Blackpool Arts Service has worked with Blackpool Libraries since 2007 to develop Wordpool as Blackpool’s annual Festival of Words. The festival is supported by a team of community volunteers and overseen by a steering group of representatives from our strategic partnerships, community interest groups and local colleges and schools.
Wordpool 2011 will take place in Blackpool from 5th to 12th November. For a full programme of events, festival information and a really good read look out for our free festival paper Words, Words and Other Stuff (published in August).
Highlights for Wordpool 2011 include
Reading Places, very individual approaches to travel writing from Alistaire Sutcliffe, Fran Sandham and Kapka Kassabova; a Wordpool partnership with the Reading Agency’s ‘Time to Read’.
A brilliant family day If You Go Down to the Woods Today… in the Pavillion Theatre of our historic Winter Gardens; featuring Horse and Bamboo Theatre Company’s new family show Red Riding Hood, guest appearances from well loved children’s authors, the Sock Story Tree, Gingerbread Corner, Teddybears Library and lots of fun arts and storytelling activities for all ages.
Workshops and performances from exciting new voices Jenn Ashworth, Jo Bell, Michael Stewart, Meg Gardiner and Jon Gomm.
A very special pre-festival launch event on October 26th to celebrate the Grundy Art Gallery and Central Library Centenaries.
Diversions, new writing on the move. Our Fringe Day is a chance to share the very best in local creative writing, poetry and much more. Contact us if you would like to be involved.
You can also keep in touch with Wordpool 2011 news and booking arrangements by following our blog:
http://blackpoolwordpool.wordpress.com
and/or liking our Facebook page, Wordpool2011
OUR VISION for Wordpool
is to provide an alternative literary experience, one which pushes boundaries and stimulates creativity and engages all members of our community and visitors to our town.
OUR SPECIFIC AIMS for Wordpool 2011 are:
- To attract new visitors to the arts and our libraries by offering an exciting programme events that celebrate words in interesting and intriguing ways.
- To improve literacy and educational achievement in Blackpool through working with exciting new writers who will encourage new creative writing, particularly in those least likely to engage in the arts.
- To promote new reading groups and reading for pleasure by working with inspiring authors.
- To use the festival to highlight Central Library's and Grundy Art Gallery's centenary events.
- To showcase the work of new and emerging North West based writers and poets.
- To stimulate a vibrant literary scene in the town by using the Festival Fringe to establish new writing, reading and poetry groups.
- To target projects to families, young people and those whose health, social and economic circumstances make them less likely to engage.
Wordpool 2010 successfully delivered a comprehensive programme and directly involved over 4000 children and over 3500 adults in meaningful engagement with high quality literature and arts events. Our 2010 figures showed a 100% increase on 2009 attendances.
Previous Wordpool highlights include:
- 2010 WordFair in the historic town centre Post Office.
- 2007 Afternoon Tea with Wendy Cope.
- 2007 Ann Cleeves – Murder Mystery performance.
- 2010 IT a creative writing project with schools involving over 3500 children.
- 2010 Words, Words and Other Stuff - our volunteer produced, festival paper.
- 2010 Cafe Culture - National Poetry Day performances via webcam with Poetry Cafes around the world.
- 2010 Last Tram to StarGate a commissioned promenade theatre with Jacqueline Pilton and Louise Nulty performed along the seafront and on trams.
- 2009 The Bridge Poets a Steve Tasane led poetry project with rough sleepers.
- 2009 Shopping for Words featuring 12 authors talks in town centre shops.
- 2009 A L Kennedy at west Coast Rock Café.
- John Siddique's 2008/9 poetry residency.
- 2008 Words on the Wind at Little Marton Mill.
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