TheWriteideaFestival2012

Authors including:Jonathan CoeThe Gentle AuthorPatrick GaleOwen JonesDavid LongWilko JohnsonShahida RahmanHattie NaylorRosie DastgirNigel Jones

East London’s FREEReading Festival

9 - 18 November 2012

Writei d e a

9-18 Nov

EAST LONDON’SFREE Reading Festival

Welcome to Writeidea Festival 2012, the fourth edition of East London’s unique, free reading festival. Writeidea is going from strength to strength, continuing to attract excellent authors and ever growing audiences - this year we start in style with Jonathan Coe, one of the most loved contemporary British authors, and end with Wilko Johnson, the legendary Dr Feelgood guitarist. In between, we have great events covering fiction, history, politics, poetry, identity and much more. We also continue to offer an opportunity for authors with a local connection to the East End to share the stage with best-selling names such as Owen Jones and Patrick Gale. For the first time, we also bring a live theatre performance to Writeidea Festival: ‘One Georgie Orwell’. An original production that premiered at Greenwich Theatre earlier this year, combines Orwell’s own words with original music, performed by a group of talented actors and musicians.So, as ever, there’s truly something for everyone. Enjoy the festival!

Idea Store – bringing writers and readers together.

Writeidea Festival

Welcome

Writeidea Festival 2011

Fri 9 November 2012An Evening with Jonathan Coe

7:00pm Idea Store WhitechapelWriteidea Festival 2012 kicks off with one of Britain’s best-selling authors.

Jonathan CoeJonathan Coe is the author of nine novels including: ‘What a Carve Up!’, ‘The Rotters’ Club’ and, most recently, ‘The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim’. ‘Like a Fiery Elephant’, his biography of the experimental writer BS Johnson, won the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize.

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Sat 10 November 2012The Gentle Author: East End Lives

2:00pm

The Gentle AuthorIn August 2009, The Gentle Author made a pledge – to write a blog post every day documenting the life of Spitalfields and to do so until ten thousand posts were written. Over the last two years the Spitalfields Life blog has gained an extraordinary and loyal following of readers who marvel at the rich and varied portraits depicted. The Gentle Author’s writing has drawn comparisons with Pepys, Mayhew and Dickens.

The event will include readings from the winners of the 10 Year Anniversary Idea Store Short Story Competition:Sharon FlockhartUschi GatwardKaren Hart

Idea Store Whitechapel

“I am going to write every single day and tell you about my life here in Spitalfields at the heart of London…”

Sun 11 November 2012Shifting the Blame Downwards

Daniel TrillingDaniel’s new book, ‘Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain’s Far Right’, examines how in the past decade the UK saw the rise of the British National Party, the country’s most successful ever far-right political movement, and the emergence of the anti-Islamic English Defence League.

Daniel Trilling is the Assistant Editor at The New Statesman, where he has reported on the far right since 2009. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Sight and Sound and Frieze. He lives in London.

Owen JonesOwen Jones’ first book ‘Chavs’, was published to phenomenal success in 2011, igniting a national debate about class with its provocative title and lucid analysis of the myths underpinning the ‘chav’ caricature. ‘Chavs’ was listed by The Sunday Times and The Bookseller as the best-selling politics book of 2011; in less than a year, its author has become an established political commentator and is now a columnist for The Independent.

3:00pm

How and why the political elite pander to racism, xenophobia and class hatred.

Idea Store Whitechapel

Murderous London7:00pm

Exploring the darker side of London.

David LongDavid Long is the author of numerous books about the quirkier, lesser-known aspects of London’s long history including; ‘The Little Book of London’, ‘Tunnels, Towers and Temples: London’s 100 Strangest Places’, and, more recently, ‘When Did Big Ben First Bong?’. He has been a writer and journalist for almost thirty years, with work appearing in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Mirror and London Evening Standard, amongst others. His latest book ‘Murders of London: In the Steps of the Capital’s Killers’ was published earlier this year.

Idea Store Whitechapel

Mon 12 November 2012

No building has been more intimately involved in the story of Britain than the Tower of London.

Tue 13 November 2012The Tower of London: An Epic History

2:00pm

Nigel JonesThe Tower of London is a mighty, brooding stronghold in the very heart of the capital. Castle, prison, torture chamber, execution site, zoo, mint, treasure house, armoury, observatory: the Tower has been all these things and more, standing at the epicentre of dramatic, bloody and frequently cruel events for almost a thousand years. Hear historian Nigel Jones tell this dramatic story in one of the Tower’s Hamlets.

Historian and journalist Nigel Jones is a former deputy editor of History Today and BBC History magazines. He reviews and writes both for them and for several national newspapers. ‘Tower’ is the most recent of his seven books including; studies of the First World War, the rise of Nazism, and acclaimed biographies of the writers Rupert Brooke and Patrick Hamilton. He is currently writing a book on England in 1914. He founded and co-directs the historical travel firm Historical Trips - www.historicaltrips.com, and guides historical tours in England and Europe. He lives in Sussex with his partner and three children.

Bethnal Green Library

Tue 13 November 2012

Jane Davis, Miranda McKearney and Sam Leith in conversation, discussing the challenges and delights for readers in 2012 Great Britain.

7:00pmDon’t Forget the ReaderIdea Store Whitechapel

Miranda McKearneyMiranda McKearney OBE is Founder and Director of The Reading Agency. Passionate about reading, she has worked as an activist in the field for 25 years, and helped found the three smaller development agencies which were merged ten years ago to form The Reading Agency. She has a background in marketing, the arts and literature and was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to libraries and education.

Sam LeithSam Leith is a freelance writer whose work features regularly in The Evening Standard, The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Prospect and The Spectator. His latest book is ‘You Talkin’ To Me? -- Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama’.

Jane DavisJane Davis MBE is Founder and Director of The Reader Organisation, a charitable social enterprise which reaches out to connect people with great literature, and each other. Jane’s award-winning shared reading model, ‘Get Into Reading’, was first piloted in Birkenhead in 2002. Through innovative collaborations with public, private and third sector organisations, the project has now extended nationally. This year Jane was named as one of 50 New Radicals in Britain by The Observer and Nesta.

Wed 14 November 2012Pepys, Poems and Bethnal Green

Hattie NaylorHattie Naylor has won several national and international awards for her plays and has had over forty of them, three short stories and an opera, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and 3. She worked with composer Will Gregory from Goldfrapp on the opera ‘Picard in Space’. Her play ‘Ivan and the Dogs’ won the 2009 Tinniswood Award for Best Original Radio Drama and the Soho Theatre production was nominated for the 2010 Olivier Awards for outstanding achievement. Her adaptation of the ‘Diaries of Samuel Pepys’ recently broadcast on Radio 4, is acclaimed by both critics and the public.

Caroline GilfillanCaroline Gilfillan’s most recent poetry pamphlet, ‘Yes’, won the East Anglian Book Award for the best poetry collection. Her new collection, ‘Pepys’, was published by Hawthorn Press in October 2012. It explores the life of Samuel Pepys and his contemporaries - a life that encompassed Puritanism, the Restoration of the Monarchy, the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. From 2007 to 2009 she was chair of Poetry-next-the-Sea, the annual poetry festival held in Wells-next-the-Sea, North Norfolk. Her poetry and fiction have been published in numerous magazines including The London Magazine and Mslexia.

7:00pmHattie Naylor and Caroline Gilfillan talk about the life and works of Samuel Pepys as portrayed in drama and poetry.

Bethnal Green Library

Thur 15 November 2012Shahida Rahman and

Natasha Soobramanien in Conversation

Natasha SoobramanienNatasha Soobramanien was born in Hackney to Mauritian parents and grew up in Hastings, Hong Kong and London. She studied English Literature at Hull and Creative Writing at UEA. Her first novel, ‘Genie and Paul’, set in London, Mauritius and Rodrigues, is a rewriting of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s 18th century pastoral romance, ‘Paul et Virginie’. She teaches Creative Writing and is currently working on a collaborative novel with the writer Luke Williams, to whose first novel, ‘The Echo Chamber’ she contributed two chapters. Natasha lives in Camden.

Shahida RahmanShahida Rahman was born and raised in Cambridge and is of Bangladeshi origin. Her debut historical novel, ‘Lascar’, was published in June 2012. Shahida contributed to ‘Behind the Hijab’ in 2009. She wrote a radio play based on ‘Lascar’ for the Lascar Heritage Project, which aired in 2011. She co-authored ‘India Ink’ which was shortlisted for Write Movies International Writing Contest and Circalit’s First Draft Script Contest in 2011. Shahida is married with four children.www.shahidarahman.co.uk

2:00pm

Love, loss and identity - storytelling London’s past and present.

Idea Store Whitechapel

Thur 15 November 2012An Evening with Patrick Gale

7:00pm Idea Store Canary Wharf

Patrick Gale - cellist, cook, whippet-walker, and when time allows, novelist - talks about his writing.

Patrick GalePatrick Gale claims never to have had a proper job! While writing his first novel he was a singing waiter, a typist, a ghost writer and a book reviewer. His first two novels were published on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Cornwall and began a love affair with an area that has fed his work ever since. He now lives on a farm raising cattle and barley and tending his wild garden and playing the cello. His latest work is ‘A Perfectly Good Man’; described by Patrick as an echo chamber rather than a sequel to his previous title ‘Notes from an Exhibition’. These are two stories, told from multiple viewpoints, that make the reader the only one in possession of all the facts!

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Fri 16 November 2012One Georgie Orwell: A Play with Music

7:00pm Idea Store Whitechapel

One Georgie OrwellGreenwich Theatre presents ‘One Georgie Orwell’ by Peter Cordwell and Carl Picton, featuring original text by George Orwell. Following its world premiere at Greenwich Theatre in April this year, this is a one-off opportunity to catch what is probably the first plain-speaking theatrical celebration of George Orwell, an amazing human being who became a writer because “there was some lie I want to expose… and my initial concern is to get a hearing”. Sixty years after his death, with terms like Orwellian, Big Brother and Room 101 now deeply embedded in the public consciousness, the writer of ‘1984’, ‘Animal Farm’ and others is still getting a hearing, and there could not be a more joyful, celebratory hearing than ‘One Georgie Orwell’. Featuring excerpts from ‘Animal Farm’, ‘Keep The Aspidistra Flying’, ‘1984’ and others, along with a host of unforgettable songs, this is a uniquely theatrical evening which celebrates the life and work of one of this country’s most revered writers.

A cabaret-style play based on Orwell’s own words from books and essays, with a spiky narration and a line-up of original songs.

East End: A Sense of Place2:00pm

Rosie Dastgir returns to the East End to talk about her writing.

Rosie DastgirRosie Dastgir was born in Bedford to a Pakistani father and an English mother. Educated at Oxford University she received a MFA in film from NYU. She has worked at the BBC and written a number of screenplays. Rosie lived in Whitechapel for ten years before moving to Brooklyn, New York, in 2005. ‘A Small Fortune’ is her first novel.

Idea Store Whitechapel

Sat 17 November 2012

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The Writeidea Festival comes to a close with the former Dr Feelgood guitarist and British R&B legend talking about his autobiography.

Sun 18 November 2012Wilko Johnson: Looking Back at Me

3:00pm Idea Store Whitechapel

Wilko JohnsonWilko Johnson tells his story in his own words for the first time. His new autobiography, written with help from Zoe Howe, positively reeks of the man behind the black and red Telecaster. From his early days travelling around India as a hippy, to his wild times in Dr Feelgood, The Blockheads and his band today. The last few years have seen a renaissance of this legend with the Julian Temple film ‘Oil City Confidential’ and the box set release of ‘All through the City’ earlier in the year.

‘Looking Back at Me’ is what fans of Dr Feelgood and Wilko Johnson have been waiting for - an autobiography as interesting and quirky as its author. This is not to be missed.

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You can then

• borrow books, CDs and DVDs for FREE• use a computer and the internet for FREE• access our Wi-Fi service for FREE• use our FREE 24 Hour Library and get access to an exciting range of online services• download a range of e-books and audio books for FREE• visit the Tower of London for just £1 • see a film for just £5 at Rich Mix

Book Groups • Under 5s Storytime Golden Time for the over 50s • Homework ClubsAuthor Visits • Annual Reading FestivalArt Gallery • Exhibitions • 24 Hour Library

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Writeidea Festival

For more information about any of our events visit www.ideastore.co.uk

Signed books will be available to buy.All events areFREE

Venues

All venues are fully accessible (except Bethnal Green Library where there are no accessible toilets)

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Supported by

Idea Store Canary WharfChurchill Place London E14 5RBTel: 020 7364 1250

Idea Store Whitechapel321 Whitechapel Road London E1 1BUTel: 020 7364 1735

Bethnal Green LibraryCambridge Heath Road London E2 0HLTel: 020 8980 3902

Whitechapel Underground Station

Canary Wharf Station

Bethnal Green Underground Station