Birmingham Writers’ Group

Weekend workshops delivered by published authors in a beautiful rural location.
Booking now for our autumn 2014 programme
Crime Writing with million selling author Neil White – 6th &7th September 2014
Historical fiction with mystery writer Chris Nickson – 20th & 21st September 2014
New Heroic Fantasy with Adrian Tchaikovsky – 4th & 5th October 2014
Modern Romance with author and journalist Katy Regan – 18th & 19th October
For prices, bookings and more details, please visit www.goldenrock.co.uk or call Joanna on 01539 821513

Have you got what it takes to create online content? Think you can take the digital world by storm? FUTURE TALENT is your chance to create your very own original online drama or comedy pilot – and you can find out all about it at this free workshop led by Henry R Swindell (Development Producer, BBC Writersroom).
The session will take place at mac birmingham on 18 June from 7-8.30pm.

Book a free place at www.ideastap.com/spa

On Saturday 7 June between 14:00 and 16:00 you are invited to join a writing workshop at the Library of Birmingham.
Birmingham Writers Group members Heide Goody and Iain Grant will be running a Collaborative Writing Workshop.

Heide and Iain have written novels together for around three years and they have worked out lots of ways to have a fun time being creative in a team.
Even if you don’t want to write with someone else, you’ll get a creative boost from this lively workshop.

There is a nominal charge of £3 for the library to cover its costs.
Details here:
http://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/event/Events/writingworkshop-7june

This is one of three events that Birmingham Writers’ Group is running at the Library of Birmingham as part of its Images Season.
We’ll keep you posted about the others as soon as they are available to view on the library’s own website.

HISTORICAL FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP
WEDNESDAY 25th JUNE 2014
10.00 – 4.00
LITTLE WITLEY VILLAGE HALL
Bank Road, Little Witley, Worcs.
Tutors: Sue Johnson & Heather King
Cost: £40
(includes tea, coffee & cake)
Please bring a packed lunch (kitchen facilities available)
For further details and to book a place, contact:
Heather King on 01886 888518 or Sue Johnson on 01386 446477

The following list of events has been sent to us by Jacqui Rowe of Flarestack Poets:

WORKSHOPS AT THE BARBER INSTITUTE
I’m very pleased by how popular my workshops at the Barber Institute have become. Booking is essential (see below for details)

VOYAGES
SATURDAY 24 MAY
1.30 – 4PM
Be inspired by the seascapes in our galleries and explore personal maps and journeys and write about the sea in its many forms…

MARBLE BRONZE WOOD STEEL
SATURDAY 28 JUNE
1.30 – 4PM
Embark on a treasure hunt for the hidden and unexpected artworks around the University of Birmingham campus! Be inspired in your writing by this diverse and eclectic range of sculpture, both inside and out, including works in the Barber Institute and the Campus Collection of Fine and Decorative Art.
Please bring suitable footwear for walking, and protection against bad weather.
This workshop,

FACE TO FACE
SATURDAY 19 JULY
1.30 – 4PM
In response to our Lasting Impressions exhibitions, this workshop looks at how we describe people and create characters. Explore these ideas and have the opportunity to write a dialogue by pairing two disparate portraits.
This workshop, led by Barber Write in Residence Jacqui Rowe, is suitable for writers of prose or poetry, at all levels of experience.

£6; £4 concessions & students per workshop. Limited spaces available – booking essential. To book, contact 0121 414 2261 or education@barber.org.uk.

www.barber.org.uk

POETRY BITES 7.30 pm 27th MAY
Guest poets for Poetry Bites in May are Roy Marshall and James Sheard. Floor spots are also available for you to share your own work with a supportive and appreciative audience. Kitchen Garden Cafe, York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7SA (entry through Fletcher’s, a few yards up the road). To book a floor spot contact jacquirowe@hotmail.co.uk or arrive before 7.15 pm on the night. £5 (£4 concs) inc readers. Poetry bites receives no public funding so a fee is charged to cover room hire and to contribute to guests’ expenses.

FLARESTACK POETS SUBMISSIONS WINDOW
Flarestack Poets press, publisher of the year 2013 at the Michael Marks Awards and twice publisher of the Michael Marks pamphlet of the year is open for submissions until 31st May. For details see www.flarestackpoets.co.uk

TV writing and feedback workshop

Playwright, TV screenwriter and Creative Space member Jon Barton will be hosting these open to all sessions for IdeasTap writer members.

Topics and exercises covered will include pitching, giving and receiving feedback, coping with rejection and discussing TV formats.

The session takes place at mac birmingham at 2-4pm or alternatively 4.30-6.30pm on 28 April. Free tickets can be booked at www.ideastap.com/spa

New Writing Surgery
Do you want to write but struggle to motivate yourself to start?
Are you a writer looking for a helping hand or feedback?
Do you just want to learn more about the process of writing?
If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then come along to Blackshaw’s FREE New Writing Surgery presented as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival + Fringe.
Please let us know you’d like to attend by emailing bookings@blackshawonline.com.
Saturday 17th May, 4.30pm to 6pm
Upstairs@The Selkirk, 60 Selkirk Road, Tooting, SW17 0ES

Meet Samantha Hayes, bestselling author of Until You’re Mine, which was chosen as this year’s Birmingham Big City Read.  Samantha will be reflecting on the Big City Read and introducing her gripping new psychological suspense novel Before You Die.

About Before you Die:

It has taken nearly two years for the Warwickshire village of Radcote to put a spate of teenage suicides behind it.Then a young man is killed in a freak motorbike accident, and a suicide note is found among his belongings. A second homeless boy takes his own life, this time on the railway tracks.

Is history about to repeat itself?

DI Lorraine Fisher has just arrived for a relaxing summer break with her sister. Soon she finds herself caught up in the resulting police enquiry. And when her nephew disappears she knows she must act quickly.

Are the recent deaths suicide – or murder?

And is the nightmare beginning again?

Tickets £5 available from the Box – birmingham-box.co.uk

Join the Library of Birmingham to celebrate World Book Night.  Authors Adele Parks, Matt Haig, Jane Fallon and Ben Aaronovitch will be joining us for a very special event.

The authors, whose books all appear on this year’s World Book Night title list, will be taking part in a special panel event in the Studio Theatre.  The event starts at 7pm.  Tickets are free and are available at Birmingham-box.co.uk. Everyone who attends will get a free World Book Night book!

At 5.30 – 6.15, the authors will be doing pop-up book clubs in the Library.  These are not ticketed and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

There are lots of other things going on in the library during the day.  See www.libraryofbirmingham.com for more details.

Birmingham Independent Book Fair will take place on Saturday 12th April

Browse, buy and discover new books, many of which are not available on the high street.

This day-long event will feature independent publishers from the West Midlands and beyond, offering you the chance to buy books directly from the publishers, who will be on hand to answer questions and introduce you to new writing. From poetry pamphlets to prose fiction, graphic novels to science fiction and fantasy, a wide range of forms and genres will be represented.

The fair is free and all are welcome!

11:00am – 5:00pm

Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Birmingham B1 2HS

http://ikon-gallery.org/event/birmingham-independent-book-fair/