Preview: Words take on another meaning
The London Word Festival, Various venues, London
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Set in the East End, the inaugural London Word Festival is the latest arts event gladly to smudge literary boundaries: from poetry and blistering prose to comedy mayhem, the festival promises the unexpected and takes its cue from the surging popularity of live literature, which has carved a genre-defying niche and breathed new life into the music festival circuit.
"It spans a whole number of art forms," says Tom Chivers, who has produced the festival alongside Sam Hawkins and Marie McPartlin. "We were looking for people who were strong performers; that's a given with some of the musicians and comics, but also from the literary side of things, being a strong performer, having a certain level of engagement with the audience and also work of genuine quality was important."
Among those making their words count over 14 dates are the comedians Richard Herring, Simon Munnery, Robin Ince and Josie Long. The hip-hop legend and performance poet Saul Williams jets in to share a bill with electro-pop wordsmith Scroobius Pip, whose lyrical takes on the modern world find their perfect match in the beats of Dan Le Sac. Elsewhere, Joshua Ferris reads from his lauded satire Then We Came to the End, the Ventriloquist Band meld strange tales with broken beats, and a tie-in with Jewish Book Week, The East End Then and Now, features such luminaries as Monica Ali and Arnold Wesker, and cements the festival's sense of place.
"There's a really vibrant arts scene in the area," says Chivers, "and it does have quite a history for literature, particularly going back to the old Jewish East End. There are loads of great venues here as well. We hope that people experience something they may not even consider as literature; they could go to a night which is predominantly comedy, or predominantly music, and end up seeing a play. It's the experience of going to a seemingly conventional event and seeing it twisted."
20 February to 14 March ( www.londonwordfestival.com)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments