As you may know, the Midlands Arts Centre is closing in April 2008 for a rebuild lasting 18 months. There are going to be events celebrating the old MAC to mark the closure, including collections of people's memories. Many lot of people have written poems about, in or inspired by, MAC and this seems like a good time to make a collection of them. If you have a poem you've written about MAC, or you know someone who has, email it to Jacqui Rowe at jacquirowe@hotmail.co.uk. There's no money in this, it isn't a competition and Jacqui can't guarantee publication but the poems will be seen in some way, through an exhibition, the programme or, possibly a small publication.

Lichfield Company of Poets press release Writing Workshops As part of the Lichfield Stone Voices Project, author and poet David Calcutt is running a series of three Public Writing Workshops at The Garrick Theatre in November 2007. The workshops are for anyone aged 16 years and above with an interest in the art and craft of writing poetry, prose or drama. Each workshop will focus on a different theme:

• Saturday 3rd November: Telling Stories. Finding, creating, shaping and telling stories from raw material.
• Saturday 10th November: Creating Characters. Biography, description, motivation, action, voice, relationships.
• Saturday 17th November: Making the Journey. The Quest as a theme for stories, poetry, and drama.

All workshops run from 10am – 1pm and will be held in The Garrick Theatre Bar.

Although each workshop is self-contained, the subjects and themes covered in all three workshops are inter-related. The work generated by the workshops may be included in the Stone Voices Project which will see the creation of Five Major Performance Pieces to be produced for the 2008 Lichfield Festival.

David Calcutt said: ‘This is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in poetry, writing, or just Lichfield in general to add their own words, thoughts, and feelings into an important piece of community art. We welcome anyone for one workshop, or all three if you are so inspired. Just bring your thoughts, words and feelings, and hopefully we can create something of lasting value’. Each workshop is free but you are advised to register your place by sending an e-mail to: Lichfield.Poets@hotmail.co.uk

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Five Birmingham Poets is a collection of poems by and interviews with five Birmingham-based Black British poets (Leon Blades, Sue Brown, Martin Glynn, Roi Kwabena and Moqapi Selassie). Edited by Eric Doumerc, the book examines the influence of the Caribbean oral tradition (reggae, calypso, storytelling) on Black British performance poetry. Published by Raka Books, Five Birmingham Poets is available from the internet print-on-demand site www.lulu.com.

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Yes, Rio has nothing on us here in the Midlands. It's literary festival time, and if you want a friendlier, more intimate experience than Cheltenham has to offer, then there's plenty happening at the Birmingham Book Festival and Warwick's literary festival, Warwick Words.

Warwick Words is a fantastic combination of the extreme gentility for which Warwick is justly famed (afternoon tea with the literary Great and Good) and more bracing pursuits (workshops in dungeons, poetry slams, workshops, open mic events). Meanwhile over in Birmingham, the Birmingham Book Festival just gets better and better, with big-shots like John Simpson and Lionel Shriver alongside a selection of other events and workshops including, for the hard-core, an all night magical mystery bus tour with Nicola Monaghan.

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The Man Booker Prize shortlist has just been announced and here are the six that have made the cut for the UK's most fasionable literary prize.

• Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate)
• The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
• Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)

Birmingham Rep
When: 20,21,22 September @ 7.45pm
Where: The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Square, B1 2EP
Tickets: £4-£10 (concessions available, ask for details)
Box Office: 0121 236 4455
Book online:www.Birmingham-rep.co.uk

Spellbinding, intimate and wickedly funny, Unplanned is the new show from mesmeric performer and writer Malika Booker. A Pandora’s box of stories, spells and secrets, this theatrical treat delves into the myths and taboos of getting a bun in the oven (and getting it out again).

Malika is a seductive magician who draws on life and its passions to take you to new worlds. Come and join her. She will make your heart skip a beat.


Charming and well judged... lingers like a reproachful ghost in our minds
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Remarkable... intriguingly unclear where reminiscence ends and magic realism begins
The Times
 

ArtsFest , Birmingham's annual free arts bonanza is the the kind of event that should have folks flocking from across the known world to take advantage of two days of free quality arts events. 400 events, 1,500 artists, 250 organisations. However, strangely enough, the event seems to make barely a dent beyond Birmingham itself.

Nevertheless, if you live in Birmingham, then this ArtsFest might remind you why. If you live elsewhere, then you should get on a train and get yourself to Birmingham for the weekend of the 14th - 16th September and marvel at what the city has to offer. And if you write for the national press, damn you, then you should bloody well write about this extraordinary event and encourage people to come. Really there's no excuse to miss it.

Where else can you wander from hearing 12 piece Balkan jazz bands to bonkers performance poetry, from Portuguese Fado to the Birmingham Royal Ballet, from street dance to giant walk-through sculptures made of air and light, and all for free?

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Simon Leake, known to some of you as the editor of Deficit Magazine, has just started an intersting new project that is worth following if you are interested in Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese writer. Check out the link below: http://ishmaelloekr.blogspot.com

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