Humber Mouth has plenty to shout about
Maggie Hannan says the Humber Mouth, Hull's literature festival, has reached the age where "it is an unruly teenager".
I'm not entirely sure what that means. The festival, held annually in the city, seems to be a model of good behaviour.
It might not be quite as refined as the Ilkley Literature Festival, but it appears to be growing up gracefully, with visits from the controversial new poet laureate, a Greenpeace activist and a guerrilla gardener. Maybe that's what she means.
The literature festival grew out of a regular poetry evening which was run by John Osborne, a lecturer in American Studies at Hull University.
Bete Noire, says Hannan, was "really successful – I remember it was said to be the largest poetry reading event outside London."
She adds: "It was also the time that poets like Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage were emerging, so it was an exciting time."
Deciding to capitalise on that, the city launched its first literature festival.
Hannan was a volunteer at this first festival, later becoming the festival assistant and eventually, in 2002, she became the festival director.
Hull, it seems, has more than its fair share of literary heritage. There is the most obvious link with Philip Larkin, who was famously the university's librarian.
As well as Larkin, a disproportionate number of playwrights – John Godber, Alan Plater, Rupert Creed – have emerged from the area. Sean O'Brien grew up in the area and Douglas Dunn followed Larkin as the university's librarian. Hannan says that the local arts community has a strong work ethic. Peter Porter, the Australian poet, referred to the city as "the most poetic city in England".
Hannan says: "The city is characterised by Porter as somewhere that allows you to write. He said it was a lack of distractions that allow you to focus.
"The local arts scene is not about being seen at certain places or about being in the cool bars – the local arts scene is full of people who simply have their work to do.
"In London or even other places like Leeds, the arts scene is built around the 'in-places' to be seen. The artists here are interested in producing work."
In 2000 the literature festival changed its name to The Humber Mouth to reflect the diverse nature of the events that are staged there. The city's literature festival is not simply about playing host to famous authors who read their work – it encourages people to engage in a variety of different events.
This year the events include stagings of plays and a presentation from Leeds-based visual artist Amelia Crouch.
Hannan says that when she is organising the festival, foremost in her mind is the fact that the festival needs to appeal to local people.
Events are programmed so that the people living and working in the city can attend the festival around their working day.
"Somewhere like Ilkley is more of a destination festival – so people will go there perhaps from quite a long way away, to see the events and to be at the festival," says Hannan.
"While we do attract people from outside, a lot of our events are attended by people from the area, that is one of the things that has always been important to the organisers."
All this doesn't mean that the festival, funded by the city council and the Arts Council, fails to attract the big names.
As well as the new poet laureate, the festival also has visits from Barry Cryer, Dorothy Rowe and John Boyne, the man who wrote The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.
It will also see a visit from Chris Mullin MP.
Hannan says: "We like to reflect current affairs and things that people are interested in – Chris Mullin is a perfect example of that.
"We imagine there will be plenty of audience members who will want to hear his opinion about the expenses scandal.
"We do tend to attract a very switched on audience who are quite fearless in their questions, which makes for really interesting sessions. I once had a phone call from John Pilger at 7am – he was calling the night after a reading and couldn't wait to call and tell me how much he had enjoyed talking to the audience."
For more information call 01482 300300 or log on to www.humbermouth.org.uk
HUMBER MOUTH FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Saturday June 20
Carol Ann Duffy, 2pm, Zest Caf Bar: A street-smart poet with a razor-sharp technique, Duffy writes
with compassion about contemporary life, bringing something new to the role of laureate. She is also at the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival on July 7.
n Artist talk by Amelia Crouch, 11.30am, Artlink, 87 Princes Avenue: Leeds-based artist Amelia Crouch will be giving a presentation about her work, during which there will be the opportunity for questions and discussion. Amelia works in video, audio, photographic imagery and painting. Across these media is the use of words, either using juxtaposition of images and language, or using words to evoke images.
Monday June 22
Kate Long, Central Library, 1pm: Join Kate Long to talk about mothers, daughters, husbands, friendships and books in this free lunchtime talk at the library. The Bad Mother's Handbook, Kate Long's first novel, tells the stories of three generations of women, their relationships and their struggles with family life. Since then, Kate has written several novels which look at the way ordinary working women live their lives and the ties which bind them.
Tuesday June 23
Get Lewis, 7.30pm Vue Cinema, Princes Quay: Discover more about British noir author Ted Lewis and see the world premiere of a new short film. Ted Lewis lived on the south bank of the Humber for much of his life and was the writer of Jack's Return Home, the book that became the film Get Carter.
This event will include the world premiere of the short film Ted's Return Home (a fictionalised account of Lewis' life post-Get Carter) and an in-depth discussion about Lewis by the short film's screenwriters, Nick Triplow and Laurie Harvey.
Wednesday June 24
Kate Fox on Lara King's Morning Show, BBC Humberside 95.9FM
9am – 10am: Hear Kate Fox spin the news in verse. Kate has been described as a "younger, wittier, hipper Pam Ayres" and she starts her stint at the Humber Mouth by tackling the top news stories of the day.
Dan Waddell: Who Do You Think You Are?, Central Library, 12.30pm
Free: If you enjoyed the hit TV series Who Do You Think You Are? meet the author Dan Waddell, expert in genealogy and top crime writer. Dan uses his expertise in family history to inform his crime fiction, adding a new twist to
the genre.
Clare Allan: Poppy Shakespeare, Zest Caf Bar, 17-19 Newland Avenue, 8pm: Clare Allan talks about writing Poppy Shakespeare. Brutally comic, brilliant and moving, Poppy Shakespeare looks at madness from the inside, questioning our mental health system and the borders we place between sanity and insanity.
Saturday June 27
Tim Quinn ARGH! The Ups and Downs of Life as a Comic Book Creator, ArtLink, 87 Princes Avenue 7.30pm: From the Penny Dreadful to today's 250 penny dreadfullers, comic book scriptwriter, illustrator and editor Tim Quinn takes you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane to meet some of the great and not-so-great comic characters of the last 150 years. Tim also takes you behind-the-scenes from his days working for The Beano, Sparky, Bunty, Playhour, Jack & Jill, Buster, The Topper, the Daily Mirror's Jane and Garth and Marvel Comics.
Tuesday June 30
John Boyne, ArtLink, 7.30pm: Meet the author of best-seller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne when he talks about his new novel, The House of Special Purpose, what makes him tick, and the art of writing. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was the number six best-selling novel of 2008 and has sold more than five million copies.
Sunday July 5
Barry Cryer: Still Alive With Colin Snell, Hull Truck Theatre, 7.30pm: Jokes, songs and stories. The audience can shout out a page number from one of his books and he will relate the story thereof.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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