About Us
Our Organisation
The Birmingham Book Festival was founded in 1999 and is a not for profit Company Limited Under Guarantee (Company No. 6264124). As well as running an annual literature festival it also runs an extensive ‘writers in schools’ programme (Write On! – Adventures in Writing) and undertakes year round events and activities. The Festival is managed by Midland Creative Projects Limited and is part funded by Arts Council England and Birmingham City Council.
Our Roots
The festival was set-up to encourage the city of Birmingham to engage with words – written, read or otherwise. It has evolved into a literature-focused arts organisation which recognises the value of participatory activity, inspirational thinking and creative writing. While its predominant delivery is of writing and reading based activities, it continues to pioneer unusual and innovative arts experiences which connect the West Midland with the communities in its midst.
Why We Are Different
We want to hear everybody’s voice. While we do utilise the typical literature event model, we also like to challenge it, by creating events where the ordinary, intelligent, inquisitive reader is the focus. It is our experience that the opportunity for discussion and argument – as well as reading, writing and thinking – is an arts experience that is especially important to the people of the West Midlands. It is this that, along with a desire to support the growing professional writing sector in the region, informs the spirit of our yearly programme.
Change and Commitment
We are continuously trying new ways of making reading, writing and thinking happen. We place workshops in spaces previously unexplored by the arts. We create events that connect words with other art forms and that take literature beyond the confines of the book. We have a commitment to diversity which is reflected in our programme and the sense of inclusion we aim to protect through the creation of free events. We use activities to address politics and policy, using writers to explore the issues that underpin the life of a modern region.
We put our money where our mouth is. All of the Festival team identify as readers and writers and endeavour to programme events that we are personally passionate about. We stay awake during our all-night writing workshops; we have read (and admired) the books our writers have written; we talk to our audiences and participants; we take their feedback seriously and strive to improve the Festival’s offer year on year.
Why We Are Not Hay (or Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Oxford…)
Birmingham is not easily identified as a literary city, and is very different from the towns and cities that host some of the UK’s commercially successful literary festivals. The Birmingham Book Festival doesn’t compete with these festivals: we want to be different. We offer creative use of limited resources and imaginative programming to reflect the diversity of our audiences and the urban landscape that we occupy. We work with, rather than against, the complex environment the city and the region presents.
Our Long Term Vision
We want to provide exciting and distinctive events and activities which will make Birmingham and the West Midlands a reading, writing and thinking city and region.
The Birmingham Book Festival staff members are:
- Jonathan Davidson, Artistic Director
- Sara Beadle, Programme Director
- Joanne Penn, Administrative Assistant
Midland Creative Projects Limited, Unit 116, Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham, B9 4AA. Tel: 0121 246 2770, Fax 0121 246 2771.