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The Alliance of Literary Societies

Events


October 2011 to March 2012:  The Bronte Parsonage Museum are running their Contemporary Arts Programme.  Contact the museum for details.



5 November 2011 - 4 March 2012:  A celebration of David Jones's visual art at the National Gallery and Museum of Wales, Cardiff



7 February 2012 - 15 April 2012
The Step Into My Shoes exhibition is being held at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.  It's an exhibition of journeys - including the poet John Clare.



January 2012

13 January:  Study days at the Birmingham Midland Institute - £15 per day - from 10.15 am to 4 pm.  Tel. 0121 236 3591.  Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1873-7).  In response to more requests than for any other text, we shall devote a day to studying one of the world's greatest novels, using Constance Garnett's translation.

17 January:  The Blake Society at 6.30 pm will be holding its AGM plus The Vision in Practice:  William Blake and the FM Alexander Technique, a talk by Kate Kelly-Tanguay.  More detail on their website.

25 January:  The Barnes Literary Society talk by Salley Vickers The Spirit of Stories at 8 pm at the Old Sorting Office (OSO) Community Arts Centre, Barnes Green.

27 January:  Study days at the Birmingham Midland Institute - £15 per day - from 10.15 am to 4 pm.  Tel. 0121 236 3591.  J B Priestley, Eden End (1934), and English Journey (1934).   After evaluating the author's favourite play, we shall encourage you to pool your socio-geographical knowledge to establish a perspective upon the insights he offered upon the state of the nation in the same year.

29 January:  the Trollope Society seminar on the Dune's Children by Trollope, at Cambridge with tea.  All welcome.  Contact michael@thecleeve.freeserve.co.uk.



February 2012

5 February: Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford
offer a day school (9.30 am - 5 pm) - Make it New: Modernist Literature - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.

7 February: To celebrae the Bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, a dinner will be held at the Mansion House, London.  A sherry reception at 6.45 pm, followed by a three course dinner at 7.30 pm with wines and coffee.  Carriages at 10.30 pm.  Featuring Dickensian entertainment led by Sir Patrick Stewart.  Tickets £120.  Contact the Charles Dickens Museum.

10 February:  Study days at the Birmingham Midland Institute - £15 per day - from 10.15 am to 4 pm.  Tel. 0121 236 3591.  Dickens on Screen.  Just three days after his 200th birthday we shall ask whether the energy, humour and zeal of dickens has been represented effectively through our enthusiasm to experience his novels in film and television versions.

11 February:  Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford offer a day school (9.30 am - 5 pm) - Charles Dickens: Bicentennial Anniversary - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.

22 February:  The Barnes Literary Society talk by Philip Ziegler Biography: its Perils, Pitfalls and Pleasures, at 8 pm at the Old Sorting Office OSO Community Arts Centre, Barnes Green.

24 February:  A horror of great darkness: Gothic from the Brontes to Twilight, takes place at 7 pm at West Lane Baptist Centre, Haworth.  dr Batherine Spooner explores our continuing obsession with zombies and vampires, and shows how the gothic influences contemporary culture, from literature and film through to fashion, advertising and music.  Tickets £5 - must be booked in advance from jenna.holmes@bronte.org.uk (tel. 01535 640188).

24 February: Study days at the Birmingham Midland Institute - £15 per day - from 10.15 am to 4 pm.  Tel. 0121 236 3591.  Mary Webb, The Golden Arrow (1916), Gone to Earth (1917) and Precious Bane (1924).  Neglected but not forgotten?  Unfairly represented by parody and caricature? We feel that the time has come for a re-assessment of Mary Webb's achievement.

27 February: Tennyson event at 6.30 pm in Hall One at King's Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.  Andew Motion, Ann Thwaite and Sarah Weir.  Organised by Poet in the City in association with Winning Words.  Tickets cost £9.50 if booked online via www.kingsplace.co.uk. Otherwise, tickets cost £11.50 - box office 020 7520 1490. 



March 2012

2 - 11 March:  The Bath Literature Festival.

2 March:
At the Bronte Parsonage Museum, an exhibition - the Garden of Oblivion, by Franklin.  Exhibition free with admission to the museum.

3 March: The Richard Jefferies Society are organising a gentle walk with readings in Richard Jefferies' footsteps around Coate Water.  Meet at 10.30 am at the Rangers Information Centre, Coate Water.  Followed by a joint meeting with the Friends of Alfred Williams.  You can bring your favourite Jefferies or Williams extract along to read out, or just come along to listen.  The meeting starts at 2 pm at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate, Swindon.  Doors open at 1 pm, so turn up early to explore the museum.  More information from info@richardjefferiessociety.co.uk.

7 March:  Novelist Ross Raisin discusses his new novel Waterline at the West Lane Baptist Centre in Haworth - 2 pm.  Tickets £5 - must be booked in advance from jenna.holmes@bronte.org.uk (tel. 01535 640188).

8 March: The Barnes Literary Society tour of Richmond Theatre (extra cost) - visit their website for detail www.barnesliterarysociety.org.uk/.

8 March: Trollope Society.  Seminar at the Friends' Meeting House, Manchester, 6 for 6.30 pm on 'Dr Wortle's School' introduced by Jackie Stevenson - contact j.ammar@hotmail.co.uk.

8 March:  At All Saints' Church, Northampton Sir Andrew Motion will be talking about walking, writing and poetry and will read the work of various poets, including his own.  Entitled 'Following in John Clare's Footsteps' and linked to the Step into My Shoes exhibiton at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.  Starts at 7.30 pm, tickets £10 (under 18s £5).  Box office 01604 624811 - www.royalandderngate.co.uk

9 March: Study days at the Birmingham Midland Institute - £15 per day - from 10.15 am to 4 pm.  Tel. 0121 236 3591.  William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (1598), and Hector Berlioz, Beatrice et Benedict (1862).  Following high-profile productions in London earlier this year, we assess the enduring popularity of Shakespeare's finest comedy.  We shall also explore the perspective offered by an operatic treatment which Welsh National Opera is bringing to Birmingham.

17 March: Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford offer a day school (9.15 am - 5 pm) - Victorian Fiction - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.

19 March: Poet in the City event - Forward into the 21st century, celebrating the 20th year of the Forward Prizes for poetry - at Kings Place in London.  More detail from www.poetinthecity.co.uk.

21 March: The Barnes Literary Society talk by Bidisha Fun With Philosophical Fiction: the novels of Iris Murdoch, followed by the AGM, at 8 pm at the Old Sorting Office (OSO) Community Arts Centre, Barnes Green.

24 March:  The Friends of the Dymock Poets - Spring Day.  The afternoon will include a talk by Ray Woods on A botanist looks at daffodils.  Full details available from the Friends.

24 March - 1 April:  The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival.


April 2012

14 April:  The Richard Jefferies Society.
  There will be a talk by Professor Eric Jones on the American pioneering naturalist Robert Kennicott (1835 - 1866) - entitled Saving Kennicott's Grove: successful conservation at an American Coate.  Meet at 2 pm at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate, Swindon.  Doors open at 1 pm so come early and explore the museum.  More information from info@richardjefferiessociety.co.uk.

16 April: The Poet in the City event - Robert Browning and the Pied Piper - at Kings Place, London.  See www.poetinthecity.co.uk for more detail.

21 April:  The Barnes Literary Society Literary outing to Kelmscott House, Hammersmith - visit their website for detail www.barnesliterarysociety.org.uk/.

26 April: Poet in the City are running a John Donne event at St Paul's Cathedral.  Visit www.poetinthecity.co.uk for more detail.

26 April: The Trollope Society.  Seminar at the Friends' Meeting House, Manchester on 'The Struggles of Brown, Jones and Robinson', introduced by Rosalind Penny and Frances Huggett - contact j.ammar@hotmail.co.uk.

28 April: The Charles Williams Society meets at the Oxford Centre for Mediaeval Studies, Shoe Lane, Oxford, at noon.  Professor Grevel Lindop will be speaking about progress with his definitive biography of Williams.  The Society will also hold its AGM.

28 April: Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford offer a day school (9.30 am - 5 pm) - Revolutionary Lives: The Godwins and the Shelleys - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.




May 2012

12 May:  The Richard Jefferies Society.  Selborne, Gilbert White, Jefferies and others - a talk by Peter Bainbridge as part of this year's Swindon Festival of Literature.  Gilbert White (1720 - 1793) was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist, best known for The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.  Meet at 2 pm at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate, Swindon.  Doors open at 1 pm so come early and explore the museum first.  More information from info@richardjefferiessociety.co.uk.

14 May:  The Poet in the City event - Carol Ann Duffy and Friends at King's Place in London.  More detail at www.poetinthecity.co.uk.

16 May:  The Barnes Literary Society
The Business of Books - Now and Tomorrow, forum with writer, publisher and bookseller, at 8 pm at the Old Sorting Office (OSO) Community Arts Centre, Barnes Green.

28 May: Poet in the City event: Poetry from the Greek Olympics, exploring the connections between poetry and the original Greek Olympics, at the British Library in London.  More detail at www.poetinthecity.co.uk.



June 2012

31 May to 10 June:  The Hay on Wye literary festival.

2 June: Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford
offer a day school (9.30 am - 5 pm) - Edith Wharton - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.

8 - 17 June:  Broadway Arts Festival featuring Alfred Parsons RA (1847 - 1920). 

11 June: Poet in the City event: Poetry Gymnastics, a celebration of sporting poetry, at Kings Place, London.  More detail from www.poetinthecity.co.uk

13 June:  The Barnes Literary Society is holding its summer event.  Contact them for more detail.

27 - 29 June:  The Katherine Mansfield Society is holding an international conference Katherine Mansfield and Continental Europe, in association with the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia.  A highlight of the conference will be an optional trip on 30 June to Krakow.  Call for papers to be received by 1 November 2011 to janka.kascakova@ff.ku.sk. More information on the conference itself from kms@katherinemansfieldsociety.org

30 June:   Dept of Continuing Education, Oxford offer a day school (9.30 am - 5 pm) - Sir Thomas Wyatt - for £55.  Contact ppdayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk or visit their website.



July 2012

2 July: Poet in the City
event - Shakespeare's poetry, at Kings Place, London.  More detail from www.poetinthecity.co.uk

13 - 15 July:  The John Clare Society is holding its annual festival in Helpston, near Peterborough.  More information soon on their website.

28 July:  A Richard Jefferies Society study day at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate, Swindon.  Theme:  The Working Wo/man in Jefferies' writing.  The day will explore Jefferies' descriptions of the working man and woman and what conclusions we might draw about Jefferies' views as he matured.  Andrew Rossabi will talk about the Labour Question whilst Prof Roger Ebbatson will speak about 'Women in the Fields'.  Meet at 10.30 am at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Coate, Swindon.  Bring a packed lunch. More information form info@richardjefferiessociety.co.uk.



August 2012

9 - 13 August:  The Dickens Fellowship will be holding their AGM and conference at Landport, Portsmouth - to celebrate the Bicentenary.  More detail from anita.fernandez@ntlworld.com



September 2012

9 - 17 September: 
Blake Morrison's new play about the Bronte sisters, We Are Three Sisters, opens at the Viaduct Theatre, Halifax.  For detail visit www.northern-broadsides.co.uk.

21 - 23 September:  The Budleigh Salterton literary festival.

24 September: Poet in the City event - Edward Lear - at Kings Place, London.  More detail at www.poetinthecity.co.uk



October 2012

6 - 7 October:  The Friends of the Dymock Poets - the AGM weekend.



November 2012

3 November: The Richard Jefferies Society holds its AGM and Birthday Lecture.  More information from info@richardjefferiessociety.co.uk.






If you are a member society and have an event which you want us to enter onto this site, email Linda Curry with details.