Search 3674 free arts and humanities ejournals with JURN

JURN is a curated academic search-engine indexing 3674 free ejournals in the arts and humanities, along with other arts and scholarly journals offering free content.

You use it just like Google. JURN is running on a Google Custom Search and so you can use all the usual Google search modifiers — such as intitle:”your phrase” and filetype:pdf

Journals have been sourced from reputable hand-picked ejournal lists and every effort has been made to include online academic or art-world/literary publications displaying  clear editorial control and at least some substantial free content. (See the full list (PDF, 580kb) for all the titles).

JURN’s index was initially taken from the hand-picked ejournals list at Intute: Arts & Humanities (now defunct) and then the gaps were filled from the Directory of Open Access Journals. A further 2,500 ejournal URLs were found during nine months of additional web searching, mostly by online Google searches and also by locating and testing niche ejournal lists. All URLs are checked before being added to the site-index, to prevent duplicates.

Here's a couple more interesting answers from the JURN FAQs...

I’m pretty good at searching, why shouldn’t I just use the main Google?:   You’re welcome to. But do you then know how to remove all results from: Powerpoint files converted to PDF; academic C.V.s; syllabi; bibliographies; university course descriptions and departmental web pages; old promotional flyers for conferences; blog and mailing-list archives; junior-school “K12″ lesson plans; commercial journal abstracts; and so on?

Can’t I just use Google Scholar to access this material?:   Overwhelmingly, no. Online presentation and web archiving of open ejournals in the arts and humanities is very haphazard and inconsistent. This makes automatically building and harvesting metadata tricky or impossible, by automated methods. This is probably the reason why open ejournals in the arts and humanities are barely indexed by Google Scholar.

So there you have it, why not give JURN a try?  And while you are there take a look at the JURN blog which has some really handy posts including 'A short guide to free academic search-engines and tools, for UK students in the arts and humanities' plus other useful gems.

Hidden room discovered in Indian library...

A mysterious hidden room has been discovered during restoration work on the 250 year old Indian National Library in Alipore. The Archaeological Survey of India know the room is large, around 1000 square feet, but can't find a way in. What's inside? No one knows because it seems to have no opening of any kind, not even trapdoors. Read more over at The Times of India... 

Your library card gives you free access to full text articles from The Times of India plus hundreds more global newspapers. Just log on to NewsBank on the 24 Hour Library.

Writers @ City Library - Larissa Miller

Larissa Miller is one of Russia’s most highly regarded writers - she is famous as a poet, essayist, short story writer and novelist.

A member of the Union of Russian Writers since 1979, and of the Russian PEN Centre since 1992, she was short-listed for the 1999 State Prize of the Russian Federation.

In 2008, ARC Press published a selection of her poems entitled ‘Guests of Eternity’, translated by Richard McKane - this work was a Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation.

“Richard McKane’s clear, eloquent translations reveal poetry of extraordinary power. Even the briefest phrase can be radiant with the possibilities of ‘the unbounded earth - every moment is a mystery.’

It is humbling to learn that Larissa Miller had a harsh post-war childhood in Soviet Russia, where her dissident husband was later imprisoned.....The power of Larissa Miller’s work restores one’s faith not simply in poetry, but in life itself.” Alison Brackenbury, Poetry Review, Spring 2010

Hear Larissa reading her poetry in Russian on her website www.larisamiller.ru/english.html

For more information contact Contact Libby Tempest 0161 234 1981 or email Libby on l.tempest@manchester.gov.uk

Larissa Miller @ City Library
Wednesday 1 December at 1pm
FREE
City Library
Becker Room
Elliot House
151 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 3WD

How to make time to do creative things

At first glance Cal Newport's GCTD (Getting Creative Things Done) system seems obvious. “Block out time on my calendar for big projects,” you might think. “I've tried that.”

Creative work, however, is a subtle affair. If your mind is not in the exact right state, it’s difficult to produce high-quality results. Because of this, details matter. This is what’s important about GCTD, not the general idea of blocking out time, but the carefully-calibrated details that accompany it...

Read more about the GCTD system over at The 99%. Just common sense or is there more to it? What tips can you share with our readers for getting creative work done? Let us know in the comments...

Costa Book Awards shortlist announced

Here are the shortlists for the 2010 Costa Book Awards. The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books in five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book - published in the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. We don't have all the books in stock but you can borrow many of them from the library or reserve them from the online catalogue. The italic writing in brackets tells you what formats we have available to borrow or download or reserve.

Costa First Novel Award

Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla
The Temple-Goers by Aatish Taseer (Ebook)
Not Quite White by Simon Thirsk

Costa Novel Award

Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty (paperback, large print)
The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale (paperback, large print, mp3 spoken word)
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (paperback, large print, mp3 spoken word)
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (paperback, ebook)

Costa Biography Award

How to Live A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell
My Father's Fortune by Michael Frayn (hardback)
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal (hardback, ebook)

Costa Poetry Award

Standard Midland by Roy Fisher
The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson
Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott
New Light for the Old Dark by Sam Willetts

Costa Children's Book Award

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher (paperback)
Annexed by Sharon Dogar
Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (paperback)

Shoestring Press Poetry Launch at City Library

Join us this Monday evening for this celebratory launch of three brand new collections by three fantastic North West poets, all published by the independent and highly regarded Shoestring Press.

Tony Roberts
Outsiders

"an authentic adult voice, tender, ironic, relaxed & highly educated....a fine collection"     Al Alvarez

Peter Street

Not Caild Fireweed Fa Nowt

"combines accessible, vivid, autobiography with intimate, first-hand knowledge of the natural environment"        James McGrath

Jim Burns

Streetsinger

"Changes of tone can ambush the reader within a single poem....that blends fascination with knowingness."     Other Poetry

Introduced by John Lucas, publisher and editor of Shoestring Press.


Monday 22 November 6.30pm
FREE All Wecome, no need to book

Hint Fiction - (very) short stories

Can you tell a whole story in 25 words or fewer? Inspired by the six-word novel attributed to Ernest Hemingway — "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" — Robert Swartwood has compiled a new anthology of bite-sized fiction. Read more... 

The History of the Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuge Homes

You are invited to a talk by Liz Sykes, Archivist at the Together Trust: The ever-open door: the first fifty years of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes, 1870-1920


The Together Trust began as the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. It was set up in 1870 by Leonard Kilbee Shaw and Richard Bramwell Taylor, initially to provide boys on the street with a bed for the night and breakfast in the morning.

Over the next fifty years it established various homes for boys and girls, including Bethesda, a home for children with disabilities, a summer camp, a seaside home providing respite care, a prison gate mission and an emigration scheme to Ontario, Canada.

It also established and ran the first Manchester branch of the NSPCC and gave boys the chance of a life at sea aboard the Indefatigable, a training ship moored at Birkenhead.

Its Trustees have included John Rylands, the cotton magnate and Manchester’s first millionaire, Oliver Heywood, a banker, who has a Statue in St Albert’s Square and the Crossley brothers of Crossley Motors fame.

In 1920 many of the buildings the Refuge owned were sold and the charity moved out to the countryside in Cheadle starting the ‘Children’s Garden Village’ a new phase of work away from the city slums.

In the years preceding this 13,137 disabled, neglected and orphan children were cared for and trained for work in the Refuge’s homes, 72,322 boys were given a week’s holiday at the Summer Camp in Birkdale, 5,177 Juvenile offenders were given a second chance at the charity’s remand home and 2,192 children were given a fresh start in life in Canada through the emigration scheme. Many others were helped at various other branches.
  
Lord Shaftesbury, the famous social reformer described the homes as ‘extraordinary’ during a visit to Manchester in 1882. The charity’s history and its incredible archive that remains today gives an important insight into the social history of the Manchester and Salford area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Venue: Becker Room, First Floor, City Library, 151 Deansgate

Time/date: 2:00pm, Thursday 25 November

Free event, no booking required.

November's Poem of the Month: Manchester by Richard McDermott

November's Poem of the Month is by Richard McDermott. Richard lived and worked in Salford and Manchester for the first thirty three years of his life and he is currently a primary school teacher in Qatar. He splits himself between writing personal/inner city poetry and poems for children. This is his second success of the year following two of his poems appearing in the book - Dreesha: Glimpses of Qatar. His blog can be found at http://richardmcdermott.blogspot.com












Manchester

Back then, working class wise,
Cloth capped and carrying,
Transatlantic textile treasure,
King of the world was I.

But now, august architecture tram laced,
Dance crazed capital of culture,
Theatre thronged, gallery graced,
Northern prince with red and blue swagger.

An Evening with Jackie Kay - tonight at Chorlton Library

Join Jackie Kay tonight at Chorlton Library as part of the Chorlton Book Festival 2010. Jackie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and brought up in Glasgow. Her first collection of poetry, The Adoption Papers, was published in 1991. Jackie now lives in Manchester and in 2006, she was awarded an MBE for services to literature.

Here's a short MP3 of Jackie Kay reading from her latest book Red Dust Road.

Jackie's first novel, Trumpet, published in 1998, was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award. Other books include two collections of short stories, Why Don't You Stop Talking (2002) and Wish I Was Here (2006), a novel for children, Strawgirl (2002) and a novella, Sonata (2006). Her latest book of poems is Maw Broon Monologues (2009) which was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry .

More Poetry and prose by Jackie Kay:

The Adoption Papers (Poetry - 1991)
Other Lovers (Poetry - 1993)
Off Colour (Poetry - 1998)
Trumpet (Fiction - 1998)
The Frog who dreamed she was an Opera Singer (1998)
Two's Company (1992)
Why Don't You Stop Talking (Fiction - 2002)
Strawgirl (2002)
Life Mask (Poetry - 2005)
Wish I Was Here (Fiction - 2006)
The Lamplighter (2007)
Red Cherry Red (2007)
Darling (2007)
Maw Broon Monologues (2009) (shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry)
Red Dust Road (2010)


Jackie Kay @ Chorlton Book Festival
7pm Monday 15 November
Free
Chorlton Library
Manchester Road
Chorlton
M21 9PN
0161 227 3774

Carcanet Press invites you to the launch of Modern Canadian Poets An Anthology

Cosmopolitan, hybrid and eloquent, modern Canadian poetry is still, for many readers outside Canada, one of the great undiscovered terrains of world literature.

Join editors Evan Jones and Todd Swift  and poets Sheri Benning and David McGimpsey as they set out to end that neglect, redifining the connections between Canada and the international poetry world.

From poets born in the early years of the twentieth century to those writing in the twenty-first, Modern Canadian Poets explores a lineage of modernist, multilingual, culturally pluralist writers who have engaged with other English- and French-speaking traditions in new ways, to make a literature that is unmistakably Canadian and international.

The thirty-five poets included represent a wide spectrum of Canadian poetry of the last hundred years in its variety of styles and traditions. Among them are French Canadian poets in translations by anglophone writers, and poets from the First Nations, Caribbean-Canadian and Africadian communities.

From their vantage point as Canadian poets living outside Canada, Evan Jones and Todd Swift draw a new map of this unique literary landscape.

The launch will be preceded by a panel discussion at Manchester University, from 4-5pm.
Email evanp_jones@hotmail.com for further details.

Tuesday, 16th November, 6.30-8.00pm The Engine House, International Anthony Burgess Foundation Chorlton Mill, 3, Cambridge Street, Manchester, M1 5BY

All are welcome; admission is free. Refreshments will be provided

What's on this weekend @ the Chorlton Book Festival...

There's a packed line up this weekend for the Chorlton Book Festival....the Festival runs from 8-21 November 2010 when Chorlton will be awash with writing workshops, story times, competitions and talks at venues as diverse as a local bar, the local library and a toy shop. Now in its sixth year, the Chorlton Book Festival celebrates local talent and makes the world of books and words accessible to everyone

Horror in Chorlton with Simon Unsworth
Horror author Simon Kurt Unsworth was brought up in Chorlton, so has learned to cope with the odd and the weird. His stories have appeared in a wide range of magazines and anthologies. His first collection was Lost Places (Ash Tree Press) and his second, Strange Gateways, is out in 2012.
Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, M21 9PN - Friday 12 November, 7pm

Robert Graham Writers Workshop
The Chorlton-based author of Holy Joe and The Only Living Boy and MMU lecturer in Creative Writing shares his expertise in this practical workshop. Places are free, but limited. Call 227 3700 to book.
Lloyds Hotel, Wilbraham Road, Saturday 13 November, 11am-1pm

101 Dalmatians at Chorlton Library
Author Dodie Smith grew up in Old Trafford and Whalley Range and went to Whalley Range High! Find out the story behind The 101 Dalmatians, one of our best-loved novels, and about Dodie’s own dogs. Free fun family activities and prizes. Come in fancy dress - spotty would be good.
Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, M21 9PN, Saturday 13 November, 1.30-4pm

How to Write a Play
Charlotte Keatley is one of Manchester’s most notable writers. Her award-winning play, My Mother Said I Never Should, was named by the National Theatre as one of the Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century. It is thought to be the most widely performed play across the world by a female playwright and is a set text in schools. Charlotte, supported by Corrie’s Karen Henthorne, will demonstrate how play writing works and read her plays, including her new play.
Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, M21 9PN - Sunday 14 November, 2-4pm

An Evening with Jackie Kay Jackie Kay has written awarding-winning poetry and novels for adults and children and received an MBE for services to literature. Her most recent book, Red Dust Road, traces her experience of finding her natural parents and is full of unexpected twists, turns and deep emotion. Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, M21 9PN - Monday 15 November, 7pm

Prof Jon Stallworthy wins Wilfred Owen Poetry Prize

The Bookseller report that Professor Jon Stallworthy has won The Wilfred Owen Association Poetry Award 2010, rewarding his body of work. The prize is presented biennally to a poet whose work, including war poetry, has been sustained over a long period. Previous winners include Seamus Heaney and Harold Pinter.

Peter Owen, Wilfred Owen's nephew and president of the Wilfred Owen Association, said: "He has written war poetry and translated it, and also written books on it. His poetry has long been recognised as good war poetry. He is also a trustee of the Wilfred Owen estate, and over the years he has been extremely kind, as well as very sincere and  understanding of Wilfred's position in the pantheon of war poets."

Stallworthy's collected poems, Rounding the Horn, is published by Carcanet. He is professor emeritus of English at the University of Oxford. The prize, a specially created award in the shape of a gun barrel, will be presented at a ceremony on 13th November at Wolfson College, Oxford.

Sneak peak at new Overdrive iPhone app

Overdrive are set to release a new smartphone app in December which will make it possible to read ebooks borrowed from the library on your smartphone. The app will be released first for the iPhone in December, although we don't have a specific date yet...we'll let you know when we hear one. Watch the introductory video below...



Apps for Android and iPad will be released soon after the initial iPhone launch.

The mobile app will support OverDrive-supplied EPUB eBooks upon initial release, and will also continue to support OverDrive MP3 audiobooks.

You can take a look at the current iPhone app (ver. 1.1) here. It provides access to only MP3 audiobooks.

More app news - The Literary Review launches an app

The Literary Review has launched an app, with options for paid-for extra content. The app can be downloaded for free with selected pages from the latest issue of the 30-year-old magazine available to view as soon as it is published.

The Literary Review, which has been publishing quarterly since 1957, is known for its unique role among literary magazines of devoting entire issues to to contemporary writing from specific nations, cultures or languages.

Galaxy Award launch an iPhone app

The Galaxy National Book Awards is a brand new televised event for autumn 2010 to celebrate and promote authors and the best titles of the year.

This year the award has launched a free iPhone app, which contains full details of the 48 fiction and non-fiction books shortlisted for the awards. Users can use the app to browse, buy and find out more about the books which have been nominated for awards.

The shortlist includes books by authors and writers such as Stephen Fry, Tony Blair, Philippa Gregory, Jilly Cooper, Bill Bryson, Jamie Oliver and David Walliams, chosen by book experts for their popular appeal, critical acclaim and commercial success.

The public can vote for one of the eight finalists between November 13th and December 13th, when the winner will be announced. The awards will be televised on More4 on Saturday 13th November, followed by a 5-part TV series celebrating the best of British writing talent, which will be shown on Sundays throughout November and December until voting closes.

Weekly Poem Podcasts from the Poetry Translation Centre

The Poetry Translation Centre has launched a new series of weekly Poem Podcasts on iTunes. Every Monday listeners will be introduced to a new poem by some of the world’s best loved poets.

Each Poem Podcast is read in two languages: in its English translation followed by the poem in its original language.

Poets in the series include the immensely popular Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, who is famous in his native Sudan for his imaginative approach to poetry and the emotional frankness of his lyrics; Farzaneh Khojandi, Tajikistan’s foremost living writer, whose poetry draws on the rich traditional of Persian literature in a subversive and humorous way; and Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac ‘Gaarriye’, a superstar in the poetry-obsessed Somali community.

Each of the international poets has been co-translated by one of the foremost poets writing in English today. Commonwealth and Forward Prize winner - Jo Shapcott, TS Eliot and Forward Prize winner - Sean O’Brien, Forward Prize winner - Jamie McKendrick, Cholmondeley Award winner - Mimi Khalvati, and Whitbread winner Bernard O’Donoghue are among the list of distinguished poets who have worked with the PTC to make these exciting international poets available in English.

The Poem Podcasts are available on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/poempodcasts/id392269965

For more information about The Poetry Translation Centre, please visit their website at: www.poetrytranslation.org

Comica/Observer/Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story Prize winners announced

The annual Comica/Observer/Jonathan Cape Graphic Short Story Prize winners were announced yesterday in the Observer newspaper. The 2010 winner is Stephen Collins. His winning entry, In Room 208, was published in Sunday'sObserver. There’s a profile of Collins at The Observer website and a link to his strip.

As Forbidden Planet point out "the strip is meant to be read as a couple of double page spreads, with it’s themes and story playing across both pages, so it can be read correctly in the newspaper, but not really at The Observer’s online link. The best place to read it online is at Collins’ blog."

Don't miss issue 5 of the Manchester Review

The October edition of online arts journal, the Manchester Review, published by the University’s Centre for New Writing is now live. www.themanchesterreview.co.uk Issue five of The Manchester Review features a rare broadcast of the Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's recent sell-out event at The University of Manchester. Heaney spoke about his life and work and also read from his twelfth collection of poems Human Chain, which amongst other things deals with the onset of old age. The Manchester Review also features an interview with Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre, poetry by Pulitzer Prize winner CK Williams as well as a short story by James Robison. The Manchester Review appears each spring and autumn offering a mix of new music, public debate, visual art and video as well as fiction and poetry. It is edited by the Centre for New Writing's co-directors John McAuliffe and Ian McGuire. Please forward any submissions for the next issue of The Manchester Revew to info-cnw@manchester.ac.uk Follow the Manchester Review on Twitter... www.twitter.com/mancreview

Top names flock to Chorlton Book Festival

Poet Laureate Carol Anne Duffy, playwright Charlotte Keatley and poet and novelist Jackie Kay are some of the top literary names who will be making an appearance at this year's Chorlton Book Festival.

The Festival runs from Monday 8 until Sunday 21 November 2010 when Chorlton will be awash with writing workshops, story times, competitions and talks at venues as diverse as a local bar, the local library and a toy shop.

Now in its sixth year, the Chorlton Book Festival celebrates local talent and makes the world of books and words accessible to everyone.

Literary readings sit alongside fancy-dress for kids,while the translations of classic Buddhist texts can be enjoyed along with trying out the latest e-books, the most recent development in reading.

For more information visit www.manchester.gov.uk/chorltonbookfestival.

More bookish furniture - The Bookseat

s

Several books on the go? Can't be bothered getting up? You need the Bookseat - comes with a free cushion! Made by Fishbol.

Video: A new way to interact with fiction...

A new way to interact with fiction from Jonathan M. Guberman on Vimeo.

Poetry @ City Library - Shoestring Press

Join us for this celebratory launch of 3 brand new collections by 3 fantastic North West poets -  Jim Burns from The Street Singer, Tony Roberts from The Outsiders, and Peter Street from Not Caild Fireweed Fa Nowt (with illustrations by Kate Houghton).

All are published by the independent and highly acclaimed Shoestring Press. The evening is hosted by John Lucas, publisher and editor of Shoestring and Barry Wood, academic and critic.

“Combines accessible, vivid, autobiography with intimate, first-hand knowledge of the natural environment.”
James McGrath

“Changes of tone can ambush the reader within a single poem...that blends fascination with knowingness.”
Other Poetry

“An authentic adult voice, tender, ironic, relaxed and highly educated...a fine
collection.”
Al Alvarez

Monday 22 November 6.30pm
City Library
Elliot House, 151 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 3WD

Contact Libby Tempest  on 0161 234 1981

Novel fever takes the world by storm

At midnight on November 1, armed only with their wits, the vague outline of a story, and a ridiculous deadline, more than 200,000 people around the world, including me(!), set out to become novelists.

Why? Because November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, the world’s largest writing challenge and nonprofit literary crusade. Participants pledge to write 50,000 words in a month, starting from scratch and reaching “The End” by November 30.

There are no judges, no prizes, and entries are deleted from the server before anyone even reads them. So what’s the point? Listen to Ian Rankin and Frederick Forsythe discuss NanoWriMo on R4's Today programme with BBC iPlayer (at 2.52).


Although the event emphasizes creativity and adventure over creating a literary masterpiece, nearly 60 novels begun during NaNoWriMo have since been published, including Water for Elephants, a New York Times #1 Bestseller by Sara Gruen.

“Writing a novel in a month inspires incredible confidence in seasoned and first-time novelists alike,” says NaNoWriMo Program Director, Lindsey Grant. “Completing a draft of the novel they’ve been contemplating for ages gives participants a tremendous sense of accomplishment and leaves them wondering what else they’re capable of.”


For more information on National Novel Writing Month or to sign up visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/