Change is in the air. All that is solid, like the icecaps, is melting into air. Things fall apart – can the centre hold? The rich are getting richer, but otherwise uncertainty is the order of the day; Brexit, climate change, class, feminism, gender, race, populism, fake news, digital surveillance, and more, much more, are changing and challenging all our old conceptions. The stage is now set at WoWFest 19 to seek answers to the question ‘Where Are We Now?’
Writing on the Wall is part of Enterprise Hub who offer expert business start-up advice and support to residents of the Liverpool City Region. For an appointment please email enterprisehub@writingonthwall.org.uk.
Full programme details can be found via www.wowfest.uk and highlight events are listed below.
Common People: Working Class Writers
Kit De Waal, Laura Waddell, Lynsey Hanley
Thursday 2nd May 2019, 7:30pm-9:30pm
Toxteth Library
Kit De Waal, My Name is Leon (Penguin), editor of Unbound’s Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writing, discusses class representation in writing and publishing, with Lynsey Hanley, Estates: An Intimate History (Granta), and writer Laura Waddell, contributor to Dead Ink’s Know Your Place: Essays On The Working Class. Tickets £6/£3
Book tickets here.
Bess: Now That I Have Found The Words
Rose Thomas
Friday 3rd May 2019, 6:30pm-8pm
Gilmour Room, Guild of Students, University of Liverpool
Bess, young, black and growing up in post-war Liverpool, faces age-old racism amidst new opportunities for work, alongside the threat of social and sexual exploration. This ground-breaking debut novel charts Bess’ journey from call-girl in a 70’s club to the aftermath of the Toxteth Riots of ‘81, and the joys and troubles of her life in between. A University of Liverpool partnership. Tickets £4/£2
Book tickets here
Book Launch: Remembered by Yvonne Battle- Felton
Saturday 4th May, 3pm
Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre
Remembered is the highly acclaimed debut historical fiction novel by Yvonne Battle-Felton, a story where Spring, an emancipated slave, is forced to relive a haunting past in order to lead her dying son home. Hosted by Laurence Westgaph, Historian and leader of the Liverpool Black Research group. Tickets £5/£3
Book tickets here
Munroe Bergdorf: In Conversation with Lady Phyll
Tuesday 7th May 2019, 7pm-9pm
Radisson Blu Hotel
Join Munroe Bergdorf and Lady Phyll (co-founder of UK Black Pride) for a frank discussion on the challenges and opportunities of online activism, body image and carving out your own space. Munroe is familiar for her insight into ‘white privilege’, diversity and the LGBTQI+ community. In partnership with Radisson Blu. Tickets £12/£6
Book tickets here
Born Lippy: Jo Brand In Conversation
Jo Brand, Eithne Brown
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Tuesday 14th May 2019, 8pm-10pm
Comedy’s finest Jo Brand gets gobby as she discusses her straight-talking, darkly funny guide to life Born Lippy to WoWFest with Emmerdale actress Eithne Brown. Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman and sometimes it’s time to be a hard woman. Tickets with book £23.5/£17.50. Without book £16/£10.
Book tickets here
Girl, Women Other Book Launch
Bernadine Evaristo
Thursday 16th May 2019, 5pm-6:30pm
News from Nowhere
Girl, Women, Other, the latest novel by award-winning Nigerian author Bernadine Evaristo, a love song to black womanhood that crackles with life, follows the lives and struggles of modern black British women and their stories of families, friends and lovers. In partnership with News from Nowhere for Feminist Book fortnight. Tickets £4/£2
Book tickets here
How To Be A Women in TV
Alicya Eyo, Esther Wilson, Bidisha
Saturday 18th May 2019, 1pm-3pm
4th Floor Meeting Rooms, Central Library
The Doctor’s a woman, recent comedy smash hits Derry Girls and Fleabag have stolen our hearts. Break through the glass TV screen with Esther Wilson (Call The Midwife, Moving On), Alicya Eyo (Bad Girls, Emmerdale) and writer and film-maker Bidisha (Asylum and Exile: The Hidden Voices of London, An Impossible Poison). In partnership with The Women’s Organisation. Tickets £10/£5
Book tickets here
Clear Lines Workshop
Winnie M Li, Clare Shaw
Monday 20th May 2019, 2pm-4pm
The Women’s Organisation
Survivors and award-winning authors Clare Shaw and Winnie M Li lead two exclusive creative writing workshops addressing lived experiences of sexual trauma. These safe spaces use language to explore difficult and personal stories. Limited to individuals affected by sexual trauma. No prior writing experience necessary. Sign up by emailing info@writingonthewall.org.uk to book your place. Bring £2 on the door. In association with The Women’s Organisation and Clear Lines festival.
Clear Lines Event
Winnie M Li, Clare Shaw, Madeline Black
Monday 20th May 2019, 6:30pm-8:30pm
The Women’s Organisation
Award-winning writers Madeleine Black, Clare Shaw and Winnie M Li use poetry, fiction and memoir to capture the human truth behind trauma and challenge the injustice of gender-based violence. This event, in partnership with the Clear Lines Festival, celebrates the role of creativity and the arts in fostering community and recovery from sexual violence. In association with The Women’s Organisation and Clear Lines Festival. £4/£2 (Free for workshop participants)
Book tickets here
Deeds Not Words: An Evening with Helen Pankhurst
Helen Pankhurst, Maggie O’Carroll
Wednesday 29th May 2019, 6:30pm-8:30pm
The Women’s Organisation
Helen Pankhurst, granddaughter of legendary Suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst, shares findings from her book Deeds Not Words: The Story of Women’s Rights, Then and Now, an exploration of the changes in the UK since the right to a parliamentary vote was first granted to some women in 1918. In partnership with The Women’s Organisation. Tickets £8/£4
Book tickets here
Dayglo!: The Poly Styrene Story
Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe
Thursday 30th May 2019
The British Music Experience
Poly Styrene, punk icon and rebel queen, satirised the world with a colourful playfulness setting her apart from the monochrome nihilism of punk. Her moving story is told by her daughter Celeste Bell and music writer Zoë Howe (Shine On Marquee Moon; Barbed Wire Kisses – The Jesus and Mary Chain story). Tickets; full price with book £34.5. Concession with book £28.50. Full price without book £12. Concession without book £6. (10% discount on book if bought with ticket).
Book tickets here