In this month’s CogTalk, John Bird MBE and Dr Michaela Gummerum will discuss fairness and how it is shaped both by biology and society. They will ask who decides what is a "fair share" and who’s entitled to it? Do all people have a similar understanding of fairness and how fluid is that notion? And how, in this so-called “age of austerity” can we maintain our sense of fairness and justice for all.
John Bird, 66, was brought up in an orphanage and served time in a young offenders institution before he was out of...
Plymouth International Book Festival are proud to support this year’s Plymouth Anthology of Young People’s Writing. The Council has searched for talented young authors as part of this year’s city-wide writing competition.
Writers aged up to 19 were asked to put pen to paper and submit pieces of written work to Plymouth City Council’s annual Anthology competition. This year’s theme Past, Present and Future… our cultural heritage, historical standing, everyday life, City people or twenty first century vision....
Within a novel the landscape shapes the reader’s emotions and can complement or contradict the story. How do writers work with this extra character in a novel?
Join us as we discuss with two writers Tom Vowler and Michael Jecks how they use the landscape, and in particular the Devon landscape, in their novels.
Tom Vowler’s short story collection, The Method, won the international Scott Prize in 2010 and the Edge Hill Readers’ Award in 2011, set on Dartmoor, his debut novel What Lies Within was...
Join local poets Normal Jope, Kenny Knight and Steve Spence for an evening of live poetry reading.
Norman Jope has published For the Wedding-Guest (Stride, 1997), The Book of Bells and Candles (Waterloo Press, 2009), Dreams of the Caucasus (Shearsman Books, 2010) and Aphinar (Waterloo Press, 2012) and his poetry has appeared in many magazines and webzines across the world. He is also one of the organisers of The Language Club, a long-established live poetry collective based in Plymouth.
A night of poetry, prose and performance! Read! Recite! Tread the boards of the Plymouth Social Club!
This is a night for you to share your work, or work that inspires you, with an audience. A venue for experienced practitioners to perform and present alongside those who are just beginning to explore their craft. Come along and join the relaxed and social environment, leading to discussion, collaboration and a widening literary and artistic community in Plymouth and the South West.
Gavin Extence joins us to talk about his acclaimed debut novel, The Universe Versus Alex Woods.
Alex hasn’t had the most conventional start in life. He knows that growing up with a clairvoyant mother won’t endear him to the local bullies. And he knows that even the most improbable events can happen – he’s got the scars to prove it. What he doesn’t know yet is that when he meets ill-tempered, reclusive widower Mr Peterson, he’ll make an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life....
Join Editors, Anthony Caleshu and Tom Vowler, for the launch of the seventh issue of 'the visual literary journal' Short FICTION. Showcasing the best new fiction from around the world alongside bespoke illustration, the journal has established itself as a unique and dedicated space for the marriage of text and image. Anthony and Tom will be reading from some of their favourite selections in the new issue, as well as discussing the 'editing' that goes on behind the scenes.
Poetry films: AJ McKenna, Conrad Kira, Vanessa Kisuule, Rik Sykes and Deborah Stevenson.
A Forked Special
A night of new generation poetry films and live performance poetry, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech.
Join film-makers and spoken word artists as they interrogate the power of speech in this exciting South West showcase. Bringing together a multitude of voices to challenge, debate, tell personal and political stories and explore the power of speech to create social change,...
Prophet or messiah, the figure of Jesus serves as both the bridge and the barrier between Christianity and Islam. Join the author for a discussion around her accessible and thoughtful book, Christians, Muslims & Jesus, in which Muslim scholar and popular commentator Mona Siddiqui takes her reader on a personal, theological journey exploring the centrality of Jesus in Christian Muslim relations, concluding with Mona’s own reflections on the cross and its possible meaning in her Muslim faith.
Plymouth was severely damaged by the Blitz during the Second World War, with almost 5000 homes destroyed and many lives lost. Following the war the city underwent one of the most dynamic reconstruction efforts in the country, with over 15000 new homes built and brand new neighbourhoods such as Efford and Southway created to house homeless Plymouth residents.
Historian Kayleigh Milden will discuss The War in Plymouth: Destruction And A New Beginning, a history project led by Plymouth publishing social enterprise...
