Next week on Thursday this Ragged Stone event in Portishead of all places! The very lovely Gareth L. Powell will be guest author, reading from The Recollection.
Next week on Thursday this Ragged Stone event in Portishead of all places! The very lovely Gareth L. Powell will be guest author, reading from The Recollection.
But first a reminder that this website has a calendar, where events like this are posted, if I know about them. If you know about any, I can set you up to post as well.
So, yesterday a couple of hundred science fiction and fantasy types descended on the Bristol Ramada for a day of panels, signings, art, readings, interviews, up close and personal groups and… books, of course. Way too much to cover here but the programme should still be online. I particularly wanted to catch Alastair Reynolds, Eugene Byrne and Gareth L. Powell‘s launch of The Recollection, which I’ve come away with.
In fact I’ve come away with tons and my book pile now contravenes all Health and Safety regulations (not helped with Middlemarch teetering on the top but that’ll go back tomorrow). Among them is a copy of B. John Shaw Liddle’s Suncaller if anyone fancies reviewing it for the website. I also chatted to Wayne Simmons, author of Flu. Hmm, I’ll probably have to check that against my Let the Time Come. He has more zombies in his though.
Emma Newman was there too and she’s launching an intriguing looking website at Split Worlds. It appears to be for local people but see what you make of it. Big, big hat tip to Jo Hall and team for putting the show together.
I had to leave before the end because of a small matter of the Championship leaders (Southampton in case you didn’t know) playing at Reading. It was hard to find a pub not showing the Liverpool game but BSB at Harbourside obliged and I supped £3.60 pints while, frankly, the second best team nicked a point with only ten men on the field. That’s what champions do.
Champion footballers and champion writers. I’ve pencilled in BristolCon ’12 already.
This is in full swing and yesterday the Writers Group did their thang at the M Shed. Stories of the Sea competed with the ambience of a Saturday tourist attraction and didn’t always win but we took another step forward. Lunch at the Watershed, after, recharged batteries and cemented the team spirit.
Coming up, Mr Mike and Helen Hart will discuss self-publishing on Wednesday – a topic dear to yours truly. If it was good enough for Milton, Jane Austen and Mark Twain, it’s good enough for mere mortals.
On Tuesday the Bristol Short Story Prize will launch with Tania Hershman, also at Foyles, which is fast becoming the literary hub of Bristol. Then next weekend, and not part of the Festival but a happy coincidence, the Ramada hosts BristolCon for the SFnal among us. It’s an exciting few days.
A free event at the Thunderbolt, Bristol, 8 o’clock tonight. Stories of ghosts, tales of riots, anecdotes of love and legends of lost and forgotten Bristol. Writers performing their work include: Trevor Coombs, Andy Gibb, Franca Davenport, Louise Gethin, Justin Newland, Mike Manson, Jari Moate, Terry Stew, Tom Sykes and Gavin Watkins.
You are guaranteed a compelling evening of Bristol stories taking you to places you never knew existed. To mark the performance the Group has put together a volume of ten short stories called Hidden Bristol. The book will be available for sale and can also be purchased for £5 from Tangent Books.
Stories of ghosts, tales of riots, anecdotes of love and legends of lost and forgotten Bristol. This anthology is the perfect companion to our upcoming evening of Thunderbolt Tales. Enter shop for price
Not long ago a group of poets, writers and slammers gathered together in St Andrew’s, Bristol, for ShedFest, probably Europe’s smallest literary festival. Each writer had five minutes to perform their work. Space and time was limited. The shed was used as a stage while the audience was packed onto the patio. In all fourteen writers performed their work. We laughed, we cried, we were even a little bit scared. This small anthology shows the range of talent that was showcased on that warm September evening. Enter shop for price