The Short of It: Short Story Writing for Beginners
If you’ve been staring at a blank page ever since you can remember, with little to no idea on how to begin creating your first short story masterpiece, then blame writers’ block no longer, my friend. Waterstones to the rescue. Well, development editor, Victoria Villasenor, to the rescue, to be precise. Ms Villasenor works for a big cheese publishing house in the Big Apple, and also runs social enterprise, Global Words. So she’s kind of a big deal. And she’s offering to impart her shiny pearls of wisdom to you lot in a four week course starting this week. It’ll set you back just over seventy quid, but you’ll learn what you need in the toolkit to create a proper interesting short story. Worth splashing the cash on in our humble opinion.
Thursday 8 September, 1pm, £75, Waterstones
Ryan Quigley Quintet
Well, well, well. What have we here then? A spot of top-of-the-range, sexy, sultry jazz played by world class musicians purely for our listening pleasure? Don’t mind if we do. If this one’s a bit of you an’ all, make sure you clear the schedule and pop down to Bonington Theatre to catch the Ryan Quigley Quintet doing what they do best. Playing the trumpet alongside Paul Booth on tenor sax, Geoff Keezer on the keys, Michael Janish on bass and Clarence Penn bashing abaht on the drums, Mr Quigley is bringing us an evening of proper swinging jazz to get you right in the mood. Don’t worry about trying to score a babysitter, either, cos the kids are welcome to come along for free. They’ve literally thought of everything.
Thursday 8 September, 8pm, £5/£10/£12, kids go free, Bonington Theatre
Scalarama
Every September, cinema screens all over the world get taken over by some of the best films about: Scalarama time. For the whole month, flick lovers unite to deliver the fruits of upcoming talent and old reliables alike, and have a good old chinwag all in the same breath. Yep, film organisations of every sort are pumped up and ready to screen the good stuff. In Nottingham, we’ve got a few bangers to please the eyeballs. This Friday, Nottingham Writers’ Studio will be screening Bukowski’s Barfly thanks to Film Exchange – where Mickey Rourke plays our Charles’ famous drinking champion Henry Chinaski. Apparently, the film is right up the road of anyone who loves making stuff, drinking, watching films and other fun activities, but has found life keeps getting in the way. So all of you lot, then. It’s bring your own booze, naturally.
Friday 9 September, 7.30pm, £3/£4, Nottingham Writers’ Studio
Jam of the Year: Celebrating Prince
Earlier this year, we mourned the loss of pop royalty when Prince passed away. The purple-clad legend of the soul-pop scene left us for the big disco in the sky back in April, and it’s safe to say we’re still not over it. Another bunch who are feeling the loss are Himmah, the local social justice organisation seeking to encourage racial equality and eradicate poverty. To celebrate the life of one of our best loved artists, Himmah are throwing an almighty bash in honour of the main man himself. Expect non-stop tunez, courtesy of the soul man himself, and you’re all invited to dress up in your best purple, Prince-inspired get up. All money raised from the event will go to Himmah Food Bank, so you can have a rip roaring night and a warm fuzzy feeling, knowing you’re helping someone in need. It’s a win win situation, really.
Friday 9 September, 8pm, £5, The Chameleon
Nottingham Mela
It makes us positively fit to burst with pride when the city comes together to celebrate different cultures. This month, Nottingham Mela is back. A massive celebration of South Asian culture sees music, film and dance brimming from some of the best venues in our city for three whole days, with all sorts of activities going on to suit anyone and everyone. The Playhouse plays host to the grand opening, with experimental dancer Kali Chandrasegaram and tabla artist Mendi creating a unique showcase right in front of that lovely Sky Mirror. Head over to New Art Exchange on Saturday to absorb Achuthan Sripathmanathan’s violin playing, and get involved in some family-friendly shadow puppet and yoga workshops. There’ll be some top notch scran on offer, as well as the chance to get yourself a henna tattoo. On Sunday, you’re invited up to the castle for a huge celebration topped with a procession of dhol drummers, the Afro-Caribbean-Bengali dub fusion sounds of Sooth Sayers, and the Manushi Dance Company. Shakti Dance will also be there, delivering the best of Bollywood and bhangra dance styles. The whole festival is made possible by Nottingham Mela Network, New Art Exchange, and Nottingham Asian Arts Council – thanks you lot. We can’t wait.
Friday 9 - Sunday 11 September, free, Nottingham Playhouse, Castle and NAE
Nottingham World Music Festival
What’s that? A mammoth combination of world music, food and family-friendly workshops? Another huge celebration of the diverse multicultural city we live in? Buzzing. Count us in. If you wanna join us, get down to The Chase Neighbourhood Centre in good owd St Ann’s to sample the best in world music at a festival brought to you by Nomad Notts. The likes of Nottingham School of Samba will be bringing a little slice of Brazilian charm to the proceedings, Nachda Sansaar are bringing the bhangra party, and Notts fave Blessing Magore will see you swiftly through the day. For those of you feeling a bit flaily, Zumba with Charm is the answer to your prayers, with a no-judgement, beginner-oriented fitness session to get stuck into. There’s also proper, hot scran and the opportunity to get right stuck in to the masses of free workshops on offer..
Saturday 10 September, free, The Chase Neighbourhood Centre
DH Lawrence Birthday Roots Festival
We don’t half go mad for the Eastwood lad who brought us one of the sexiest novels of all time – Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In fact, us Hoodtowners love him so much, we’ve decided to throw a birthday party for him in his honour. Isn’t that nice of us, eh? The free festival event will take place at various different venues across the writer’s old stomping ground of Eastwood, and sees a heap of your favourite local acts turning out to serenade you in style. Catch the likes of Jasmin Issaka, Brett Sinclair and Tash Bird doing their thing for the poet. There’s even a double decker bus running to and from the festival throughout the day, for a bargain price of a fiver.
Saturday 10 September, 1pm, free, Eastwood
Green Festival
We’ve got to make the most of this lovely weather while we can, and what better way than getting down to the Arb for a bit of Green Festival action? There’ll be stalls full of information, artwork to buy and some lovely vegan foodstuffs. Plus, the bandstand is gonna be packed to the brim with local acts – from musicians, to poets, and even a short play looking at the plight of today’s social housing tenants. Expect the likes of Motormouf, Phoenix Samba, Seven Little Sisters, Bendigo, Andy Spzuk, Rhythmical Mike, our own Bridie Squires, and loads more. The whole festival is all about getting clued up on social and ethical issues, especially protecting the environment. There’ll be loads of fun things for the kiddywinks to do, and with a party so full of colour, they’ll be bleddy mesmerised.
Sunday 11 September, 12pm, free, The Arboretum
For the full motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensive Nottingham events listings.
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