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SPIT-LIT 2003  -  celebrating women’s writing

 
SPIT-LIT celebrates women’s writing:  Located in Spitalfields, East London, this highly accessible literary festival sets out to explore contemporary issues amd genres with an international line-up of novelists, journalists, poets, playwrights, comics and musicians.

Festival writers include:  Rose Tremain, Stella Duffy, Barbara Trapido, Alison Weir, Kate Adie, Wendy Cope, Kadija Sesay, Buchi Emecheta, Ghada Karmi, Irma Kurtz, Bonnie Greer, Polly Toynbee, Zaheda Ahmad, Shamim Azad, Michele Roberts, Sarah Dunant, Yasmin Alibhai Brown……..

In addition:  there’s performance poetry with Apples and Snakes, comedy and a lively debate on Feminism in the Age of Genetics.  A series of writing workshops provides an excellent opportunity for you to focus on your creativity.
 
Tickets are available from Alternative Arts on 020 7247 2584  -  http://www.alternativearts.co.uk
 
Programme Outline
Sunday 2 March
  Spitz Gallery 109 Commercial Street E1
11.00am :  FESTIVAL LAUNCH
Opening of "Birthplace" exhibition by Women Photographers
Harmeet Chagger, Asimina Giagoudaki, Annette Heyer, Michele Lazenby, Mari Mahr, Heather McDonough.
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
2.30pm :  Women on Love ‘Strictly Casual’ with editor Amy Prior and contributors Bonnie Greer and Julia Bell.
4.00pm :  An Audience with Rose Tremain
5.30pm :  An Audience with Wendy Cope
7.00pm :  Fatima Kelleher, Leona Neat, Stacy Makishi, Aoife Mannix.
Monday 3 March
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
7.00pm :  An Audience with Grace Nichols from Guyana
8:30pm :  An Evening with Black Women Writers Cheryl Martin, Carol Russell, Andrea Enisuoh, Maureen Roberts - introduced by Kadija Sesay
Tuesday 4 March
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
7.00pm :  Getting Out of the Box Stella Duffy, Manda Scott and Charlotte Mendelson discuss being a writer and a lesbian.
8:30pm :  The Second Oldest Profession written & performed by Ambush Theatre. Exploring the lives of actresses from 1660, when women were finally allowed to wear the frocks on stage, through the Victorian era to the present day.
Wednesday 5 March
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
7.00pm :  An Audience with Polly Toynbee, Guardian journalist, discusses her new book ‘Hard Work’- Life in Low Pay Britain.
8.30pm :  SPIT-STORIES An evening of storytelling with Jan Blake (Jamaican), Helen East (Icelandic), Pamela Marr (Jewish), Vergine Gulbenkian (Armenian), Pascale Konyn (Mauritian) and Sally Pomme Clayton (English).
Thursday 6 March
  Kobi Nazrul Centre, Hanbury Street, E1
5.00pm :  An Evening with Asian Women Writers with Professor Zaheda Ahmad PhD historian & writer from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Renu Luthfa, Taslima Rana, Moha Maya Shil and Nargis Ara Khatun. Admission Free
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
7.00pm :  In Conversation Alison Weir & Delia Jarrat Macauley on writing biography.
8.30pm :  Race Matters, or does it? Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Oona King MP, Maggie Gee, Susan Mumbua Franq and Dr Zaheda Amad discuss race and displacement.
10.00pm :  The Late Show Barb Jungr in Barb, Bob & Brel.
Friday 7 March
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
7.00pm :  An Audience with Bernice Rubens
8.30pm :  An Evening with Carol Grimes and Her Band
Saturday 8 March
  Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street E1
12.30 – 2pm THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY LUNCH with guest speaker Kate Adie OBE Tkts £8
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
2.30pm :  An Audience with Barbara Trapido
4.00pm :  An Audience with Ghada Karmi
5.30pm :  An Audience with Irma Kurtz
7.00pm :  Finding Feminism with Michele Roberts and Sarah Dunant
8.30pm :  SPIT-LIT Comedy Night starring Donna McPhail, Jo Caulfield, Nina Conti, Ria Lena & Hils Barker.  Plus DJs The Chalkwell Ladies Tkts £8/£6 concs
  The Brady Arts and Community Centre 192 – 196 Hanbury Street E1
2.00 – 6pm Bengali Book Fair and
Women's Fair with stalls from women's groups etc.  
Adm Free.
2.30pm :  Storytelling for children with Carol Sherman. Adm Free.
6.00pm :  Bengali Women’s Celebration arranged by Shamim Azad and Khadija Rahman with Shaheen Westcombe, Monju Mahid, Saleha Choudhury and Shahin Zaman and the World Literature Centre. Adm Free.
Sunday 9 March
  Upstairs at The Spitz 109 Commercial Street E1
2.00pm :  In Conversation with Melanie McGrath and Diane Atkinson
3.30pm :  The SPIT-LIT DEBATE Feminism in the Age of Genetics with Lisa Appignanesi, Agnes Fletcher, Ann Furedi, Josephine Quintaville and Ellie Lee. Co-ordinated by The Institute of Ideas.
5.30pm :  In Conversation with Louisa Waugh and Sarah Wheeler
7.00pm :  WOMANSPEAK bringing together talented new artists from the creative writIng and performing workshops run by Stacy Makishi and Aoife Mannix of Apples and Snakes for SPIT-LIT.
  Programme may be subject to alteration
TICKETS: £6/£4 concs (except where indicated)
Special Double Ticket for 2 events on same day £8/£6
(except IWD Lunch and Comedy Night 8 March)
Bookings 020 7247 2584

WRITING WORKSHOPS  -  Places must be booked in advance 020 7247 2584
Tuesday 4 March
   The Women’s Library, Old Castle Street E1
11.00am–1.00pm : 
& 2.00pm –4.00pm : 
Mistressclass with Buchi Emecheta
£10/£6 concs
   The Brady Arts Centre, Hanbury Street E1
2.30 – 4.30pm :  Playwriting and Performance with Ambush Theatre £5/£3 concs
Wednesday 5 March
   The Women’s Library, Old Castle Street E1
2.30 – 4.30pm :  Creating HerStories with Kadija Sesay £5/£3 concs
   The Brady Arts Centre, Hanbury Street E1
10.30am –1.00pm : 
& 2.00pm –4.30pm : 
Poetry and Performance with Apples and Snakes
£10/£6 concs
Thursday 6 March
   The Women’s Library, Old Castle Street E1
2.30 – 4.30pm :  Creative Writing with Sally Pomme Clayton £5/£3 concs
Friday 7 March
   The Women’s Library, Old Castle Street E1
2.30 – 4.30pm :  Getting Published with Debbie Taylor of Mslexia £5/£3 concs
 

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