For Books’ Sake Presents: Lit at Ladyfest Ten
For Books’ Sake Presents: Lit at Ladyfest Ten
As you might have noticed from all the fuss we’ve been making about the fundraisers for it, for the past few months, For Books’ Sake has been working with an assortment of wonderful women authors to programme three days of literary events at Ladyfest Ten.
An independent, non-profit community-based arts festival, Ladyfest aims to celebrate and promote women’s creativity and counter-culture. And since 2010 is the tenth anniversary of the first ever Ladyfest, which took place in 2000 in Olympia, we want to make Ladyfest Ten the biggest and best yet!
So without further ado, here’s the who, what, where and when:
Ladyfest Ten takes place from Friday 12th – Sunday 14th November, across various North London venues. The literary events will be taking place in both The Horatia and The Holloway Resource Centre (both within easy walking distance of each other and Highbury & Islington tube and overground stations). Tickets will be on sale from the Ladyfest Ten website from Monday 27th September. Day passes for the festival will be £12.50 each in advance, and as well as the literary events below, will include entry to an extravaganza of other events, including art, craft, comedy and cabaret (but excludes the music events). For the full programme, please see the Ladyfest Ten website.
FRIDAY 12 NOV ||
JAYNE JOSO & CATHI UNSWORTH / THE TRAVELLING SUITCASE LIBRARY
FRIDAY TICKET || WEEKEND TICKET
SATURDAY 13 NOV ||
SOUND & SILENCE WITH KATY PRICE / HISTORY OF WOMEN’S EROTICA WORKSHOP WITH SURUYA SIDHU SINGH & ZAK JANE KEIR / READ DIRTY TO ME WITH DANIELLE MALONE / SCARLETT THOMAS / THE POEM SHOPPE / ORGANIC POEMS & TALL TALES / THE TRAVELLING SUITCASE LIBRARY
SATURDAY TICKET || WEEKEND TICKET
SUNDAY 14 NOV ||
RETURN TO OZ: RE-WRITING OUR HEROINES WITH SOPHIE MAYER / SO SHE SAID: EAT MY WORDS SUNDAY LUNCH SPECIAL & FOR BOOKS’ SAKE POETRY SHOWCASE / JANINE BULMAN & ZOE HOWE / THE IMAGINATION EMPORIUM: A CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP / THE POEM SHOPPE / ORGANIC POEMS & TALL TALES / THE TRAVELLING SUITCASE LIBRARY
SUNDAY TICKET || WEEKEND TICKET
FRI 12 NOV ||
Jayne Joso & Cathi Unsworth ||
6.30pm @ The Horatia
Two wonderful women to commence the Lit at Ladyfest Ten festivities! Jayne Joso will be reading from her debut novel, Soothing Music for Stray Cats, about the redemption of misfits and the consolation of strangers. Followed by a performance from crime noir queen Cathi Unsworth, who will be reading from her latest novel, Bad Penny Blues, about London in the swinging sixties and the unsolved ‘Jack the Stripper’ murders.
SAT 13 NOV ||
Sound & Silence with Katy Price ||
12pm @ The Resource Centre
A creative writing workshop opening up the resources of sound and silence. Exercises are included to aid listening and explore the sonic potential of language and the relationship between text on the page and sound worlds. The session will be led by poet Katy Price, who has been featured in a range of publications including Seam and Blackbox Manifold, and performed across the UK, Germany and America. She is co-designer of BlastUp!, where Vorticism meets space invaders.
History of Women’s Erotica Workshop with Suraya Sidhu Singh & Zak Jane Keir ||
1.30pm @ The Resource Centre
Suraya Sidhu Singh, editor of Filament magazine, and Zak Jane Keir, editor of Women on Top, former editor of For Women magazine and founder member of the Guild of Erotica Writers, lead an interactive workshop and discussion on the history and future of women’s erotica.
Read Dirty to Me feat. Dani Malone ||
2.45pm @ The Resource Centre
A session of saucy storytelling and spoken word presented by adult photography website The Itch and featuring a reading from Dani Malone, who was included in Cleis Press‘ 2010 collection of Best Lesbian Erotica.
Scarlett Thomas ||
4pm @ The Resource Centre
The sublime Scarlett Thomas will be reading from her latest novel Our Tragic Universe, followed by a Q&A. Scarlett has written eight novels including Bright Young Things, Going Out, PopCo and The End of Mr. Y. Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages, and she has been longlisted for the Orange Prize. Scarlett teaches Creative Writing at the University of Kent and is currently working on her ninth novel, The Seed Collectors.
SUN 14 NOV ||
Return to Oz: Re-Writing Our Heroines Workshop with Sophie Mayer ||
12.30pm @ Resource Centre
A rollicking good fun writing workshop for everyone who ever dreamed of being Dorothy in Oz, Harriet the Spy, Willow in Sunnydale or Ramona in trouble – and for everyone who wondered why there wasn’t a feisty heroine they could give their heart to. Whether you’re interested in poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction come along and (re)write your own heroine with Sophie Mayer, poet, journalist, editor and author.
So She Said: ‘Eat My Words’ Sunday Lunch Special and For Books’ Sake Poetry Showcase ||
12-3pm @ The Horatia
So She Said, Ladyfest Ten and Storm in a Teacup’s monthly performance night, celebrating women and words, has teamed up with For Books’ Sake to presents a super sized portion of poetry, spoken word and storytelling from some of the tastiest talented performers around. A feast for your ears as you tuck into a traditional pub-cooked Sunday lunch.
Taking place from 12pm until 1.3opm, the poets, spoken word artists and storytellers presented by So She Said will include: Laura Dockrill, the secret lovechild of Tim Burton and Roald Dahl, with the best undercut and taste in footwear on the spoken word scene; Zorras, a trio who perform poetry-music-weirdness fusion with megaphones; Liz Bentley, one of the quirkiest voices on the UK’s spoken word scene, a sit-down comedienne and host who entertains audiences with poetry, stories, ukulele and casio keyboard; Dzifa Benson, a “weaver of well-crafted poems and captivating contemporary myths” (Apples & Snakes); Jay Bernard, a powerful, engaging, and surprising poet; Sally Crabtree, the pink-wigged pocket Venus from Cornwall and a delightfully eccentric performance poet; and Kate Tym, with carefully-crafted creations of the spoken word.
The For Books’ Sake Poetry Showcase (taking place from 1.30pm until 3pm) will feature: Alex Pryce, published in Agenda Broadsheet, Mslexia, Fortnight, Staple, Room Magazine and The Interpreter’s House, and Director of PoetCasting; Katy Price, a poet who has been featured in such publications as Seam and Blackbox Manifold; Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg, writer and film critic who has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies such as Taddle Creek, Pottersfield Portforlio, and Gaspereau Review; and Sophie Mayer, Commissioning Editor for queer literary journal Chroma who writes regularly for Sight & Sound, Little White Lies and Vertigo about film, and for The F-Word, Venuszine and Shebytches about women and culture, co-editor of There She Goes: Feminist Filmmaking and Beyond and the author of The Cinema of Sally Potter: A Poetics of Love, Her Various Scalpels and The Private Parts of Girls.
The Imagination Emporium: A Creative Writing workshop led by Sophie McGovern ||
3.30-4.30pm @ The Resource Centre
Kitsch, curio, costume and cast-offs- The Imagination Emporium invites its patrons to conjure up characters and explore the secret histories of the second-hand in this writing workshop. The Emporium will be fully stocked with an array of enigmatic items, all donated or rescued from ruin to inspire a series of writing exercises led by the Emporium’s own shop keeper. Abandoned ideas can be donated and recycled at the Emporium’s haberdashery, where one lady’s tat becomes another’s treasure. Whether you’re an experienced word-smith or just curious, the Imagination Emporium is open to all. Patrons are invited to bring along any unwanted items to travel with the Emporium to its next destination
Janine Bullman & Zoë Howe ||
6.30pm @ The Horatia
The Lit at Ladyfest Ten shenanigans finish with a snarling, safety-pinned punk finale on Sunday, with readings from Janine Bullman, editor of Punk Fiction: An Anthology of Short Stories Inspired by Punk and journalist, writer and broadcaster Zoë Howe, author of How’s Your Dad? Living in the Shadow of a Rock Star Parent, reading from her first book, Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits.
The Travelling Suitcase Library / The Poem Shoppe / Organic Poems & Tall Tales ||
Lit at Ladyfest Ten will also feature For Books’ Sake‘s own Jess Haigh’s Travelling Suitcase Library, which will setting up shop in The Lady Garden throughout the festival. So make you bring along any old or unwanted books to swap!
Operating from The Lady Garden at various opening times between 1-5pm on Saturday and Sunday will be The Poem Shoppe. Staffed by guest poets, choose your poetry ingredients from the sweet jars and a brand new tasty poem will be created especially for you to take away on the day. Or, live out your Jessica Fletcher fantasies and investigate our typewriters with Organic Poems & Tall Tales. Type your line and watch the collaborative tall tales and organic poems grow across the weekend (ready to be performed at So She Said).
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It’s been an honour working with all the amazingly talented women behind Ladyfest Ten, not to mention all the awe-inducing women authors and poets we’ll be putting on, and we can’t wait to see you there!
We’ll also be needing extra pairs of hands to help out during the events, so if you’re interested in volunteering for us, then please head over to the ‘Get Involved’ section of the Ladyfest Ten website.
For more information about the authors performing as part of Lit at Ladyfest Ten, please keep your peepers peeled for a special interview series which we’ll be featuring on the site over the next few weeks.
