BREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18

BREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18

Words by Helen Knott

Antonia Beck’s first programme as Birmingham Literature Festival’s Festival Director focuses on celebrating and championing female writers. So it’s little surprise, as I walk into Birmingham REP’s Door space for my first taste of their spring weekend programme, that the audience is predominantly female.

It’s shame that more men aren’t present for this engaging panel discussion – titled 2018: The Year of Publishing Women? – which is inspired by the novelist Kamila Shamsie’s ‘provocation’ that publishers should only publish books by women in 2018. I think they would find it interesting.

When proposing the concept, Shamsie argued that her approach would both highlight and counteract the gender bias in publishing and literary awards towards male authors. Initially published in The Guardian, the article sparked much discussion and publicity but only one publisher, And Other Stories (represented on today’s panel by Fiction Editor Tara Tobler), has taken up the challenge. Today’s panel members make it clear, however, that there are a lot of other positive ways to work towards greater gender balance in literature and in society in general. Catherine Mayer set up the political Women’s Equality Party, Sian Norris founded the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival, and Sabeena Akhtar is compiling an anthology featuring work by women who have experience of wearing the hijab.

BREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18The panel discuss some of the issues that they have faced as female writers and editors. They agree that female authors are marketed in certain ways, with sexualized or feminised book covers, that they are typecast into writing in limited genres or about particular themes, and that, although female authors achieve high book sales, they are less often named on award shortlists than men. Panel and audience members put forward a number of suggestions of how to counteract these issues, including networking and mentoring, refusing to work for free, and utilising the internet to publish work independently.

Perhaps the most striking thought that I’m left with is that this isn’t just a problem of female representation. It’s an intersectional issue. Yes it’s difficult to be a woman in publishing, but you could further argue that a white, wealthy woman is – on the whole – going to find it easier to build up a professionally broad network of contacts than their counterparts from a different class or culture. The lack of equality in publishing is a complex challenge that isn’t going to be solved by a single panel discussion in Birmingham – yet this event carries out the important job of making sure that the issue continues to be highlighted.

Next is #MeToo: A Movement in Poetry. Fair Acre Press has published an anthology of poetry featuring the work of 80 female poets in response to the #MeToo movement – which highlights the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault against women in society. In this event, 24 poems are read aloud by over twenty different female voices.BREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18 Some of the poems are read by their authors on the stage (such as Kathy Gee’s ‘Still Guilty’ and ‘=Not Him’ by Pat Edwards) and some are read by audience members, either at the front of the room or from their seat in the auditorium.

This format is simple, but incredibly powerful. When the woman next to you in the audience suddenly stands up and starts reading a poem about sexual assault or harassment, it really brings home the fact that this could be happening to the person next to you on the bus, at work, or even at home. And you had no idea. The poems are thoughtfully arranged, starting with the ambiguous ‘Reeds’ – which describes an episode that could be the start of something, or of nothing. Poems like ‘The Bicycle’ show the narrator trying to focus on other things to distance themselves from what just happened, whereas ‘Spunk’ powerfully describes an episode explicitly.

By the end, ‘Spartaca’ sees women standing together in solidarity and speaking out. The sheer number of episodes and stories presented brings home the widespread nature of sexual assault and harassment that women encounter. But it also creates a sense of solidarity. Poem after poem, experience after experience, momentum builds, and the more women that speak out the more women have the courage to join in. Considering the distressing subject matter, the poetry, presented as it is here, has an uplifting effect. 

BREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18We’re back on a more comfortable footing for the festival’s final event. Festival Director, Antonia Beck, describes Jenny Murray as having a voice that’s a “staple in all our homes” in her introduction to A History of Britain in 21 Women with Jenny Murray. As you go through life, you occasionally meet people with such charm and ease that you’ll listen to them, enthralled, for hours. Murray is such a person. It’s not surprising that she has become such a beloved institution on our airwaves.

This event is named after Murray’s book, which is part memoir, part accessible take on British history. Tonight, Murray tells a series of anecdotes from her life mixed with interesting stories about 21 women who shaped the history of Britain, all framed by questions from ex-BBC Midlands Today presenter Sue Beardsmore. Murray describes history as being the “biography of great men” and her book addresses this by documenting some important women in British history, some of whom Murray believes are somewhat passed over in the school curriculum.

She talks about women like Boudica, who led an uprising against the occupying Romans and who Murray first encountered in statue-form on a trip to London as a child. And Elizabeth I, who would be her top pick for a fantasy dinner party. And Margaret Thatcher, the only woman Murray says she has ever been frightened of. The evening ends with Murray speaking about the sexism that women still encounter, particularly highlighting the difficulties faced by female MPs and praising the #MeToo movement for raising awareness of harassment and abuse.

It’s a fitting end, both to the event and to the weekend as whole, which certainly posed some interesting questions about the role of women in literature and in society. Whether Antonia Beck continues to focus on celebrating and championing female writers in the full Birmingham Literature Festival programme, running from October 4th to 14th, remains to be seen. But until autumn, there is both plenty of food for thought and plenty still to accomplish.

For more on Birmingham Literature Festival, visit www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org

For more on Writing West Midlands, visit www.writingwestmidlands.org

For more from Birmingham REP, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

BPREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18

BPREVIEW: Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival @ REP & other venues 27-29.04.18

Words by Helen Knott

Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival is a weekend-long partner to the full ten day festival, running mainly at REP from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th April. Further events are also being held at the High Street branch of Waterstones, Birmingham & Midland Institute, and the Curzon Building by Millennium Point.

Tickets prices vary for all events, with some already sold out. For direct information on the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival, including full programme details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Organised and run by Writing West Midlands, Birmingham Literature Festival celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. And whilst the festival may have reached young adulthood, it continues to gather momentum each year with 2017’s edition featuring some of its biggest ever events – including Brummie comedian Joe Lycett and Jess Phillips MP (Yardley) in conversation at Town Hall.

2018 is a particularly interesting time for Birmingham Literature Festival, as the recent appointment of Antonia Beck as Festival Director marks the start of a new chapter (pun intended). It will be interesting to see what impact Beck, an award-winning theatre maker, has on the programming and direction of the festival in the coming years.

We’ll know more when the full October programme is announced, but on first sight the spring programme isn’t a massive departure from previous years – featuring a line-up of writer events, screenings and workshops, with a mix of star names (Alexei Sayle, Jenni Murray) and local authors.

There is, however, a particular focus on celebrating and championing female writers within the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme. In the centenary year of women in the UK over 30 being guaranteed the right to vote, and with the #MeToo movement continuing to highlight the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, it’s a fitting theme for the festival. Discussions will include the gender bias in publishing, women’s place in history, and the #MeToo phenomenon itself.

Here are some of my picks of the events to watch out for this spring, all designed, as Beck puts it, to create, “a space to learn, challenge and be inspired”.

The Boy with the Top Knot screening @ The Studio (REP) 27.04.18The Boy with the Top Knot screening @ The Studio (REP) 27.04.18 / 6pm / Free (booking required)

Black Country writer Sathnam Sanghera’s critically-acclaimed memoir about a second-generation Indian man growing up in Britain, The Boy with the Topknot, was turned into a BBC drama in 2017. Here you can watch a screening of the adaptation, then join a Q&A with some of the key people involved – including director Lynsey Miller, screenwriter Mick Ford, and Sanghera himself. Sanghera is Guest Curator for the full festival in October, so watch out for hints of what he might have in store.

For more on The Boy with the Topknot, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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#MeToo: A Movement in Poetry @ The Studio (REP) 28.04.18 / 6pm / £8 (£6.40 concessions)

Fair Acre Press has published an anthology of new poetry featuring 80 female poets’ response to the #MeToo movement. The anthology, tilted #MeToo: A Movement in Poetry, includes work by Jill Abram, Helen Mort, Pascale Petit and Jacqueline Saphra, and includes a forward by Jess Phillips MP. At this event, poems from the anthology will be read by some of the poets themselves and by audience members in a thoughtful, and no doubt hard-hitting, response to an extraordinary movement.

For more on #MeToo: A Movement in Poetry, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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2018: The Year of Publishing Women @ The Studio (REP) 28.04.18 / 2.15pm / £8 (£6.40 concessions)

Back in 2015, the novelist Kamila Shamsie made a provocative suggestion – to counteract the gender bias in publishing and literary awards towards male authors, Shamsie suggested that 2018 should be the Year of Publishing Women with no new titles written by men.

Shamsie’s article has sparked much discussion and publicity, but only one publisher (And Other Stories) has taken up the challenge. In this panel discussion, the debate will be continued by Catherine Mayer (writer and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party), Tara Tobler (Fiction Editor at And Other Stories) and Sian Norris (writer, founder and director of the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival).

For more on 2018: The Year of Publishing Women, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

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A History of Britain in 21 Women with Jenni Murray @ The Studio (REP) 29.04.18A History of Britain in 21 Women with Jenni Murray @ The Studio (REP) 29.04.18 / 7pm / £10 (£8 concessions)

In her 2016 book, A History of Britain in 21 Women, Woman’s Hour presenter Jenni Murray tells the stories of 21 British women who have shaped the country and indeed, her own life. Each chapter focuses on a different woman, some of whom are well-known and others less so. For this event Murray will be in conversation with television journalist and presenter Sue Beardsmore. Expect plenty of anecdotes from Murray’s life, full of her trademark wit and warmth.

For more on A History of Britain in 21 Women, as featured in the Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival programme, click here.

For more on Spring at Birmingham Literature Festival, visit www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org

For more on Writing West Midlands, visit www.writingwestmidlands.org

For more from Birmingham REP, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk