Birmingham Lit Fest Presents….

Writing West Midlands
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The Birmingham Literature Festival Podcast - Welcome to the very first Birmingham Literature Festival podcast, bringing writers and readers together to discuss some of 2020’s best books. Each Thursday we’ll be releasing new episodes of the podcast, including wonderful discussions about writing, poetry, big ideas and social issues. Join us each week for exciting and inspiring conversations with new, and familiar, writers from the Midlands and beyond.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    Michael Rosen

    This week’s guest is one of few who – universally – get referred to as a “National Treasure”. MichaelRosen has written over 70 books, including many of the most-read and most-loved children’s booksof the modern day. He’s also a poet and memoirist, and joined us to talk about his book ManyDifferent Kinds of Love, written as a result of his time on an intensive care ward during the Covid-19pandemic in Spring 2020. You can download our podcast episodes from all the places you would normally get your podcasts every Thursday and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @bhamlitfest. All of our festival events can be found on our website www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org.  For more information on Writing West Midlands, visit https://writingwestmidlands.org/ Follow the festival on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @BhamLitFest Credits Curator: Shantel Edwards (Festival director)Production: 11C/ Birmingham Podcast Studios for Writing West Midlands

    1h 3m

  2. EPISODE 2

    Hashi Mohamed: The Housing Crisis

    This week’s episode is housing lawyer Hashi Mohamed speaking to Guest Curator Otegha Uwagba.Hashi’s family arrived in the UK as refugees from Somalia in the 1990s, and his book A Home of One’sOwn is the story of his family, as well as that of every family in the UK trying to carve out their ownspace in a broken housing system. You can download our podcast episodes from all the places you would normally get your podcasts every Thursday and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @bhamlitfest. All of our festival events can be found on our website www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org.  For more information on Writing West Midlands, visit https://writingwestmidlands.org/ Follow the festival on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @BhamLitFest Credits Curator: Shantel Edwards (Festival director)Production: 11C/ Birmingham Podcast Studios for Writing West Midlands

    55 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    The UK Justice System: Wendy Joseph KC and Dr Shahed Yousef

    This week’s episode features two people with unique insights into the UK Justice System: WendyJoseph KC sat on cases in the Old Bailey for decades. In that time, she also mentored young peopleand tried to demystify the way justice is served in this country. Dr Shahed Yousaf is a prison doctor,who has worked for most of his career in Birmingham prisons with the most violent inmates. Theywere joined on stage by Olwen Brown. You can download our podcast episodes from all the places you would normally get your podcasts every Thursday and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @bhamlitfest. All of our festival events can be found on our website www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org.  For more information on Writing West Midlands, visit https://writingwestmidlands.org/ Follow the festival on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @BhamLitFest Credits Curator: Shantel Edwards (Festival director)Production: 11C/ Birmingham Podcast Studios for Writing West Midlands

    1 hr

  4. EPISODE 4

    Writing from a Warzone

    This week’s episode is our specially-curated Writing from a Warzone event. The BirminghamLiterature Festival team brought together novelist Priscilla Morris, whose family fled Sarajevo duringthe 1992 siege, with poet Parwana Fayyaz, who is an Afghan refugee. The event also included aninterview with Ukrainian novelist Lyubko Deresh, who is still in Ukraine. They were speaking to DrAmanda Beattie, from the Centre for Migration and Forced Displacement at Aston University. You can download our podcast episodes from all the places you would normally get your podcasts every Thursday and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @bhamlitfest. All of our festival events can be found on our website www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org.  For more information on Writing West Midlands, visit https://writingwestmidlands.org/ Follow the festival on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @BhamLitFest Credits Curator: Shantel Edwards (Festival director)Production: 11C/ Birmingham Podcast Studios for Writing West Midlands

    1h 1m

  5. EPISODE 5

    My Pen is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction from Afghan Women

    This week, we’re joined by Lucy Hannah from UNTOLD Stories, and Afghan poet Parwana Fayyaz,who talked to festival team member Olivia Chapman. Lucy and Parwana worked on My Pen is theWing of a Bird, a new collection of short stories written by Afghan women before and after thebrutal resurgence of the Taliban in August 2021. You can download our podcast episodes from all the places you would normally get your podcasts every Thursday and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @bhamlitfest. All of our festival events can be found on our website www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org.  For more information on Writing West Midlands, visit https://writingwestmidlands.org/ Follow the festival on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @BhamLitFest Credits Curator: Shantel Edwards (Festival director)Production: 11C/ Birmingham Podcast Studios for Writing West Midlands

    1 hr

  6. EPISODE 6

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 1: "23:48" by Maeve Deegan

    "23:48" by Maeve Deegan, read by Emma Boniwell. An eight-minute train delay is increasingly tense for one young woman -- but what has happened to her tonight? Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    10 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 2: "Departures" by Erin Oakley

    "Departures" by Erin Oakley, read by William Gallagher. Not everyone's intended destination is at the other end of this train ride. Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    9 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 3: "The 23:48 to Birmingham New Street" by Lisa M. Billingham

    "The 23: 48 to Birmingham New Street" written and read by Lisa M. Billingham. We can hide from ourselves, but not from handsome strangers.Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    9 min

  9. EPISODE 9

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 4: "Apologies for Any Inconvenience" by William Gallagher

    "Apologies for Any Inconvenience" written and read by William Gallagher. Anger can keep out the cold, but not forever. Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    10 min

  10. EPISODE 10

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 5: "Eight Minutes" by Doroti Polgar

    "Eight Minutes" by Doroti Polgar, read by Lisa M Billingham. You can put the world right in eight minutes, but the world never listens to you.Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    8 min

  11. EPISODE 11

    Wolverhampton Takeover Episode 6: "Train Cancellation" by Maeve Deegan

    "Train Cancellation" by Maeve Deegan, read by Emma Boniwell. Everything changes. For everyone. Birmingham Lit Fest Presents presents six separate stories, all set late on the same night at Wolverhampton train station. Written by Wolverhampton's Spark Young Writers, the tales are funny, serious, scary -- and every character is in for a surprise during the concluding story.   Produced by William Gallagher. Wolverhampton Spark Young Writers are part of the Spark Young Writers programme which is a project of Writing West Midlands. Spark Young Writers aims to encourage and inspire young people from the region to write creatively and experience a wide variety of writing genres. There are 17 groups running this year: three online and the rest meeting in person. We have fun in the sessions, with the focus being on creativity not grammar and spelling, and offer a supportive community of young writers with a sincere love of writing.   The Wolverhampton Group meets in Wolverhampton Art Gallery once a month for ten months of the year. The group is lead by professional writer William Gallagher and the assistant writer is Lisa M Billingham.   You can find out more about the programme by visiting www.sparkwriters.org

    10 min
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The Birmingham Literature Festival Podcast - Welcome to the very first Birmingham Literature Festival podcast, bringing writers and readers together to discuss some of 2020’s best books. Each Thursday we’ll be releasing new episodes of the podcast, including wonderful discussions about writing, poetry, big ideas and social issues. Join us each week for exciting and inspiring conversations with new, and familiar, writers from the Midlands and beyond.

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