Read all about it — Birmingham Literature Festival turns 25
Read all about it — Birmingham Literature Festival turns 25
Plus, Labour conference ‘throttling’ claim
Dear Patchers — today’s Monday briefing has been meticulously custom-designed for readers who would be interested in the answers to questions such as these: Did a Wolverhampton councillor throttle a protestor at the Labour Conference in Liverpool? Did SAS: Who Dares Wins presenter Ant Middleton really tell the NEC that civil war might be on its way to the UK last week? And is the Birmingham Dispatch now well on its way to 1000 paying members? If you want to know more, you’ll have to read on.
It’s also an exciting week for bookworms across the city as Birmingham Literature Festival returns with three weeks full of events. We caught up with the festival’s director Shantel Edwards who is proud to be celebrating the event’s 25th year. That’s today’s big story.
Our Saturday read reflected on the killing of 14-year-old Dea-John Reid in 2021 and the highly controversial outcome of the murder trial a year later. The case spawned a still ongoing campaign headed up by Dea-John’s mother to make juries more racially diverse (five of the accused six were acquitted by an almost entirely white jury). One reader said it was an “excellent, thought-provoking article on a terrible injustice”. You can catch up on it here:
Editor’s note: To keep bringing you excellent, thought-provoking journalism we need more paying readers. Having broken through our target of 900 subscribers — thank you everyone! — our next target is the big, the mighty, the immense goal of 1,000 members. If you like what we do and think Birmingham deserves quality local reporting, you know what to do…
"I’m loving your delivery of relevant local news. Well done!" — Dispatch member.
Wet and Windy
🌥️Tuesday: Overcast with patches of morning and afternoon sun. Max 18°C.
🌧️Wednesday: Mild with more rain as the day goes on. Max 17°C.
🌧️Thursday: Rainy with occasional sun breaking through. Max 20°C.
⛅Friday: Cloudy, giving way to sun. Max 15°C.
🌥️Weekend: Same story — more cloud, followed by more sun. Max 15°C.
We get our weather from the Met Office.
Big story: Read all about it — Birmingham Literature Festival turns 25
Top line: The Birmingham Literature Festival is back this Saturday for its 25th year. We chatted to director Shantel Edwards about what makes the festival special and which events are essential for the diary.
Context: Writing West Midlands launched the festival in 1999. This year, against a backdrop of council cuts and library closures, they’ve brought in extra funding to allow for more free and online events to make the festival accessible to more people.
What’s more, a partnership with Transport for West Midlands means ticket holders can apply for £22.50 of Swift Go credit for the bus to make sure they can get there. Which always helps.
The Dispatch spoke with festival director Shantel Edwards who told us festivals like this one are important because they give readers and writers the chance to come together and discover work they might not otherwise. She said: “Reading and writing are usually solitary activities so it’s nice to be able to make it a social experience where people can connect.” She has been involved for four years but attended the festival throughout the 2010s. “It always felt like a good place to go to have these conversations and discover an author you haven’t heard of before. I’ve tried to carry that spirit on.”
Book boycotts: Nationally, book festivals have been the subject of controversy in recent years. In June, investment management company Baillie Gifford announced it was cancelling its sponsorship of four remaining literary festivals, after the Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival pulled out of deals the month prior. Campaign group Fossil Free Books has been targeting Baillie Gifford since August 2023 in an attempt to get the firm to divest from the fossil fuel industry and companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
Edwards told The Dispatch that as Birmingham Literature Festival does not receive corporate funding, she was confident no such similar action would occur here. The Birmingham festival is entirely funded by Arts Council England, with some events sponsored by local universities.
The director’s cut: When we asked her to pick her favourite events to recommend to Dispatch readers, Edwards said: “It’s like being asked to choose your favourite child!” After a bit of needling from us, she rounded up a few unmissable dates:
Saturday 28 September — The first day of the festival features a partnership with Africa Writes, the Royal African Society’s literature festival, ahead of Black History Month in October. Featuring four, free events, including a discussion with poet and young people’s laureate for London Caleb Femi, the day is set to be “really wonderful,” says Edwards.
Wednesday 2 October — Nooran Masud will discuss her non-fiction book A Flat Place, which explores the beauty and painful colonial histories of Britain’s flat landscapes. Edwards’ view: “A really great book, really smart.”
Thursday 3 October — Where We Come From X 0121 Legacy: Chaired by Casey Bailey, this event brings together journalist Aniefiok Expoudom, artist manager Jess Monroe and performer Auden Allen to celebrate the legacy and history of UK rap and grime in Birmingham. 0121 Legacy documents the city’s contribution to these genres. Edwards says: ‘I’m from Erdington and still live here. I loved opening 0121 Legacy and seeing my area represented.’
Saturday 5 October — Intervals is a memoir by Marianne Brooker that traces her mother’s struggle with multiple sclerosis and her determination to die on her own terms and in her own home. It’s “heartbreaking non-fiction” but an interesting dissection of care under austerity in the UK, Edwards says.
Book tickets for all dates of Birmingham Literature Festival here.
Photo of the week
Birmingham photographer Jav Singh Kailey recently captured this shot of The Cube looming behind our historic canalside buildings.
Brum in brief
🗣️Wolverhampton councillor suspected of Labour conference ‘throttling’: Deputy political editor of GB News, Tom Harwood, has shared a photograph from Labour conference that seems to show a Labour member “throttling” a protester. According to Harwood, the young man stood up during a speech to shout “stop arming Israel” and “stop funding oil” before being “throttled and bundled out of the hall”. Harwood says sources have approached him to say they are certain the man who grabbed the protestor by the neck is Wolverhampton councillor Harbinder Singh. Were you at the event where this happened? If so, we’d like to speak to you. Please get in touch at: editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
➡ Reform UK 2024 Conference Birmingham NEC: The Reform UK brigade was back in Brum at the end of last week with a conference that included SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ant Middleton giving eerie warnings that mass civil war was on its way to the UK (and that dark forces were trying to “control” the British people) as well as Lee Anderson theatrically tearing up a letter saying he needs to pay his TV license. Elsewhere, those who travelled to the NEC were treated to repeated attacks on immigration, diversity and green policies and alongside calls to “put British people first” and conduct mass deportation of all overseas nationals in the UK. “We can win the next general election just with the numbers of people that agree with our principles,” Farage told cheering supporters in Birmingham. Find out more.
🌿 Botanical Gardens Restoration Announced: Plans have been unveiled to transform Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens. The low-carbon, sustainable project — supported by the National Lottery — will refurbish the historic buildings and four Victorian glasshouses and (with a bit of luck) return the site to its former splendour while serving modern horticultural needs by 2028. When it’s done, grab your parasol and head down for a promenade. Find out more.
📚 Writers Create Protest Magazine Over Library Cuts: Taking action against the council’s proposed library cuts, a group of writers have launched their own protest magazine. The zine paired thirty-five writers (including established novelists such as Jonathon Coe and Mike Gayle, and poet laureate Iona Mandal) with libraries across Birmingham and asked them to write something inspired by them. Find out more.
Home of the week
This four-bedroom Victorian terrace backs onto the Edgbaston Reservoir and has beautiful views from almost every room. It’s on the market for £425,000.
Media picks
📰 Comedian, artist, and proud Brummie, Joe Lycett, gave an interesting interview to The Guardian ahead of the release of his new book, Art Hole. Featuring celebrity portraits of the likes of Harry Styles and irreverent paintings like ‘A Crisp Glass of Piss’, the book is filled with, in the words of journalist Stuart Heritage, “absolute cobblers”. Read Here.
🎧Heritage charity Open City has a podcast featuring experts in architecture and all things urban planning. Their recent episode included a discussion on the fight to save Birmingham’s Brutalist Ringway Centre — which recently suffered a setback. Listen here.
Things to do
Tuesday
🎨 Take part in creative workshops hosted by local artist, Kupid. Running this Tuesday, and Thursday, activities include clay modelling, tee design, textiles, music, drama, photography and more. Plus, the chance to co-create a ‘spectacular’ piece of artwork to be showcased in a visual arts trail. Register here.
🌍 The first ever International Day of Birmingham — courtesy of Joe Lycett — will be marked by a civic reception at Birmingham Council House. Attendees include members of Black Sabbath, UB40 and Dexy’s Midnight Runners. More info here.
Wednesday
🦁 Taking place simultaneously in the partner cities of Lyon and Birmingham, the Ikon Gallery’s Friends in Love and War exhibition considers how regional capitals and cultural institutions can create new ways of living and working together in a post-Brexit climate. Free entry.
🎃 Gather around a warm fire, unwind and connect with autumn crafts and mindfulness. Perfect to get over the midweek hump, the price includes all materials and bottomless hot drinks. Tickets from £22.38.
Thursday
📚 New book St Mary's Hall Coventry Tapestry: Weaving the Threads Together celebrates Coventry’s rich cultural heritage and highlights the iconic, early-sixteenth-century tapestry. Attend the launch at 7pm. Tickets from £6.
📖More books! More Coventry! Comma Press’s ‘Reading the City’ series provides literary guides to Britain’s often overlooked cities. The latest, Reading the City: The Book of Coventry will be launchd at Commonground in Coventry at 7pm. Tickets from £8.30.
I'm pretty agnostic on the new publishing schedule but I do miss seeing the Dispatch arrive in my inbox before I get distracted by whatever else I'm doing that day. I'm not suggesting going back to daily sends but could the current ones go out earlier in the day?
“ according to Harwood “ ?
So basically untrue.
The Tory press , media and BBC are really going after the adults.
Don’t fall into the same trap , please.