The nights are drawing in, the leaves are turning a burnished bronze, we can’t hold out on the heating that much longer, surely the perfect time of year to curl up with a good book….or better still unwind with a literary festival! What luck that Off the Shelf, Sheffield’s very own Festival of Words returns this month with a host of bookish treats.
Leafing through the brochure, here’s what’s caught my eye:
The man who rather brilliantly drew David Cameron and a limp condom-head:
Steve Bell
Sat 13 Oct 2012 18:00
Showroom Cinema
In a prolific career spanning four decades Steve Bell has lampooned just about every prominent figure in the world of politics. His award winning work, including the If… strip in the Guardian newspaper, has been published and exhibited all over the world. Learn how he does it in a vividly illustrated political history of the late twentieth and early twenty first century with accompanying voice and sound effects and enjoy his ongoing mission to tear holes in the clothing of the political establishment.
A true historical tale of a tuneful eunuch and his ballsy wife:
The Castrato and His Wife with Helen Berry
Sun 14 Oct 2012 14:00
Museums Sheffield: Weston Park
Opera singer Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci, was one of the most famous celebrities of the eighteenth century. Mozart and Bach composed for him. He was also a castrato. Despite this
women flocked to his concerts finding him irresistible, including his young singing pupil Dorothea Maunsell who eloped with him.
A heady brew of passionate female authors spread over two centuries:
Sex, Race and Class: Jean Rhys and the Brontes
Thu 18 Oct 2012 18:30
Quaker Meeting House
Selma James, women’s rights and anti-racist campaigner, is an inspiring speaker. In her anthology Sex, Race and Class – the Perspective of Winning: A Selection of Writings 1952-2011 she uncovers sex, race and class as the thorny themes of Jean Rhys and the Brontës.
Beer-fuelled gibberish:
An Evening Of Nonsense: Jabberwockies & Jumblies
Sun 21 Oct 2012 19:30
DAda
An evening of the nonsensical, absurd and joyous hosted by Matt Black, Derbyshire Poet Laureate. Revel in classic nonsense, including Lewis Carroll,Spike Milligan, Ogden Nash and Edward Lear in his bicentenary year. Nonsense Competition winners will read their work and you are welcome to bring your own favourite Nonsense Poem to read.
The avuncular John Mullan gets under the bodice of Jane Austen and her characters:
What Matters in Jane Austen? with John Mullan
Tue 30 Oct 2012 19:30
Union of Students’ Auditorium
Is there any sex in Austen? Which important Austen characters never speak? John Mullan shows that you can best appreciate Jane Austen’s brilliance by asking and answering some very specific questions about what goes on in her novels. What Matters in Jane Austen? explores the rituals and conventions of her fictional world and uses biographical detail and telling passages from her letters to explain episodes in her novels. An unmissable event for those who love Jane Austen’s work. John Mullan is Professor of English at UCL and weekly columnist for The Guardian.
From the poet who makes even the word poem sound lyrical in his Marsden accent:
Simon Armitage: Walking Home
Thu 1 Nov 2012 19:30
Union of Students’ Auditorium
Two years ago Simon Armitage decided to walk the gruelling 256 miles of the Pennine Way. Travelling as a ‘modern troubadour’ without a penny in his pocket, he paid his way with poetry, giving reading to those he met along his route. Walking Home describes this extraordinary journey – a story of Britain’s landscape and communities. It’s nature writing with people at its heart – a contemplative, droll and moving narrative from one of our most beloved writers.
Get further details of all events on the Off the Shelf website.
Let us know what you’re looking forward to via the comments function below.