Sibyl Ruth explains some of the issues involved in programming literature at mac in Birmingham.
It seems obvious that people around Birmingham should want to celebrate reading and writing as much as anywhere else in Britain. However, literary tourists ? who play a crucial role in swelling literature festival takings ? have an unfortunate habit of liking venues closer to the countryside (Hay, Ledbury, Cheltenham). mac is out of the urban hustle and bustle in one of Birmingham?s loveliest parks but is not exactly pastoral. To begin running a literature programme in 2000, developed from the Readers and Writers Festival, with a year-round cycle of events focusing on building local audiences seemed like the way for-ward.
When I started as Literature Programmer in 2000, Storytelling Café evenings were already attracting a healthy following. The events take place in a space where there?s cabaret-style seating. Pastries, coffee and wine are on offer, and aspiring storytellers take up floor spots. The success of Café nights provided some pointers in deciding how to move for-ward. I also needed to consider what else was on offer in the region. The vacuum created by the end of Readers and Writers, was filled by a city-centre Birmingham Book Festival (BBF). (The title?s significant. If ?literature? can seem an élitist term, ?book? is down-to-earth) The BBF mixes media celebrities with best-selling middlebrow authors. Further afield, Warwick Arts Centre, offers a termly programme of authors whose average sales may be lower than BBF writers, but whose cultural stature might be higher.
mac literature needed to forge a distinct identity. Out of trial-and-error, as much as forensic analysis, I?ve opted to do the following:
? Aim for informality and accessibility. This doesn?t mean dumbing down or doing ?literature lite?. It means collaborating on copy and planning, welcoming audiences and explaining the form the event will take (in the hope that this all compensates for the fact that literature events rarely come with the gorgeous print that music and theatre enjoy)
? Try to draw some of the audiences for other mac events into literature. I liaise with the Education Department on writing courses and try to attract theatregoers with performance elements
? Offer new writers a chance to participate. I?ve set up a regular poetry night, which combines readings from a guest poet with floorspots
? Find partners
? Make use of all available spaces
? Match the event to the space. A reading attended by 30, will be great in a meeting room but awful in the main auditorium.
All of which leads to my conclusion. I?ve come to believe that literature events aren?t all of a kind. They can be separated into two categories with different ? indeed, opposing ? ?selling points?. On the one hand, there is literature ?unplugged? with the excitement of people gathering together to hear a writer read and talk about their work. This enhances the experience of solitary reading. On the other, is the all-singing, all-dancing literature show, where ?More is more?. Spoken-word events often utilise other artforms such as video projection, DJ-ing, live music, movement and lighting. Here, there?s a risk of ending up with a hybrid event that pleases nobody. But at its best, this work succeeds in attracting new and more diverse audiences to literature. Lemn Sissay?s ?Something Dark? ? commissioned and produced by Apples and Snakes ? was a recent shining example of how the spoken word can be heard.
mac already has a strong reputation as a friendly and helpful venue for artists and audience alike. We?re currently embarking on a building project, which will include not only a new gallery and theatre, but also additional informal performance spaces. Five years on and I?m as excited as ever by the opportunities for literature here. n
Sibyl Ruth is Literature Programmer at mac.
t: 0121 440 4221; w: http://www.macarts.co.uk