Line-up confirmed for the Library Theatre Company’s fifth annual re:play Festival in January 2012

The full programme has been announced for the Library Theatre Company’s re:play Festival - the unique festival which brings together the most  talked-about new theatre seen in the previous 12 months on Manchester’s fringe theatre.

The 2012 festival will be held in three completely different spaces at The Lowry in Salford - the venue’s restaurant for a show which includes a full meal, underneath the stage of the Quays Theatre, and the Lowry studio space.

The festival features six new plays and four complementary events. For more information and a full performance schedule, please visit the Library Theatre website at www.librarytheatre.com/replay.

Tickets are on sale via the Library Theatre website (www.librarytheatre.com/replay), or via Quay Tickets (www.quaytickets.com 0843 208 6010).

First Fictions First Graphic Novel Competition

Hop over to the fantastic Forbidden Planet blog to read about the first ever graphic novel competition, organised by Myriad Editions. Seven contenders have been chosen for the final shortlist from a list of seventy four submissions and the seven are:

Adam Blackman & Dylan Shipley: A Rat’s Tale
Gareth Brookes: The Black Project
Konstantinos Chrisoulis: Dryland
Hannah Eaton: Naming Monsters
Tom Eglington: Amber Sands
Thom Ferrier: The Enlightenment of Iwan James
Paula Knight: The Facts of Life

Print on Demand Technology is Here to Stay

Everyone says the e-book will take over the world—but they're wrong. Even in a world of screens, paper offers unique ways to organize and share your thoughts...


...writes Clive Thompson at Wired.com in an article about the print-on-demand Expresso Book Machine. He also shares some interesting uses for print-on-demand technology including slef publishing, personalised books and more. I love the Espresso Book Machine and can think of loads of uses for it in a library. If you to want read more about actually using one of the machines Teleread has another great post from Chris Meadows - My Expresso Book Machine Encounter which includes not to be missed print-on-demand video action.


(via Teleread)

Formatting poetry for tiny screens (ePub)

Poets know it's tricky to format poetry for eReaders and tiny mobile phone screens because of the limitations of the browsers which use specialist versions of HTML. Anything other than blank verse is very difficult to lay out. However this article from the ePubs Books Blog may be of interest to anyone attempting to publish poetry books in XHTML.


What we are going to discuss here is how to format poetry in XHTML format (which underlies EPUB) so that it looks nice on smartphone screens – that is, when many or even all of the lines do not fit the screen width. In other words, our concern is how to break poetry lines nicely....

Read the whole article over at the ePub Book Blog.

Humbug! Xmas Carolathon is treat for Dickens fans

Students and staff from The University of Manchester are bringing Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit to the masses by reading - and rereading - A Christmas Carol at different locations across the city over 10 hours tomorrow.

Organisers and Dickens fans Dr Jerome de Groot and Dr Mike Sanders from the Department of English and American Studies, hope it will be a moving experience for the readers, who are taking part to raise cash for the charity Shelter.

In the morning, the group will read the tale in full at the University, before reading selected highlights during a promenade performance along the Oxford Road. The whole story will be heard again when they arrive at the Friends' Meeting House between 2 and 5 pm before a grand finale at the Christmas Markets for yet another reading of selected highlights from 6-7.

The fund raiser follows last year’s 10-hour reading of Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost , raising over £1,000 for the RNIB. Dr Sanders said: “The idea for 'A Christmas Carol' came to Dickens during a visit to Manchester in 1843 so it's appropriate that the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future should once again be heard in the city.

“Despite being written nearly 170 years ago, Dickens' reminder of the need to make provision for the homeless, sadly, still resonates today."

Christmas musical celebration at City Library

Having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year? What you need is City Library's seasonal musical celebration.

Continuing on from the Central Library Christmas celebrations, this is the second one to be held at City Library, our temporary home on Deansgate. It's the usual popular festive mix with live music from a range of groups, which this year includes -

The Cavendish Singers
The City of Manchester Opera
The University of Manchester Gilbert and Sullivan Society
Pleiades

If you're in town shopping this Saturday, come and rest your feet, have a cuppa & a mince pie, and listen to some gorgeous Xmas music - what could be nicer? Refreshments will be served and there will be free craft activities for children.

Saturday 10  December
1pm  -  4.30pm

Becker Room, 1st Floor,
City Library,
Elliot House,
151 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 3WD

Gorgeous, gay and vegan - Dominic Berry's Wizard launch @ City Library

Much loved & admired on the Manchester poetry scene, Dominic will be launching his eagerly-awaited new poetry collection at a reading at City Library. The new collection is called Wizard and was published earlier this year by Flapjack. Dom's had an exciting time recently  - 

Winner of New York's famous Nuyorican Cafe Poetry Slam  -  June 2011
Arts Council funding to write & stage Wizard at Manchester's Contact Theatre  -  May 2011
Forthcoming tour of Wizard across the U.K.  -  2012

"An exceptional force in the poetry and spoken word scene."
John McGrath, Artistic Director, National Theatre Wales

Dom is supported by  Kieran King,  Sarah Miller and Anna McCrory

Thursday 8 December
6pm onwards

City Library,
Elliot House,
151 Deansgate,
Manchester
M3 3WD