in the intricacies of creative writing and a grounding in the basics of brilliant literature.
Entry is £5 no concessions)

10am - 11am
Sheila Stewart has sung for Presidents and the Pope, and has lectured at some of the world’s top universities. Her book, Pilgrims In The Mist are the stories that she and her parents used to listen to by the camp fire as the shadows of night clustered around all laced with humour in the face of adversity.
Entry is £2 (no concessions.

10.30am - 11.30am
Dundee based artist Natalie Russell will charm the under fives with her beautifully illustrated and simply enticing stories at this free public event.

11am - 12pm
An exclusive reading and signing with the winner of the Dundee International Book Prize 2009.

12.30pm - 1.30pm
David Knowles will read from his first collection of poetry, 'Meeting the Jet Man', which comes direct from the cockpit of a modern fighter-bomber, bringing the sparse poetry of aerial warfare up-to-date, aiming neither to glorify nor to apologise.
Entry is £5 (includes a roll and tea or coffee).

1.30pm - 2.30pm
Historical novelist Robert Ryan makes a special visit to Dundee, the city which provides the basis of his fantastic new book, which tells the story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole.
Entry is £4/£2 concessions.

2pm - 3pm
Book Launch - 'Shadows on the Cave Wall: a New Theory of Evolution' by Dr Keith Skene
A radical and challenging book that turns current thinking about evolution on its head. Dr Keith Skene will be signing copies of the book at the Botanic Gardens, Dundee.
Entry is free.

2.45pm - 3.45pm
From the War of the Spanish Succession until the deployment of regiments in Iraq, Scottish soldiers have written home with tales of their exploits and had details of their experiences published. Angus Konstam’s ‘There was a Soldier’ brings many of these tales together for the first time.
Entry is £4/£2 concession.

4pm - 5pm
Acclaimed author and award-winning actress, Pauline McLynn, achieved fame as Father Ted’s tea-obsessed housekeeper. Pauline will read from her new book, Missing You Already, as well as regaling the audience with tales from her own hilarious adventures.
Entry is £4/£2 concession.

6pm
BAFTA-winning writer, comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli
will be appearing in Dundee to talk about his book, Indian Takeaway: A Very British Story, a funny, conversational adventure depicting contemporary India and a celebration of his multiple cultural identities.
This free event takes place in the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, University of Dundee.

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Comics Day
Tickets cost £10 (including workshop, £5 concession including workshop, and £3 for workshop only.

11am - 12pm
David Bishop: Writing for Graphic Novels Workshop

1pm
Dr Chris Murray will officially open the event.

1.10pm - 2.40pm
Session One: How Comics Work
Ian Hague, Comics and the Linearity of Time
Julia Round, Chronological illusion in the work of Alan Moore, Emma Vieceli, Approaching Sequential Art and Adaptation, Mel Gibson, 'I don't live in Sunderland! Sunderland doesn't exist! I've made it all up!' The past, the comic and the personal in Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland

2.40pm
Opening of Exhibition

3.20pm
Session Two: British Science Fiction Comics.
Peter Hughes Jachimiak, ' Days of Future Passed': A 1970s Britain, Economic Downturn and Utopian Futures in Children's Science Fiction Comics David Bishop, 'Time Twisted': A look at Alan Moore's treatment of time frames in 2000AD

4.30pm
Book Signing with David Bishop and Emma Viecel

5pm
Session Three: Keynote Presentation
Alan Grant, My Adventures in Comics

6pm
Book Signing with Alan Grant and Warren Ellis

6.30pm
Session Four: Keynote Presentation II
Warren Ellis , Title TBC

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk