Greenacre Writers are delighted to confirm the authors who will be appearing at the Greenacre Writers Literary Festival:
Fri 17th May 4.30-6.30pm Friern Barnet Community Library, Friern Barnet Road, N11 3DS.
'So you want to write for Kids!' Creative writing workshop
with author and experienced facilitator Miriam Halahmy. Miriam will offer vital
insights into the world of writing and publishing fiction for nine years to
teens as well as offering some writing starters to get the creative juices
flowing. All levels welcome, just bring pen, paper and the energy to write! Miriam's website Tickets £10.50
Miriam Halahmy has published short and long fiction for
children, adults and teens, as well as poetry, book reviews and articles. Her
debut Y.A. novel, Hidden, Meadowside Books, was nominated for the 2012 CILIP
Carnegie Medal. She has published a second Y.A. novel, Illegal, Meadowside
Books, 2012 and a third one is on the way. Miriam has run creative writing
workshops for many years and is a mentor with Apprenticeships in Fiction,
appraising manuscripts and guiding developing writers. Click here to Book Workshop
Free event: Allen
Ashley will be facilitating an Open Lit Mic:
Guest poet Sarah Doyle, CJ Flood and Miriam Halahmy will be appearing but this is your chance to shine too. We are opening slots to members of the writing community to showcase their work: greenacrewriters@gmail.com
Guest poet Sarah Doyle, CJ Flood and Miriam Halahmy will be appearing but this is your chance to shine too. We are opening slots to members of the writing community to showcase their work: greenacrewriters@gmail.com
Our venue for these two events is the fantastic Friern Barnet Community Library, the People's Library, which was closed by the council but has been reclaimed by the community. Come and see why.
Allen Ashley has published nine books as author or editor. In
2006 he won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology as editor of
The Elastic Book Of Numbers (Elastic Press, 2005). Well known in the science
fiction and fantasy arena, he is also a successful poet and wrote under a
pseudonym for Time Out London for many years. Allen's website
Sarah Doyle’s poetry has been published in various
anthologies, and in magazines such as Orbis,
The Dawntreader and the Poetry
Society’s Poetry News. She has been placed in several national
poetry competitions. She is Poet-in-Residence to the
Pre-Raphaelite Society, for whom she writes commissioned poetry and acts as a
judge in their Poetry Prize; and she co-organises, co-hosts and performs in
regular jazz-poetry event The Sunday
Edition at Enfield’s
Dugdale Theatre. Sarah's website
Sat 18th May 11-12.30pm, Trinity Church Centre, Finchley, N12 7NN
Josie O Pearse will be running a creative writing workshop.
'Life
Writing and the Writing Life'. This workshop will look at practical
techniques for writing from life. From planning what to write and how to
begin, through to the deeper questions that help keep your writing on
track. What is this about? Who is it for? Where does it end? And how do
you fit your writing into a busy schedule? Bring questions, ideas,
imagination, pen and paper. Josie O Pearse has just completed a PhD at Cardiff University in creative and critical writing. She writes sexy romances under a pseudonym, Angel Strand, who has three novels published with Random House. Josie is also an artist and experiments in graphic stories. Tickets £ 8.50 Click to book Life-writing workshop
Sat 18th May 1.30-5.30pm, Trinity Church Centre, Finchley, N12 7NN
Entrance to festival is by ticket only £5.50 - Click here to get your ticket/s for Greenacre Writers Festival
SPEAKERS:
Sarah Harrison is the author of twenty five books and counting. She made her
name with the bestselling The Flowers of the Field and its sequel A Flower
That’s Free. Both have been reissued by Orion this year, with the third in the
trilogy, The Wildflower Path, coming out in September. Sarah is also an
entertainer, regularly performing in an all-woman revue, and winner of Silver
Stand-Up’s Best Newcomer 2013. Sarah's website
Gina Blaxill's first novel for young adults, Pretty Twisted,
was published by Macmillan, and is an e-book best seller. Since then she has
also released a second novel, Forget Me Never, with a third, Saving Silence,
coming out later this year. Gina grew up in Finchley, in North London and
studied English at Cambridge University, where she specialised in schoolgirl
fiction and took part in a lot of musicals. These days she works in schools
liaison, helping teenagers figure out the mysteries of higher education. Apart
from writing she enjoys drawing comic art and exploring London and has big soft
spots for dogs, stately homes and fruit. Gina on Twitter
C.J. Flood graduated from an MA in Creative Writing at UEA
in 2010. Her dissertation, a section of Infinite Sky, won the Curtis Brown
Award for best student as judged by a panel of agents. She was a mentee on the
Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme, under Bernardine Evaristo, and a recipient of
an Arts Council grant. Infinite Sky, her first novel, came out in
February. The Telegraph called it "a powerful and impressive debut,"
The Guardian said it was "brilliantly visual and full of
feeling" and The Times selected it as their children's book of the week. C.
J. is currently working on her next novel, which will come out in February
2014.
C. J.'s website
C. J.'s website
Sat 18th May 4.30pm, Trinity Church, Finchley, N12 7NN
There will also be a panel with mediator, Allen Ashley, as
well as guests, Alex Wheatle MBE, Dr Josie Pearse, Sarah Harrison, and Leigh Russell. They will be discussing Truth and Fiction.
Award-winning author Alex Wheatle MBE will be appearing on the festival panel, and will be the judge for
this year's Greenacre Writers Short Story Competition.
Alex Wheatle is the author of several novels, some of them
set in Brixton, where he grew up.
Born in London of Jamaican parents, his first book, Brixton Rock (1999), tells the story of a 16-year old boy of mixed race, in 1980s Brixton. Brixton Rock was adapted for the stage and performed at the Young Vic in 2010. Its sequel, Brenton Brown, was published in 2011. His second novel, East of Acre Lane (2001), has a similar setting, and won a London Arts Board New Writers Award. A prequel, Island Songs, set in Jamaica, was published in 2005, and a sequel, Dirty South, in 2008. Other novels include The Seven Sisters (2002), in which the scene moves to Surrey in 1976, where four boys escape from an abusive life in a children's home; and Checkers (2003), written with Mark Parham, was published in 2003. In 2010, he wrote the one-man autobiographical performance, Uprising.Alex Wheatle was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2008. More about Alex.
Born in London of Jamaican parents, his first book, Brixton Rock (1999), tells the story of a 16-year old boy of mixed race, in 1980s Brixton. Brixton Rock was adapted for the stage and performed at the Young Vic in 2010. Its sequel, Brenton Brown, was published in 2011. His second novel, East of Acre Lane (2001), has a similar setting, and won a London Arts Board New Writers Award. A prequel, Island Songs, set in Jamaica, was published in 2005, and a sequel, Dirty South, in 2008. Other novels include The Seven Sisters (2002), in which the scene moves to Surrey in 1976, where four boys escape from an abusive life in a children's home; and Checkers (2003), written with Mark Parham, was published in 2003. In 2010, he wrote the one-man autobiographical performance, Uprising.Alex Wheatle was awarded an MBE for services to literature in 2008. More about Alex.
Greenacre Writers will be donating a portion of ticket sales to Trinity
in May sponsored charity.
Linked event:
Dickens in Victorian Barnet.
Sun 12th May at 11.00am.
Guided walk with Paul Baker. Learn about Charles Dickens' connections with Finchley and the Borough of Barnet as well as local history and a touch of Victorian scandal.
Meet at High Barnet tube station outside booking office. Walks £8.00 payable directly to Paul Baker. Please e-mail pbaker54@hotmail.co.uk if you wish to join the walk. For more information see Paul's website
Linked event:
Dickens in Victorian Barnet.
Sun 12th May at 11.00am.
Guided walk with Paul Baker. Learn about Charles Dickens' connections with Finchley and the Borough of Barnet as well as local history and a touch of Victorian scandal.
Meet at High Barnet tube station outside booking office. Walks £8.00 payable directly to Paul Baker. Please e-mail pbaker54@hotmail.co.uk if you wish to join the walk. For more information see Paul's website
