Word is they say...

Saturday 27th January 2007

By Amanda DeAngeles

Result?

I guess the jury is still out, but my personal feelings are that this event (independently produced) for Liverpool authors to air their wares was, hmm….mostly, not bad!
W.I.T.S certainly fuelled enough imaginations to float the idea with more assistance in future.
The writers of Liverpool are a talented lot. Not just the names that spring forth first; names that have engraved the soul of the city (perhaps even as much as a 60’s local band did for music). But, I won’t mention them, as they have or have had their fame, talent, credibility, fortune and love. Let me tell you some new names instead:

Author: Joyce Scoffield - “Bidston Observatory - The Place and the People”,
(Who better than Joyce; a former employee to tell us) prepare to be enlightened.

Publisher: John Emmerson of Countyvise Publishing, Birkenhead, www.countyvise.co.uk/about.html kindly read, with permission, an excerpt of Mike McCarthy’s “Damburst-The Birkenhead Dock Disaster March 6th, 1909”.

Author: Margaret Joy Baber in fine voice told of a feline catalyst to read. This is especially for children, who would no doubt love the antics of, “Smokey the Vicarage Cat”.

Author: Alan Gibbons read an excerpt from “The Lost Boys Appreciation Society”, a novel for the teenage market, which vividly pokes at reality. A reality I feel is amiss in today’s teenage world. Alan is widely published, and he kindly gave some sound advice to other authors present. It was a pleasure to talk to you, Alan.
www.amazon.co.uk

Playwright: Paul McDermott gave us Scouse on the terraces. This piece of work was previously aired at Edinburgh’s Fringe Fest with immediate success. Paul kindly read some more for us later in the evening.

Playwright/Writer: Aidan Pilkington-Burrows had us magnetized with his “Fridge Magnate”- a miracle first public reading, which had me on the edge of my seat. Aidan also read later.

Author: Ian Carroll read from chapter one of his well-researched: “Israel/Palestine-a 4000 year history of the conflict in the Middle-East” (No less, so, if you ever wondered about the beginning, pick up the tome).

Author: Peter Farrer gave us readings of letters he has found dating back to Victorian times - with reference to, of all things, cross-dressing! Perhaps the Queen would have been highly amused to read this extensive and strange compilation of boys’ fears of wearing corsets! www.gender.org.uk/conf/1998/farrar.htm

Some from my first novel “Momentum”
Sorry, ladies: I broke the code and told about when girls gather to gossip in the bathroom at a house party. Pure fiction, of course! Amanda DeAngeles

Author: Anthony Aldridge “Whatever Turns You On”, kindly let Margaret Joy Baber read a characteristically funny excerpt from one of his many novels. A Liverpudlian Dickens quietly and deservedly awaits collection from a bookshelf.

Author: Mick Moss “CH CH CH” read a highly descriptive account of a young man's rite of passage - through adventures with sex, drugs, rock n roll and crime. Fiction based on fact.
This and another book “OW OW OW” are available at: www.littlelemur.com/little_lemur_books.htm

Author: Robert Carlisle (not the actor, sorry Rob, I’m sure you’re sick of the tag) – yeah, watch out for this young man, who allowed me to read an excerpt from his novel “Betrayal of Kin”. I felt honoured to read his words and wished that I had written them.

Author/Playwright: Aidan Pilkington-Burrows, shared some of his novel, “God’s Tear”, something we could allow to wash over us all.

Author: Adele Cosgrove-Bray, read a gothic-style piece of written-work, complete with a chunk of fantastic reality. Watch-out for “Tamsin”!

Poet/Author: David Bateman’s spoof thriller. David read with paramount eloquence and intellect, “The Sarga of Harry the Hand” had us most entertaineded. I was thrilleded to listen.

I ended the city-wide literary sessions with an excerpt from my novel-in-progress, “Reflection”. See www.amandadeangeles.net for more information, or email quoting ‘WITS’ in the subject field
seraphrenology.books@yahoo.co.uk

Thank you to all musicians who took part. In my book, these people are already stars:
Rob Clarke, Virginia Haze, Neil Campbell, Stephen Langstaff, Alun Parry & Stuart Todd.

You may find a link to all of the above musicians at: www.myspace.com/amandadeangeles
Take your time to listen to any of my local, musical friends, or else go to see them play live in the pool, and don’t forget to buy some CD’s!

Many thanks to anyone who assisted with Word Is They Say . . . either in providing space to host the reading sessions or giving pre-event promotion.

Last, but not least, I owe special gratitude to Eddie Ranking, my chauffeur, assistant and guru of bright darkness www.luxdesigns.piczo.com

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