Jane Talbot
Alex Cox
Jason Johnson &
Steve Cavanagh
Jan Carson & Orla McAdam
An Introduction
To Film
Crescent Arts Centre
Thursday 16 June – 1.15-2.15pm
Tickets: £7 (Incl. Light Lunch) /£5 (Event Only)
Common Grounds Cafe
Thursday 16 June - 5pm-7pm
Tickets: Free
Crescent Arts Centre
Thursday 16 June – 6pm
Tickets: £8/£6
Strand Arts Centre
Thursday 16 June – 6pm
Tickets: £6/£4
In Growing Stories Out of the Ground, Jane
Talbot will talk about how her collection
of dark faerie tales, The Faerie Thorn and
other stories grew out of some of the North
Coast’s most magical places. Jane will read
from her Edge Hill Prize longlisted collection
as well as exploring the importance of place
and the impact of the oral tradition on her
writing.
During 2016 writer, Jan Carson collaborated
with visual artist, Orla McAdam to produce
a series of images in response to the fifteen
short stories in Carson’s most recent
collection, Children’s Children (Liberties
Press, 2016). “Everything Leaves Marks”
is an attempt to explore the concepts of
legacy and inheritance. The exhibition
will run in Common Grounds throughout
the Book Festival with a showcase event
featuring live music and readings. No
booking required.
Picasso apparently said, “When critics
get together, they talk about theory.
When painters get together, they talk
about turpentine.’ Critics, academics, and
theoreticians talk theory. That is what they
know. Artists talk about their processes
in making art. This is my attempt to apply
what I know to a beginning study of film.’
Jason Johnson’s novels focus on people
facing extreme situations. Woundlicker
(2005), a serial killer’s confession. Alina
(2006), the hunt for a vanished sex worker.
His latest is Aloysius Tempo (2015), an
unkempt, maverick assassin recruited by
the Irish government.
Growing Stories
Out Of The Ground
Jane Talbot is a storyteller, writer and
lifelong fan of faerie tales. She studied
modern and medieval languages at
university, developing a special interest
in Old Norse myths and legends. Over
the last 30 years she has ranged far and
wide, travelling extensively in Europe and
following the scent of magic until it led her
to Northern Ireland in 2011. During 2016 Big
Telly Theatre Company will be developing a
new piece of physical theatre based on The
Faerie Thorn and other stories.
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Exhibition
Everything Leaves Marks
We are excited to be joined by Maverick
British Filmmaker, Alex Cox. His book is for
aspiring filmmakers, but also for students,
and for people generally interested in
grounding themselves in this particular art
form - from a filmmaker’s perspective.
Alex is responsible for directing a host
of acclaimed films from Sleep Is for
Sissies, Repo Man, Straight to Hell, Walker
and Highway Patrolman to Death and
the Compass, Revenger’s Tragedy and
Searchers 2.0. From 1987 to 1994, he
presented the acclaimed BBC TV series
‘Moviedrome’, bringing unknown or
forgotten films to new audiences.
With Gerard Brennan
‘A lean, tight thriller with a steely grip on
the attention and a plot as compulsive and
propulsive as a Jason Bourne movie...’ Irish Independent. Jason is from Enniskillen
and lives in Belfast.
In The Plea, David Child, major client of a
corrupt law firm, is arrested for murder.
The FBI ask Eddie Flynn to secure Child as
his client and force him to testify against
the firm. Eddie is convinced the man is
innocent and must prove it while keeping
his wife safe.
Steve Cavanagh is a practicing lawyer.
In 2015 he received an ACES award for
Literature. His first novel, The Defence
was longlisted for the Crime Writer’s
Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.
The Plea is his second novel.
belfastbookfestival.com
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