www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/writeidea 14-16 November 2014 The Writeidea Festival 2014 East London’s FREE Reading Festival Write idea 14 20 14-16 Nov EAST LONDON’S FREE Reading Festival Writeidea Festival 2013 Writeidea Festival Welcome to Writeidea Festival 2014, the sixth edition performers than ever, so be prepared for some tricky of Tower Hamlets Council’s unique free reading festival. planning if you want to catch them all! The fact that the festival remains free to the public is As usual, we have a wide range of international, national largely thanks to the kind support we have received and local authors and performers covering novels and from the Arts Council of England and from the Canary short story writing, history, journalism, poetry, music, Wharf Group – we are very grateful for their generosity. comedy, photography and television writing. We promise The authors’ books will be available to borrow for free you thought provoking and lively debates, riveting too, because at Idea Stores we offer a first class, world excursions into the past, fascinating journeys through renowned public library service. We have also involved the imagination, literary globetrotting, self-deprecating local independent bookseller Brick Lane Books, in case humour, satire and much more. you want to buy your own copy and have it signed by your favourite author. Finally, we think it is very fitting that such a diverse offer should be part of a festival that has grown and grown Following on from last year’s success, this year’s festival from the grassroots in Tower Hamlets, the true heart of retains the same format of events running concurrently the multicultural East End. We hope you enjoy it. over a single weekend. Somehow we seem to have managed to squeeze in even more authors and Idea Store – bringing writers and readers together. You can keep up to date with events through our Contents website www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/writeidea Friday Events 3 Follow us on twitter @writeideafest Saturday Events 4 Don’t forget to book your free tickets. Festival Planner 12 Please go to www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/writeidea Sunday Events 14 This symbol indicates that this event will be British Writeidea Fringe 22 Sign Language interpreted 2 Friday 14 November 6:00pm Urban Playground [Ground Floor Foyer from 6:00pm] Urban Playground is Morpeth School’s large woodwind and brass ensemble. The band rehearses every Monday and is made up of students from Years 7 to 13. Urban Playground has performed all over the world, including New York, Madrid and Iceland, as well as at many great festivals in the UK including the Cultural Olympiads and BT River of Music. They have also had the privilege to work with many amazing musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Christian Scott, Arun Ghosh and the Soul Rebels Brass Bands. SLAMbassadors [Dance Studio from 6:30pm] A performance poetry event by Slambassadors, featuring Samila Naira and Nafeesa Mohammed (overall winner of the Buckinghamshire Slam Championships). SLAMbassadors UK is the Poetry Society’s national youth slam championships and the longest running youth slam in the country. Tariq Ali in conversation with Penny Wrout [Dance Studio] Tariq Ali and Penny Wrout discuss the ‘Islam Quintet’, his acclaimed series of five novels addressing the long history of the clash of Islam and the West. Together the novels form an epic panorama that begins in fifteenth-century Moorish Spain and closes in the twenty-first century cities of Lahore, London, Paris and Beijing. Writer and activist, Tariq Ali first came to prominence leading the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. He is a broadcaster, filmmaker and journalist, editorial director of Verso, and an editor of the New Left Review. Penny Wrout is an arts events and media producer, journalist and scriptwriter. Photo: Nina Subin 3 Saturday 15 November 1:00pm Jake Arnott [Dance Studio] The Art of Writing the Streets of London Jake Arnott, author of ‘The Long Firm’ and ‘The House of Rumour’ will be your guide to the writer’s long-time obsession with the topography of the capital, looking at John Gay’s 1716 poem, ‘Trivia: The Art of Walking the Streets of London’ and his own work-in- progress novel set in eighteenth century London. Photo: Cristian Barnett London Recruits [Labs 2 and 3] London Recruits – the secret war against apartheid The history of the anti-apartheid movement in the UK evokes images of boycotts and public campaigns, but another story went on behind the scenes. By 1966, the apartheid regime in South Africa had all but annihilated the African National Congress (ANC), imprisoning its leaders, including Nelson Mandela, or driving them into exile. To help keep their message of resistance alive the ANC’s exiled leadership recruited young, white volunteers to smuggle banned literature into South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. Sworn to secrecy, their work remained silent for forty years until the publication in 2012 of London Recruits: The Secret War Against Apartheid, edited by Ken Keable. This event will bring together some of these recruits to talk about what they did, why they agreed to participate, what it meant to them, how it changed them, and the role of international solidarity and collaboration in today’s world. 4 Saturday 15 November 1:00pm Xiaolu Guo [Conference Room] Louie Stowell [Lab 1a] One of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists of Writer Louie Stowell leads a hands-on comic- 2013, Xiaolu Guo writes from a truly international making workshop. Drawing ability not required perspective, having lived in Berlin and London after leaving her native China. Now writing in English, she Louie Stowell writes books and interactive stories about has penned a new novel, ‘I Am China’, which tells everything from real-life spacecraft to Norse mythology. the story of a London-based translator named Iona Her sci-fi novella, ‘The School for Supervillains’, was Kirkpatrick who translates the tragic letters of young published by Readzone this May. Her latest book, Chinese exiles Jian and Mu. ‘Write and Draw Your Own Comics’, was published by Usborne in October. She also has a webcomic: Deus ex Suburbia. http://godsnextdoor.wordpress.com/ Red Army Fiction [Ground Floor Foyer] Performances by members of East London’s spoken word collective, celebrating diversity and individuality via a cornucopia of creative contrasting styles and genres. Red Army Fiction will also be performing on Sunday at 6pm in the ground floor foyer. Saturday 1:00pm 5 Saturday 2:30pm Jerry White [Dance Studio] Ahsan Akbar [Labs 2 and 3] London’s River in the Great War In conversation with Hannah Eiseman-Renyard The First World War saw a two-edged crisis in the Port Ahsan Akbar was born in London but grew up in of London. At first the dislocation of world trade caused a Bangladesh. After attending the University of Exeter, he stoppage in shipping that threw many on the riverside out worked in the City, and is currently at work on a novel. of work. But slump turned quickly into boom as the bustle His debut collection of poems, ‘The Devil’s Thumbprint’, of war swept along the river. Throughout the conflict a was launched at the 2014 edition of Hay Festival Dhaka. labour shortage was the river’s greatest problem, solved in He reviews for The Dhaka Tribune, The Daily Star, The part by the migration of men from Asia and the Caribbean Telegraph, 3 Quarks Daily, and recently curated literary to fill the gaps: they were not always well received by the projects with Granta and Wasafiri locals. And all the while the Port was a major target for the German air force. Jerry White is a leading social historian of modern London. His ‘Zeppelin Nights: London in the First World War’ was published by the Bodley Head in May 2014. 6 Saturday Nikesh Shukla [Lab 1a] James Dawson [Conference Room] ‘The First and Last Thing I Do Every Day Is See This Talk Is Gay What Strangers Are Saying About Me’ Award winning ‘Queen of Teen’ and former Sex Ed teacher Comedic author Nikesh Shukla has written a satire on James Dawson argues why rigorous sex education should our social media lives, how we’re connected by likes, be mandatory and explains what prompted him to write favourites and interactions, and he asks: has this really ‘This Book is Gay’, a guide to sex and relationships for brought us together? Through a mixture of readings, young LGBT people. storytelling of his own experiences that led to writing James Dawson is the award-winning author of dark teen ‘Meatspace’ and questions from the public, he’ll take thrillers ‘Hollow Pike’, ‘Cruel Summer’ and ‘Say Her Name’. you on a journey into our plugged in lives and ask the Until recently, James worked as a teacher, specialising question: how well do we all really know each other? in PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) and His debut novel, ‘Coconut Unlimited’ was shortlisted behaviour. His first non-fiction book, ‘Being a Boy’ tackled for the Costa First Novel Award 2010. His short stories puberty, sex and relationships in a frank and funny fashion. have featured in magazines, on radio and in national A follow up for young LGBT people, ‘This Book is Gay’, newspapers. He’s written for the Guardian, Esquire was released in September. and BBC 2 and been writer in residence for BBC Asian Network and Royal Festival Hall. His Channel 4 Comedy Lab Kabadasses aired in 2011 and starred Shazad Latif, Jack Doolan and Josie Long. Saturday 2:30pm 7 Saturday 4:00pm Jill Dawson [Dance Studio] Jill Dawson’s new novel The ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ explores what happens when a man receives a new heart in a transplant and discovers the story of the young heart donor.