Urban Folk Festival

Manchester Literature Festival was delighted to be part of this year’s New Islington Urban Folk Festival on Saturday 1st September, 2 - 8pm. If you were thinking of a day of earnest, finger-in-the-ear music - you were forced to think again! This was the city’s newest and most unusual event, featuring the best in urban music, poetry, film and graffiti art plus lots of interactive activities that kept the whole family entertained. And thanks to New East Manchester, English Partnerships and Urban Splash it was a completely free event!

In association with Literature Northwest, Manchester Literature Festival showcased the best of Manchester’s poets, story writers and filmmakers plus VJ Deyan Taykov in the Spoken Image Live Literature and Film Tent. Legendary poets, Lemn Sissay and Anthony Joseph joined some of the North’s best wordsmiths with premieres of specially commissioned film-poems from Manchester’s most exciting young filmmakers. It also hosted the Independent Book Market, where you could find the best novels, magazines, poetry collections, comics and graphic novels courtesy of the region’s diverse independent presses.

Lemn Sissay is the author of four poetry collections, including The Emperor's Watchmaker (2000), makes a welcome return to the city. Lemn has written and produced several stage plays, including Something Dark (2005) and presented many TV and Radio programmes, such as the first National Poetry Slam in 2005. His work has also featured in various short films including the British Film Institute Channel Four Films sponsored, The Elevator. He has been commissioned to write poems by various bodies including the World Service and his landmark poems appear on buildings and in the streets of Manchester.

Anthony Joseph is a Trinidadian-born poet, novelist, musician and lecturer dubbed ‘The leader of the black avant garde’. He is the author of two poetry collections: Desafinado (1994) and Teragaton (1997). In 2004 he was selected by the Arts Council of England for the historic ‘Great Day’ photo as one of fifty Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to contemporary British literature. He performs internationally, solo and with his afro-jazz quintet The Spasm Band. His new book The African Origins of UFOs is published by Salt Publishing.

Other writers appearing in the Live Literature tent include: David Gaffney, Akiel 'Scorcher' Chinelo & Anwen Lewis, Ben Mellor, Frisko, John Siddique, Michelle Scally Clarke, Gaia Holmes, Martyn Bedford, David Barnett, Martin Stannage, Anna Tuck, John Hall, Zahid Hussain, Neil Campbell, Anna Ball, Zoe Lambert and compere Chloe Poems.

The New Islington Urban Folk Festival is coordinated by Ear to the Ground – for full details visit: www.urban-folk.com