All Photographs courtesy of the London Word festival
What does the term ‘literary event’ say to you? A raised eyebrow here, a bashful shuffle there, a stifling silence rarely fractured by the sparse chorus of self-congratulatory applause? Well praise be the London Word Festival, which promises to beat the priggishness out of literature’s dust jacket and send it back-flipping and high-kicking from behind the curtain of perceived inaccessibility.
Photograph of Sister Corita The Screen Printing Nun
Not that the month-long festival is overtly conscious of swimming against cultural tides; as is the case with all truly brilliant things, it just does, thanks to the headstrong conviction of the brains behind it to have a damn good time – and inspire others while they’re at it. Now in its third year, the London Word Festival – which will be taking over café/stage/pew/departure lounge spaces across east London from 7th March to 1st April – will count shadow-puppetry, DIY print workshops and multimedia hymnals in its ranks, from big names, new names and, well, made-up names.
Photographs above of Henningham Family Press
Dates to ear-mark include the Henningham Family Press kicking off proceedings with its ‘Chip Shop’ screen-printing workshop at Tonybee Studios on Sunday 7th March, and its return later in the month to head up the celebration of Great British printing eccentricities in ‘Keep Printing and Carry On’ at Stoke Newington International Airport – with Darren Hayman, Murray Macauley and ‘Sister Corita The Screen Printing Nun’ in tow. Comedian Josie Long will be putting her own stamp on an as-yet-unnamed east London location with her ‘One Hundred Days to Make Me a Better Person’ show on 10th March, and stand-up Terry Saunders will be joining animator-cum-harmonium-wizard Matthew Robins and others to wade into ‘The Art of Storytelling’ at St Leonard’s Church on 31st March.
The festival closes on 1st April with a face-off between John Hegley’s brand of post-modern perplexed poetry and the Found in Translation poets’ exercise in satire-tipped multimedia performance lecture. So, though literature wasn’t for you? There’s never been a better excuse to eat your words.
Photograph of Josie Long
Tags:
comedy, craft, Darren Hayman, Josie Long, literature, Murray Macauley, Printing, printmaking, shadow puppetry, Stand up comedy, Tonybee Studios
[...] More details to follow in our March Newsletter, but meanwhile we point you to the festival website and coverage at Amelia’s Magazine. [...]