WordPlay Programme 2010

SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2010

Welcome to Wordplay 2010. Shetland Arts’ book festival is now in its ninth year and we hope that this year’s event will prove to be at least as varied, inspiring, thought provoking and enjoyable as the eight that have gone before.

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Cover image: Will Kaufman - see page 14

www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555

We at Shetland Arts are delighted to be able to offer such a varied and rich programme: events for children; events for writers, young and old; workshops in writing poetry or erotic fiction; workshops for children about writing; workshops for adults, writing for children; poetry readings; book launches; readings from new novels; readings of erotic fiction; question and answer sessions; a live documentary about Woody Guthrie; multi

media talks about the work of Bob Dylan and the life of Blind Willie McTell; drama for children; drama for adults; a session with a leading dramatist… the programme is bursting with as many events as we can manage: we have writers and performers from Europe, Canada, Shetland.... And if there isn’t at least one thing here for you, then please tell us and we’ll see what we can organise for next time.

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CURATORS

GENEVIEVE WHITE Genevieve chose to make Shetland her home in 2005, after several years spent teaching in Central Eastern Europe. Since then, she has written several one act plays, a number of which have been performed in Shetland.

Genevieve is currently chair of Serpentine Drama, a local group committed to encouraging new writing.

www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555

CHRISTINE HUGHSON Born in Shetland in 1975, her writing is inspired by her childhood, the local characters of these Isles and Shetland’s varied scenery. She has written poetry and prose for as long as she can remember: some good, some bad and some just plain ugly.

GUESTS

JULIA CHURCHILL Julia is a literary agent with the Greenhouse Literary Agency.

She has a ceaseless enthusiasm for the treasure hunt of the submissions pile and can often be found in the cafes of West London, working through a pile of manuscripts. She regularly attends British writers’ events and is on the lookout for both new and established authors with storytelling magic. www.greenhouseliterary.com

LEAH THAXTON Leah is the Senior Fiction Publisher at Egmont, the largest Children’s Book publisher in the UK. She is responsible for a list that caters for five year olds right up to Young Adult. Some of the authors she has edited include Andy Stanton, Julia Golding, Vanessa Curtis and Emily Bearn. www.egmont.co.uk

Photo: Veronica Rocks

CHRISTINE DE LUCA Born in Bressa and brought up in Waas, Christine De Luca is a prize-winning poet who has had five collections of poetry published and won the Prix Du Livre Insulaire 2007 for a bilingual Selected. She has taken Shetland poetry all over the world. Christine De Luca is also a member of Hansel Cooperative Press and an active member of Shore Poets, Edinburgh. www.christinedeluca.co.uk

CHRISSIE GITTINS Chrissie’s poems have won prizes, been broadcast on BBCR4 and animated for Cbeebies television. Her adult poetry collections are Armature and I’ll Dress One Night As You. Her children’s poetry collections were shortlisted for the CLPE Award; all three are Choices for the Children’s Poetry Bookshelf.

She writes radio drama and her short story collection is Family Connections. www.chrissiegittins.co.uk

MICHAEL GRAY Michael Gray is a writer, critic, rock’n’roll and blues expert and a recognised world authority on Bob Dylan’s work. His pioneering critical study Song & Dance Man was the first to discuss Dylan alongside Blake, Eliot and others - and Michael has remained at the forefront of Dylan studies. www.bobdylanencyclopedia.blogspot.com www.handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com

JEN HADFIELD Jen Hadfield lives in Shetland.

Her second collection of poetry, Nigh-No-Place, (Bloodaxe Books) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in 2007 and won the T.S.Eliot Prize for poetry in 2008. She is currently working on a Depression era novel set in a Canadian fishing village. She blogs, very intermittently – www.rogueseeds.blogspot.com

DAVID HARROWER David Harrower lives in Glasgow.

His plays include Knives in Hens, and Blackbird, which won the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland and the Olivier Award for Best Play in 2007. He has adapted many plays including Chekhov`s Ivanov, Brecht`s The Good Soul of Szechuan; Pirandello`s Six Characters in Search of an Author and Schiller`s Mary Stuart for, among others, the National Theatre, the Young Vic, the Royal Lyceum and the National Theatre of Scotland.

ROBERT ALAN JAMIESON Robert Alan Jamieson is a native of Sandness who teaches Creative Writing at The University of Edinburgh and is the author of four novels: Soor Hairts; Thin Wealth; A Day at the Office and his brand new novel, Da Happie Laand, published this year by Luath. He is an accomplished poet, having penned several volumes of poetry written in Shetland Dialect, including Shoormal, Nort Atlantik Drift and Antsin t’Sjaetlin.

He has also been the co-editor of the Edinburgh Review and a creative writing fellow at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. www.robertalanjamieson.info

Photo: Ingvild Andersen

WILL KAUFMAN Singer, multi instrumentalist and Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Central Lancashire and awarded a Woody Guthrie Research Fellowship by the Broadcast Music Industry Foundation in New York. His live documentary about the life and times of Woody Guthrie has received rave reviews. His book, Woody Guthrie, American Radical will be published next year by the University of Illinois Press. www.myspace.com/willkaufman

MARK KERMODE Mark Kermode is resident film critic for BBC Radio 5Live and the BBC News Channel. He writes regularly for The Observer and is a contributing editor to Sight and Sound magazine. He has written monograph books for the British Film Institute on The Exorcist and The Shawshank Redemption and his ‘cinematic autobiography’ It’s Only A Movie was published this year by Random House. His television documentaries include Hell On Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of The Devils and On the Edge of Blade Runner.

He plays double bass and harmonica in skiffle & bluegrass band The Dodge Brothers whose first album Louisa and the Devil is issued by Weeping Angel Records.

SIMON KING Simon King was born in Nairobi, but moved to the UK in 1964 and has been working as a natural history film-maker for almost thirty years. Simon has worked on programmes such as Big Cat Diary and Blue Planet and presents Springwatch and Autumnwatch. He has received EMMY, BAFTA and RTS awards for his work and was awarded the OBE in 2010. www.simonkingwildlife.com

Photo: Marguerite Smits Van Oyen

MORAG MACINNES Morag MacInnes was born and bred in Orkney. After living in Shetland, Germany and Lincolnshire, working as a community artist and teacher she returned home for good in 2003.

Her work appears in a number of short story collections, poetry anthologies and magazines, including the New Shetlander.

Her dialect poetry sequence ‘Alias Isobel’ was published by Hansel Cooperative Press in 2008. www.hanselcooperativepress.co.uk

JANIS MACKAY From Edinburgh and now resident in Caithness, Janis Mackay was a professional storyteller before penning her own stories. Winning the Kelpies Prize in 2009 with her novel for children Magnus Fin and the Ocean Quest was an important milestone in her development as a novelist. She lives by the sea with her partner, dog and hens, writes, and teaches creative writing for North Highland College.

NALINI PAUL Nalini Paul was born in India, grew up in Canada and has lived in Scotland since 1994. Currently the George Mackay Brown Fellow in Orkney, she is a poet and teacher of creative writing.

She has also collaborated with artists in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire and her poetry/art book, Leaf Fall, Seeing by Touch was published by Grimalkin Press in 2006. Her poetry collection, Skirlags, was short-listed for this year’s Callum MacDonald Memorial Prize.

MIRANDA PEARSON Miranda Pearson lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her books of poetry include “Prime” and “The Aviary”, which won the Alfred G Bailey Prize and most recently “Harbour”, which was short-listed for the 2010 British Columbia Book Prize. Her poetry explores the joys, struggles and griefs inherent in a contemporary woman’s life. She teaches Creative Writing at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

CHRISTOPHER REID Born in Hong Kong, in 1949, Christopher Reid has published books of poetry for both adults and children and edited anthologies of verse. His edition of Letters of Ted Hughes appeared in 2007. His two most recent books of poems, both 2009, are A Scattering, which was chosen as Costa Book of the Year, and The Song of Lunch, which is about to be made into a BBC film starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson.

Photo: Jemimah Kuhfeld

JAMES ROBERTSON A poet and novelist whose novels are The Fanatic, Joseph Knight (Saltire and Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year in 2003/04) and The Testament of Gideon Mack, long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club. He is co-founder and general editor of Itchy Coo, the Scots language imprint for young readers, and currently writer-in-residence on Edinburgh Napier University’s Creative Writing MA course.

MITZI SZERETO Mitzi Szereto is an author, blogger (Errant Ramblings) and creator/presenter of Mitzi TV. She has published several books, including In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales. Mitzi pioneered the erotic writing workshop in the UK and Europe, and has lectured in creative writing at several British universities. She edited the first erotica anthology to feature a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. www.mitziszereto.wordpress.com

Photo: Eric Schneider

SHARON TREGENZA Born in Cornwall, Sharon now lives on the Pembrokeshire border in West Wales in an old Water Mill complete with lake and ducks. She has published over 400 children’s stories, poems and articles worldwide. Her debut novel TARANTULA TIDE (a mystery set in Shetland) won the Kelpies Award and the Heart of Hawick award for children’s literature. www.myspace.com/sharontregenza

CHRISTIE WILLIAMSON Christie Williamson was born in 1976 to the West Sandwick Manse.

His first pamphlet, “Arc O Möns” from Hansel Co-operative Press, translations of Federico Garcia Lorca’s poetry into Shetland was joint winner of the Callum MacDonald Memorial Award. He lives and works in Glasgow.

THE STORY TELLERS ‘The Storytellers’ was formed by Pendle Productions in 1985 as a Touring Theatre Company to take adaptations of classics to all types of venues. The Company is directed by the founder, Timothy Lince whose international work includes a 17 year association with the BBC, including working as a commissioned script and musical Writer/ Director, Artistic Director of Manitou Arts Centre in Toronto and numerous major musical and theatrical tours. www.pendle.u-net.com

VALERIE WATT Valerie Watt has recently published her third dialect book for bairns. ‘Bobby an da Burland Pearls’ inspired the musical of the same name. With ‘Peerie Mootie’ and ‘Da Peesterleeties’ she has toured Shetland schools and nurseries, reading her stories, playing her fiddle and getting bairns involved in roleplay.

It is also rumoured she lends a hand to Tushie Truncherfaece, the world’s only trow columnist, who writes in Shetland Life. www.shetland-library.gov.uk/ValerieWatt.htm

WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER

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www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555 1000 - 1045

SHETLAND YOUNG WRITERS PRIZE

In association with Shetland Library.

More than just a prize-giving ceremony, this is a celebration of Shetland’s literary future.

Room 12. ADMISSION FREE

EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS 1000 - 1300

BOOK CAMP

From Pitch to Publication with your Children’s Book A three-hour master-class on how to get ahead in the children’s book business presented by Egmont Senior Publisher, Leah Thaxton and Greenhouse Literary Agent, Julia Churchill. This session combines detailed talks on agents and publishers including insight into: what agents do, how to get one and what they look for; an in-depth analysis of what agents look for in a stand-out submission; what publishers are looking for and how the publishing process actually works…

Room 10. ADMISSION FREE

1100 - 1245

The Story Tellers present:

TALES FROM THE GYPSY CARAVAN The gypsy caravan has pulled up at the side of the road for the night, the horses are feeding and there’s nothing left to do but tell the stories that have been passed down through generations. Sit back and join our travelling folk and share some of the traditions and culture of life on the road. The show combines the rich tapestry of traditional storytelling with animated performance, music and song to create a production that is sure to both entertain and enthral.

Room 16. Age 4+. £3.50

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WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1100 - 1150

1200 - 1250

1345 - 1515

Poetry Reading:

Poetry Reading:

Hard Times and Hard Travelling:

Christine De Luca is one of Scotland’s leading poets and we are proud that she has chosen to hold the Shetland launch of her collection North End of Eden, at Wordplay 2010. Christine will be joined by Christie Williamson, who will read from his prize winning pamphlet Arc O Mons a translation of Federico Garcia Lorca, from the original Spanish into Shetland Dialect.

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

Nalini Paul is currently the George Mackay Brown Fellow in Orkney: she has been described by Sally Evans of Poetry Scotland, as having “ a rare touch… with a detail and richness of observation…” Morag MacInnes is author of Alias Isobel, decribed in the Sunday Herald as “a dazzling, profound narrative poem…” Join them as they read their poetry and answer your questions.

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

Singer/guitarist/professor, Will Kaufman’s acclaimed multi media, “live documentary” about the life and times of Woody Guthrie. Here’s what Ralph McTell said about it: “Will presents this exhilarating show in the fastest hour and a half you are likely to witness when you consider the breadth and depth of his subject.

He is not afraid to point out our hero’s feet of clay; but this in no way diminishes his passion for his subject.”– Room 16. £5/ £3.50

CHRISTINE DE LUCA & CHRISTIE WILLIAMSON

NALINI PAUL & MORAG MACINNES

1300 - 1400

LUNCHTIME THEATRE Serpentine drama group present a menu of three 10 minute plays: all ingredients produced locally.

Room 10. ADMISSION FREE

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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WOODY GUTHRIE

www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555

EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS

1350 - 1450

1430 - 1530

1500 - 1550

One of the country’s leading writers for the stage talks about his work and answers questions in a session that includes a rehearsed reading from one of his acclaimed plays. Come and gain an insight into how great drama is created.

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

Tarantula Tide by Sharon Tregenza is an adventure story set in Shetland and winner of the Kelpies Prize in 2008; Magnus Fin and the Ocean Quest is an adventure story by Janis Mackay and winner of the Kelpies Prize in 2009. In this special session two of our best writers for children chat about their writing, read from their work and answer your questions.

Room 10. Ages 8-12. £3.50

Mitszi Szereto, is the author of In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales; Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers, Dying for It: Tales of Sex and Death and the New Black Lace Book of Women’s Sexual Fantasies. She specialises in taking existing stories and giving them an erotic edge and a strong literary twist.

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

BLACKBIRD DAVID HARROWER

SHARON TREGENZA & JANIS MACKAY

EROTIC FICTION MITZI SZERETO

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WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 1530 - 1630

ITS ONLY A MOVIE MARK KERMODE

Film critic, broadcaster, writer and self confessed film obsessive, Mark Kermode takes time out from curating Screenplay to talk about his new book and answer questions. A welcome return to the festival he first graced in 2005. Room 16. £5/ £3.50

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EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS 1600 - 1700

THE HUMPBACK’S WAIL CHRISSIE GITTINS

Making cream cakes for pop stars, sweet-smelling pirates and postcards from bathrooms: anything is possible in poetry. Come and hear one of our brightest children’s poets, fresh from the Hay Festival and CBBC’s Poetry Pie. With three award-winning children’s collections Chrissie is also Shetland’s Writer-in-Residence for the month of September.

Room 12. Ages 7-11. £3.50

1645 - 1800

SEARCHING FOR BLIND WILLIE MCTELL: A Biographer’s Adventures in Georgia Fifty years after Willie’s death, writer Michael Gray, an expert on popular music history, offers a unique perspective on McTell’s life and music. Using Willie’s recordings and new and old photographs, he tells the story of this charismatic figure and recounts his own adventures researching the book in places Willie lived and performed, from cities to back roads and country churches. Calling all blues fans…

Room 16. £5/ £3.50

WORDPLAY & SCREENPLAY FESTIVAL CLUB Come for a relaxed late evening chat and mingle (or a jam!) with the curators and some of the guests.

10pm-1am Saturday 4 September Sunday 5th September Room 16 Islesburgh Community Centre Refreshments Available. Book in advance. Free.

Get your tickets now from from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555

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WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER

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www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555 1000 - 1200

Poetry Writing Workshop with Jen Hadfield – Make It Strange:

DREAMS & TRANSFORMATIONS

Potent poems and stories make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar. In this two-hour workshop we’ll look at examples of writing about dreams and transformation, and endeavour to “make it strange” in a piece of new writing. All levels of experience and confidence welcome.

Room 10. ADMISSION FREE

EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS 1000 - 1200

EROTIC FICTION WORKSHOP

Approaching the subject from a literary perspective, internationally known erotic-fiction author, anthologist, and erotic-writing workshop pioneer Mitzi Szereto will pull back the duvet on the field of erotic writing, offering her own perspective on the craft. Techniques, pitfalls, and essentials of erotic writing will be covered, along with a comprehensive overview of the market place for those considering publication. Open to writers of all levels of experience Room 11. ADMISSION FREE

1100 - 1245

The Story Tellers present:

TALES FROM THE GYPSY CARAVAN

The gypsy caravan has pulled up at the side of the road for the night, the horses are feeding and there’s nothing left to do but tell the stories that have been passed down through generations. Sit back and join our travelling folk and share some of the traditions and culture of life on the road. The show combines the rich tapestry of traditional storytelling with animated performance, music and song to create a production that is sure to both entertain and enthral.

Room 16. Age 4+. £3.50

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WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 1200 - 1300

Poetry Reading:

CHRISSIE GITTINS & MIRANDA PEARSON

Miranda Pearson’s poetry has been described as “deeply startling and accomplished.” She has now had published three collections of poetry: Prime (Porcepic 2001), Aviary (Oolichan 2006), which won the Alfred G Bailey prize and Harbour (Oolichan 2009). Chrissie Gittins is also a prize-winning poet. Her adult poetry collections are Armature (Arc, 2003) and I’ll Dress One Night As You (Salt, 2009) described by Moniza Alvi as “…Lively, accessible and gently surprising…”

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

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1300 - 1400

LUNCHTIME THEATRE

Serpentine drama group present a menu of three 10 minute plays: all ingredients produced locally.

Room 10. ADMISSION FREE 1400 - 1500

MAGNUS FIN AND THE OCEAN QUEST

Magnus Fin, misfit schoolboy and half selkie – part seal, part human – is in a struggle against the fearsome monsters of the deep to save the sea. Join author Janis Mackay for this special interactive session which includes creative writing. Create your own mythological creature and hear Janis read from her book and answer your questions.

Room 12. Age 8-12. £3.50

1400 - 1500

SIMON KING THE SHETLAND DIARIES

Award winning naturalist, broadcaster and best selling author Simon King (Shetland Diaries and Wildlife) makes a welcome appearance at Shetland’s 9th annual book festival to deliver a multi media presentation, answer your questions and sign copies of his books.

Room 16. £5/ £3.50

www.shetlandarts.org Get your tickets now from Shetland Box Office 01595 745555 1400 - 1600

THE BIG PARTY UNDER THE SEA

Come along for the big party “under the sea” and take part in a variety of arts and play activities.

In partnership with Shetland Family Centre Services GP Hall. Pre School. ADMISSION FREE

EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS 1430 - 1530

BOBBY AN DA BURLAND STORYTELLERS

with Valerie Watt Make up stories with the author of ‘Bobby an da Burland Pearls’ with a little help from the Burland puppets.

Get ideas from the puppets, some farm animal fiddle tunes and from your very own special possession.

Bring along your own small object; it may be magical, secret or very ordinary. Who knows what stories we may unfold...

Room 10. Age 6+ ADMISSION FREE

1500 - 1550

CHRISTOPHER REID A SCATTERING

The author of eleven books of poetry, including two collections of poetry for children and the winner of several awards and prizes, including the Eric Gregory Award (1978) the Somerset Maugham Award and the Hawthornden Prize in 1980, for his first collection, Arcadia and most recently the Costa Book of the Year, for A Scattering, in 2009. Christopher Reid has also been cited as cofounder of the Martian School of Poetry, along with Craig Raine. Come and hear this fine poet read his work and answer your questions.

Room 12. £5/ £3.50

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WORDPLAY 2010 EVENTS: SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 1600 - 1700

AND THE LAND LAY STILL/ DA HAPPIE LAAND

And the Land Lay Still is James Robertson’s fourth novel and has been described by Irvine Welsh, in the Guardian as “nothing less than a landmark for the novel in Scotland”.

Da Happy Laand is Robert Alan Jamieson’s fourth novel and has been described by Kevin MacNeil as “… big in scope, rich in ideas, uncompromising in execution.”

Two of the finest writers of their generation read from their work and answer your questions - a not to be missed opportunity.

Room 16. £5/ £3.50

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EVENTS KEY:

THEATRE CHILDREN’S READING/Q&A WORKSHOPS 1605 - 1705

TARANTULA TIDE SHARON TREGENZA

An interactive session with the prize winning children’s author based on her novel set in Shetland, Tarantula Tide, and Scorpion Sky, the sequel she is currently writing. Sharon reads from her work and talks about the animal smuggling trade for which Lerwick has been used as a port, the creatures that appear in the novels and answers your questions…

Room 12. Ages 8 - 12. £3.50

1715 - 1845

BOB DYLAN AND THE POETRY OF THE BLUES MICHAEL GRAY

This is more than a talk. The author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and Song & Dance Man III: The Art Of Bob Dylan - definitive studies of Dylan’s 50 year body of work - uses great records and rare footage to show how hugely Dylan has been inspired by the blues and how much of its poetry has been smuggled inside his own, highly influential writing.

Room 16. £5/ £3.50

WORDPLAY & SCREENPLAY 2011 @ MAREEL MONDAY 29 AUGUST SUNDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2011 MAREEL - SHETLAND’S NEW MUSIC & CINEMA VENUE OPENING SPRING 2011 www.shetlandarts.org/venues

SCREENPLAY TICKETS 2010 EARLY BIRD BOOKING Tickets booked before Fri 27 Aug £1 OFF FULL PRICE TICKETS 50p OFF CONCESSIONS (EXCLUDING ANIMATION WORKSHOP)

WORDPLAY TICKETS 2010 FULL PRICE TICKETS READING/Q&A: £5/£3.50 CHILDREN’S EVENTS: £3.50 EARLY BIRD BOOKING Tickets booked before Fri 27 Aug AUTHOR EVENTS: £4/£2.50 CHILDREN’S EVENTS: £2.50

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