Is everybody reading?

During an informative talk on Leicester Art Festivals, I've learnt how such events do so much to share information and showcase local artists.

There were several speaker but I was particularly interested in what Juliet Martin had to say about the Everybody's Reading Festival.

She explained that when reports in 2009 suggested that primary schoolchildren weren't interested in books, Leicester schools got in touch with her company. They talked through ideas and Everybody's Reading was borm.

One of the many events held is 'Author's week' when children get to meet the authors of books they're encouraged to read. In 2016, 5000 children attended. Everybody's Reading has opened to a wider audience and now aims at anyone without access to a library. It's probably the greatest reading festival in the region.
 
In a light-hearted, the audience was asled how to market festivals to a wider public, and particularly to university students. A student in the audience brought up the issue that while many festivals have an educational purpose, as a student she'd choose a festival where she coold relax and neglect education for a while.
 

Megan Louise

It ends with the poem 'Home'

Taken from
 https://emmalee1.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/lost-and-found-at-write-on/

  On Monday evening Cultural Exchanges featured its first poetry launch of the week with the Welcome to Leicester anthology, and many of the featured poets came to read their contributions to the book. 

One recurring theme in these poems was diversity in Leicester. Editor Emma Lee identified this as an aim of the book. The book includes work by long-term residents, newcomers, and people who have moved away. 

In the discussion afterwards, one poet thanked Emma Lee and Ambrose Musiyiwa for the change in perspective this book offers. Leicester was once known as an unfriendly city but today it's a great place for wonderful experiences, as this book shows.

Another running theme was the comfort people found in Leicester, as shown in Malka Al-Haddad's poem 'Leicester is homeland'. And, as Emma says, she likes tthe way the anthology ends with the poem 'Home.' And the warmth and affection so many people find in Leicester was evident, not just through tehir words but through the energy of the readers and even the way their bodies moved.

The book, now in its second edition, has become a success. Reviews from Everybody's Reviewing shows that this really is a book wit hsomething for everyone.


Megan Louise

Driven to art: encountering Emma Stibbon

Emma Stibbon RA, Hverir, Iceland.
Photo taken from The Royal Academy of Arts 

Plunging straight into the interview, Theo Miller asked Emma Stibbon what inspires her work. Her response immediately conveyed her personality as she explained that she's driven most by the urge to communicate.

Emma has always had a love of drawing and an interest in changing landscapes. Both are combined in her art.

"A lot of your work could be seen as quite dark, is this what you like to create?" a member of the audience asked. Stibbon continued by explaining that Berlin, a place which has been the source for many of her works, is a beautiful and exciting city, but like any other also has real traumas. Stibbon's work is a wake-up call.

Stibbon is currently in talks with project pressure, a charity that works with artists around the world. Their aim is to give audiences a wider understanding of the world. 

Meanwhile Emma's work continues to draw her to new places. She is  excited to at the prospect of exploring the Himalayas later this year.

Megan Louise

Fine art - I need fine knowledge

It's my lack of knowledge of fine art that has led me to book for Emma Stibbon's workshop.  I want to know more about the subject, not least because I've several friends who have studied it.

Emma Stibbon has a page on the University of Brighton website, where she now teaches. This gives a timeline of her exhibitions which led to her current international profile. The video above shows an example of her work when she explored the history of places - a project which involved a field trip to Antarctica.

Stibbon's awards for her work include one from the British School at Rome. I'm excited to learn more about both fine art and Emma Stibbon. I hope that afterwards I have a wider understanding of what it is my friends do.


Megan Louise