2013 nearly over - annual update
.png)
BELOW is an update on what if:book UK
has been up to over the past year. Thanks for your interest and support.
IN 2013…
I
appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Cultural Exchange in January, in a discussion
chaired by Mark Lawson to launch this year’s cultural festival
was
keynote speaker at a conference in Pitlochry organised by AmbITion Scotland;
spoke
at the Heart of English event at the Royal Society of Arts and am now part of
the group looking at how best to support good teaching of English in schools;
devised
and performend NEARLY with dancer Jia-Yu Corti at Chisenhale Dance Space and
the Live Literary Lounge at Kings Place during Jewish Book Week;
completed
a successful pilot of SET POETRY FREE at Queensbridge School Birmingham;
was a
judge for the second year of the Bologna Children’s Bookfair Digital Prize for
children’s book apps;
took
part in consultations over the ACE Envisioning Libraries report;
lectured
to writing students at East
London University;
ran a
workshop at the British Council for visiting literary activists from around the
world;
ran
an if:book stand at Free Word’s open day for associates and members;
tutored
Arvon Jerwood mentored writers on digital possibilities at the Totleigh Barton
centre;
initiated
a new IFSOFLO support group for writers and literature professionals with Luke
Roberts of indie publisher Choc Lit;
spent
a week at Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival in May running digital writing
workshops for Children, working with performance artist Joakim Stampe;
designed
and launched the IFSOPRESS.COM website as a place for collaborative
reading home-cooked by if:book
ran a
Collaborative Writing Weekend in Suffolk during which participants wrote this
murder mystery: www.beached.pressbooks.com
co-ordinated
a Collaborative Writing week with this year’s Arvon Jerwood mentored writers
during which they wrote a script together.
spent
time observing, drawing and writing about Gillett Square Hackney for M.A.
research by Hattie Coppard into public space and play;
gave
a Canon Tale at The Literary Consultancy’s annual Digital Writing Conference;
joined
the board of Modern Poetry in Translation, a wonderful magazine founded in 1965
by Ted Hughes, and have been advising on its digital strategy
spoke
on a panel on digital publishing at Stoke Newington Lit Fest;
as
Hornsey Library’s nearlywriter in residence, ran the first Nearlywriting
Nearlydancing workshop with Jia-Yu Corti;
hosted
a night of Nearlyology at the Rocking Chair Café, London involving short talks
and readings by people telling things that nearly happened to them,
was
commissioned to write a poem set to music by local musicians and performed by
dancers from Hornsey School;
appeared
as Poet in the Phone Box as part of Crouch End Festival
commissioned
Lisa Gee to write a piece for ifsopress.com on the New Media Writing Prize,
providing links to the winning works since the prize came into existence.
spoke
at the Backflow Conference this October at Spitz on the Danube in Austria, part
of the annual ELIT European Literature Days.
I’m a
judge of the New Media Writing Prize this winter, run by Bournemouth
University, and, for the third year, of the Bologna Ragazzi Digital Prize in
February
To
explore the potential for an annual writing event, we ran a pilot collaborative
writing weekend at the Vicarage in Hackney Central involving a movement
workshop with dancer Andrew Harrington and photography by Will Jennings.
if:book
has appointed Luke Roberts its first Collaborative Writer In Residence, as a
pilot for future commissions to authors exploring digital possibilities for
literature. Luke will be working on his novel as well as collaborative projects
and co-ordinating the ifso writers group’s activities.
Work
created will be published by The Ifso Press on www.ifsopress.com a site designed to offer readers and
teachers some good stories and poetry to read, plus resources for schools and
bookgroups, which is now the home for a team of writers who are working
together to help each other develop and amplify their fiction.
Comments