LAURENCE DONAGHY Crescent Arts Centre WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE, 6:15PM tickets: £6 / £4
The world of fanfic is much maligned, its authors either pilloried for dedicating untold amounts of their time to stories no one ever reads and hardly anyone cares about, or harangued for when those same stories go on to sell tens of millions of copies. Yet there is a huge and passionate fanfic community out there and Laurence Donaghy knows quite a bit about it. Before his Folk'd trilogy was published by Blackstaff Press, he was a regular contributor, writing unheralded sequels to Superman Returns and unofficial Star Wars novels. In Building Better Toyboxes Laurence will talk about his take on fanfic, explore why it has a place in the wider writing world as a springboard for those too intimidated to construct their own worlds, and talk about his own journey from fanfic dabbler to published author. Laurence Donaghy is Belfast born and bred and has lived for approximately 32.5 per cent of his total life expectancy off the Falls Road, where he currently lives with his wife and two young children. A geek before geekchic was chic, he’s been a fan, follower and writer of sci-fi and fantasy most of his life. He is the author of the Folk’d Trilogy: Folk’d (2013), Folk’d Up (2014) and Completely Folk’d (2015), published by Blackstaff Press.
THOMAS HITZLSPERGER
in conversation with denise watson ERRIGLE INN (ORMEAU ROAD) WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE, 7PM TICKETS: £8 / £6
Thomas Hitzlsperger is a former German footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the early part of his career playing for Aston Villa, before returning to Germany to play for Stuttgart, where he won the Bundesliga title in 2007. In 2010 he signed for Italian side Lazio, before moving back to England to join West Ham United later that year. Hitzlsperger also represented the German national team, earning 52 caps and being selected for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008. Following a series of injuries, he retired from football in September 2013. Following his retirement Thomas Hitzlsperger became the most highprofile footballer to come out, and in a long interview to the German paper Die Zeit, he stated he wanted "to further the debate about homosexuality among sports professionals". "Being gay is a topic that is 'ignored' in football and not 'a serious topic in the changing room'. Fighting spirit, passion and winning mentality are intrinsically linked, that doesn't fit the cliché: 'Gays are soft'". This event has been kindly sponsored by Hill Business Growth Consultants.
wednesday 10 june 23