Programme 2012 will be published in August. Prog. 2011 looked like this:

← back Download the Programme (PDF)Booking is now closed

Fri 14

Sat 15

Friday 14

4-5pm

Festival Launch!

Yes, we’re launching Unputdownable from the prison chapel, where the legendary young people’s author is taking a group through a developmental day of writing. Come see GP Taylor at Foyles tomorrow.

With: GP Taylor; Ashfield Young Writers Grp

Venue: HMP Ashfield (£5)* Limited Booking.

(£5 suggested) Tickets in advance only, by application and invitation. Apply now, to: contact@unputdownable.org for details.

Sorry, booking has closed for this event.

6.30-7.15pm

Performance: The Kalevala

The World Champion of Runesinging brings the ancient, epic Finnish myths from their old forest lakelands where wit, spells and song are a true hero’s weapons.

With: Nick Hennessey

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

6-7pm

A Bristol Citywide Story Pt.1

Join us in creating the beginning of a story in 3 parts, inspired by today’s paper! Like a game of consequences, but bigger, we’ll pass it to Easton to see what they do next. Great fun with an amazing author and an expert workshop leader.

With: Mike Manson; Kate Bruce

Venue: Filwood Library, Knowle (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

7.30-8.30pm

Indies vs Mainstream. Who has the freedom?

Does it make a difference to the writer or the book if they are with an independent or mainstream publisher?

With: Francesca Kay tbc; Helen Hart; Chris Wakling; Gerard O’Donovan; Jari Moate; Gavin Watkins; Tom Sykes

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

Sat 15

Saturday 15

10am-12pm

FictionFlashMob

With: Follow us on Twitter

Venue: To be revealed.

10am-4pm

Get Published Masterclass

Three publishing professionals give you all you need to know to prepare your novel for the publishing industry.

With: Ali Reynolds; Helen Hart; Carolyn Lewis

Venue: Stoke Lodge (£45)

To book for this event, please email helen@silverwoodbooks.co.uk

12.30-1.30pm

Harbourside Tales

Ghosts, comedy, madness, love and dark secrets, it’s all here in this new writing performance.

With: Bristol Writers Group

Venue: Mshed tbc (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

12.30-1.30pm

Green Poems for a Blue Planet

This highly acclaimed poet and film composer is going to change your world, one rhyme at a time. His all-age performances are legendary – you’ll laugh, cry, and insulate. Illustrated by Nick Park.

With: Martin Kiszko

Venue: Hamilton House (£5) Under 16′s £2.50.

1-2pm

Meet GP Taylor – Vampyre Labyrinth

The New York Times Bestselling author for teens, rivalling JK Rowling, gives an unforgettable performance, bringing gothic high adventure and heroic themes, whilst showcasing the work done with Bristol schools the day before.

With: GP Taylor & Schools

Venue: Foyles (£5) £2.50 Under 16′s. Accompanying adults FREE.

2.30-3.30pm

What makes great stories tick?

The four-time Academy Award winning director and the acclaimed poet and composer collaborate in script writing. Here they discuss what makes a story; how to surprise and delight your audience. Be there. Be surprised. Be delighted.

With: Nick Park; Martin Kiszko

Venue: Hamilton House (£6)

4-5:30pm

The teens won’t read! Or will they?

GP Taylor came to fame with the self-published Shadowmancer, and is known for straight talking. Hear his recommendations for getting your teens away from the Xbox and into books.

With: GP Taylor

Venue: Hooper House Café (£5)

4-5:30pm

Have we met before? The power of influence.

Evers’ 10 Stories About Smoking burst onto the scene in 2011, citing cult author Paling as a key influence. Here, uniquely, they meet for the very first time, to explore how writers use – and hide – their influences.

With: Chris Paling; Stuart Evers

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

7.30-9.30pm

The Unputdownable Landfill Speakeasy

The book event of the year! Amazing writers, great music, wine and canapés by FareShare at our keynote charity cabaret evening, supporting both the LitFest and FareShare, who redirect oversupplied food headed for landfill. We cover it all, with a poet, a young people’s author, cult novelist and a selection of Bristol’s finest. Dress bookish.

With: Miles Chambers, GP Taylor, Chris Paling & Bristol Guests

Venue: Hamilton House (£2) Inc. drink & canapes, General admission (only) £2

Sun 16

Sunday 16

2-3pm

Children’s: Monkey Bars and Rubber Ducks

The highly entertaining author T.M Alexander grabs your kids’ attention, aged 7-11, with her storytelling, workshops and interactive fun… Shiver me timbers, just be there, the young ‘uns will love it!

With: T.M. Alexander & Guests

Venue: Foyles (£5), Children £5, Bring an adult for free

4-5.30pm

Release the story! Writing for younger Children

Fresh from Foyles (above), the exuberance of her writing for kids aged 7–11 is infectious. The author Monkey Bars and Rubber Ducks tells us how it’s done, and what kids want.

With: T.M. Alexander

Venue: Hooper House Café (£5)

4-5.30pm

What I Did

A boy runs across a busy road. His father smacks him. A passer by intervenes… In this powerful new novel (‘Gripping, hilarious, tender and without doubt, one of the books of the year’ Daily Mail) six year old Billy Wright tells the story of a family threatened to the core by a single smack.

With: Chris Wakling

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

5.30-6.30pm

Deaf, blind but travelling the world?

Tony Giles’ disabilities have not stopped him from tackling expeditions just about anyone would find daunting. He shares unique and inspiring tales of extreme locations with travel writer Tom Sykes, himself no stranger to adventure.

With: Tony Giles; Tom Sykes

Venue: Stanfords (£5)

7-8pm

Comedy and Error

Ever since the Fast Show, Simon Day has been the funniest bloke in the world. And he thinks so too. But he has battled addiction throughout his life. So has he won? A hilarious and moving account, not to be missed.

With: Simon Day & Guests

Venue: St Stephen’s Church (£8)

We’re very sorry to say this event has been cancelled. Simon sends his apologies .

7.30-8.30pm

Bible: The most dangerous book in the world?

For more than 400 years, the Bible has been available to anyone who can read English. This legacy is all around us. The guests go head to head in this debate to see if it qualifies as a truly ‘radical’ text.

With: Canon Tim Higgins tbc; Bristol Radical History Group; Marvin Rees

Venue: Hooper House Café (£5)

Mon 17

Monday 17

10am-12pm

Schools events

12.30-1.30pm

Meet the agent: How to get paid in publishing?

Miller is the literary agent who truly understands both publishing and writing, with his own, acclaimed novel Today. With digital and Kindle publishing, it’s easier than ever to reproduce the words we make. But how can writers make a living when so much is cut price or free?

With: David Miller (RCW); Jari Moate

Venue: Foyles (£5)

6.30-7.30pm

What’s hot, right now, in British Asian writing?

Author of the hilarious and moving Costa Shortlisted Coconut Unlimited arrives hot foot from London’s South Asian Literature Festival with news and views on books, his new E4 sitcom, and – for fans – tips on being “pretty cool”.

With: Nikesh Shukla; Jari Moate

Venue: Hamilton Hse (£5)

Booking has now closed

7-8pm

Crime: Beauty for ashes?

Social comment happens best in crime, today. Held in the atmospheric old Coroner’s Court, the authors of The Coroner series and Dublin Dead (an exclusive festival preview) show us what’s inspired these gripping, and often lyrical, Bristol-birthed investigations into murder, corruption and justice.

With: M.R Hall; Gerard O’Donovan

Venue: The Old Coroner’s Court (£5)

7-8.30pm

Meet Ranulph Fiennes

With: Ranulph Fiennes; Stanfords SOLD OUT

Venue: Bristol Grammar School

8-9:30pm

Word of Mouth

How does it feel to have your world blown apart? Britain is booming and Molly moves to London from deepest Cornwall full of high hopes and naive dreams of a life just like the movies. Then on 7/7/2005, she finds herself on a tube…

With: Molly Naylor

Venue: Bristol Old Vic £8 (£6)

Tue 18

Tuesday 18

10am-12pm

Schools events

6.15-8pm

2012 Bristol Short Story Prize Launch

Celebrate this! One of our city’s greatest inventions is back for its 5th year. The Prize team had over 2,000 submissions last time round, and shortlist that made the Anthology is stunning. Join us for readings, a drink and general launch-style merriment.

With: Joe Melia; Tania Hershman; Jonathan Pinnock; Emily Bullock (Winner 2011)

Venue: Foyles (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

7-8pm

How creative can we get, between two covers?

Cross Nineteen Eighty Four with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and you get one of today’s best-loved, most witty and original writers. A hugely entertaining hour of freedom, eccentricity and invention.

With: Jasper Fforde; Mike Manson

Venue: Hamilton Hse (£5)

6-7pm

A Bristol Citywide Story Pt.2

Join us in creating the middle of a story in 3 parts, inspired by today’s paper! Like a game of consequences, but bigger, we’ll pass our section to Henleaze… but not the beginning… Great fun with an amazing author and an expert workshop leader.

With: Gerard O’Donovan; Amy Spencer

Venue: Trinity Library, Easton (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

Wed 19

Wednesday 19

1-2:30pm

A Bristol Hero

The launch of the remarkable life story of the fearless civil rights campaigner, who put himself on the line to challenge the historic racism at the heart of this city. He helped to make it a better place for all of us to live in.

With: Paul Stephenson OBE; Tony Benn

Venue: Foyles (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

6-8pm 6:15-7:30pm

Successful Self-Publishing

Publishing your own book is more affordable than ever before. Successful Self-Publishing is a session offering a wealth of information designed to give writers the tools they need to make a success of publication. With Q&A panel.

With: Alison Baverstock; Mike Manson; Helen Hart

Venue: Foyles (Free; booking essential)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

7-8pm

Milton Jones’ 30 Second Sermons

The Award winning comedian brings us his pocket-sized tome that’s destined to be a viral hit; a little book that packs a big punch, unleashing a rapid-fire string of brilliant one-liners about life, faith, God and people who think they know all about it – shocking and profound stuff. Don’t miss your place at this event!

With: Milton Jones; Trevor Fry (BBC Bristol)

Venue: St Stephen’s (£8)

7-8.30pm

Is anything off limits in teen’s and children’s fiction?

Look. It ain’t easy writing for young people. Talking to them can be hard enough! But we bring you a rock-solid cast of proven children’s authors who are only too happy to show you how they do it, to share ideas and inspire you.

With: Rachel Ward; Rachel Bright; Rebecca Lisle

Venue: Henleaze Library (£5)

8.15-9.00pm

The riot and the ecstasy

Hoodies? Feral youth? Terrorist? Soldier? When people get a fire in their belly they do extreme things about it. Or grab what they can when they can. The author who organised this Festival looks at extreme acts from Tolstoy to Conrad to Chris Cleeve, and wonders: who’s next?

With: Jari Moate

Venue: St Stephen’s Café (£3)

Thu 20

Thursday 20

6-7pm

Lazarus is Dead: Truth versus fiction?

In his astonishing tour de force, Lazarus Is Dead, “one of the UK’s most resourceful and entertaining novelists” (Philip Henscher) turns detective, asking: Was Lazarus really resurrected? And actually, is there any reason to think not? In fact, who’s burying what, here? One of the very best books, and writers, you could discover this year.

With: Richard Beard; Jari Moate

Venue: Foyles (£5)

7-8pm

Naked Guide to Cider, with tasting

What’s not to like? The Naked Guide series are bestsellers because they get under the surface of things. In this session the writer takes you on a tour of where the precious juices are treated best.

With: James Russell; Richard Jones

Venue: Stanfords (£5)

6-7pm

Write Spectacular!

Ever planned a story asking: What If? then you are writing speculative fiction. Fantasy and Sci-Fi shift the rules of realism, to push the question of what might be. Come and get great advice on style and structure from a highly impressive panel that includes at least four Hugo Awards.

With: Juliet McKenna; Jo Hall; Cheryl Morgan; Gareth Powell

Venue: St Mark’s Easton (£5)

7.30-9.00pm

Why keep trying to write?

Calling all writers and writing groups, pro’s and aspiring, this is your ‘conference’ event! N.A.W. tackles issues ‘they’ don’t tell you about, like working patterns, writing well, getting inspiration, keeping going (it’s who you are!) and unfinished work. Send submissions for critique.
Headliner: Richard Beard; National Academy of Writing

Venue: St Marks Easton (£5)

Fri 21

Friday 21

Lunchtime

Sci Fi: Book Launches

A stellar clutch of authors releasing brilliant new work, right here right now. For more amazing sci-fi, see BristolCon.Org who also run on Sat 22nd in Bristol Ramada Hotel.

With: See BristolCon.org

Venue: Forbidden Planet (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

6-7pm

Should David Cameron read more sci-fi?

Since Orwell, Huxley and HG Wells, many of today’s finest sci fi writers are exploring how we run our societies. Our panel includes some of the most fiery names writing today. Politics and fiction in a potent mix

With: Cheryl Morgan; Justina Robson; Tim Maughan; Tom Sykes

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

7-8pm

How exactly do we challenge the Authorities?

Orange Prize winning novelist and poet, author of House of Orphans, The Siege and The Betrayal explores the individual versus the state, as seen through the eyes of the great storytellers.

With: Helen Dunmore; Sara Davies (Radio 4)

Venue: St Stephen’s (£6)

6-7pm

A Bristol Citywide Story Pt.3

Join us in creating the ending of a story in 3 parts, inspired by today’s paper! Like a game of consequences, but bigger, we get the middle from Easton… but not the beginning… Great fun with an amazing author and an expert workshop leader.

With: Tania Hershman; Nick Rawlinson; Justina Robson

Venue: Henleaze Library (Free)

Book by email to: boxoffice@unputdownable.org

8-9:30pm

Political Open Mic

Fiction and poetry that has something to say. Come and book in; come and hear. Watkins has an ear for the very best that Bristol can offer and this promises to be a highly provocative, inspiring and moving evening of performances.

With: Gavin Watkins & Guests; You

Venue: Hamilton Hse (£5)

Sat 22

Saturday 22 Day of the Word

£5 Roving Ticket allows entry to indicated events all day. Under 16′s half price, except Children’s Book Club.

Children’s Book Club only: £5 Children’s Roving Ticket allows entry to two Club events & brings an adult for free.

11:30am-5pm

Children’s Book Club (60 min events)

All afternoon, amazing children’s and young people’s writers visit our kids’ HQ.

With: Rebecca Lisle; Elen Caldecott; Lowie James; Rachel Bright & Guests

Venue: Hamilton House (Roving Ticket, Check website for running order)

Children’s roving ticket: £5

Bring an adult for free

12noon-1pm

Olympics: Why do Hungarians want to beat Russians at Water Polo?

Sportfest is nearly upon us. In How to Watch the Olympics Goldblatt and Acton provide an instant and engaging initiation to every sport: their rules, their histories, their meanings and their madness. You will cheer at the handball.

With: David Goldblatt; Johnny Acton

Venue: Hooper House Café (Roving Ticket)

12noon-1.30pm

Crime & Thriller Literary Lunch: Should justice be seen to be done..?

Join us for a Crime & Thriller Lunch with this prolific and highly intelligent crime and psychological thriller writer, author of A Room Swept White, currently being made for ITV. Plus, did you know Hannah translated the Moomins? With The Coroner author MR Hall, the talk will turn to miscarriages of justice as motive.

With: Sophie Hannah; M.R Hall

Venue: Left Bank (£12) Book now.

This event has been postponed, watch this space later in the year.

1-2pm

Has Banksy been good for Bristol?

With a deeply researched collection of anecdotes about the great External Decorator’s impact, Leverton is keen to ask, in the wake of See No Evil, if the shadow of Banksy is stifling or releasing the city’s energy. With live painting.

With: Marc Leverton; John Nation; Richard Jones.

Venue: PRSC (Roving Ticket; viewings till 5pm)

2-3pm

Utopian Book Collective (1 hour)

This local group discusses their utopian reading project in the city. An informal conversation with members of the group who read utopian and dystopian fiction, covering issues like: Why we need utopian fiction; How the group was formed, and Thoughts on recent literature read by the group.

With: Bristol Utopian book collective members

Venue: Hoopers House Cafe (Roving Ticket)

2pm-5pm

Poetry Central! (45 min events)

Performances, Workshop, Open Mic & Human Juke Box.
Bring your writing, including what you did for Get Writing, and hear it read!

With: Rebecca Tantony, Lucy English; Liz Greenfield; Jeremy Toombsv

Venue: Left Bank (Roving Ticket)

2-3pm

Bookbinding workshop: The craft up close.

With: Nicholas Hallett

Venue: Art House Café (Roving Ticket)

2-5pm

The Toff: A Classic. Satire, Art & The High Life

With: Gallery Exhibitors

Venue: Stokes Croft Museum (£1)

(Pay on the door)

1.15-5pm

Launch Pad: (45 min events)

New books and writers showcasing stunning work – this is your chance to discover a brand new favourite

With: Stokes Croft Writers; Leaf Publishing; Short Umbrella + more

Venue: Hooper House Café (Roving Ticket)

5-6pm

Dreaming Under Fire

Homeless ex soldiers have a very special experience of home and what it means. Some have been building their own new homes. These poems and stories are by them, and inspired by them. Electrifying, moving and powerful.

With: Jari Moate; Rich Harper

Venue: Hooper House Café (Roving Ticket)

6-7pm

A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In

No other author so movingly evokes the search for human dignity in the dreamscapes of the absurd. Witty, whimsical and down to earth, ex-Bristolian and bus driver Mills is unique, and you will never forget his creations.

With: Magnus Mills; Mike Manson

Venue: Hamilton House (£5)

Magnus sends his apologies. All advance tickets will be refunded.

7:30-9:30pm

Double Bill Festival Finale!

Final Reveal: The Unified Bristol Story

This week you joined us in creating a story in 3 parts, inspired by each day’s paper. Come and help draw the three parts together, seeing what the city made. Will it be happily ever after? Comedy, crime or sci-fi? Guaranteed fun.

With: Citywide Story Groups; Authors; Festival Audiences

Followed by:

Tania Hershman’s Cure for Writer’s Block

A blank sheet of paper will never look the same again. Tania Hershman’s Cure for Writer’s Block is for writers, readers, fans and longsuffering partners. Hands-on, a lot of fun, unifying and a warm up to the festival after-party.

With: Tania Hershman; Mike Manson; Jari Moate

Venue: Hamilton Hse (£6)