Autumn at The Hive
Creative Writing Series: Liz Berry
Wednesday 15 November, 6:30pm-8pm
Liz Berry is an award-winning poet and author of the critically acclaimed collections Black Country (Chatto, 2014); The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018); The Dereliction (Hercules Editions, 2021), a collaboration with artist Tom Hicks; and most recently The Home Child (Chatto, 2023), a novel in verse. Liz’s work, described as “a sooty soaring hymn to her native West Midlands” (Guardian), celebrates the landscape, history and dialect of the region. Liz has received the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and Forward Prizes. Her poem ‘Homing’, a love poem for the language of the Black Country, is part of the GCSE English syllabus. Liz is a patron of Writing West Midlands and lives in Birmingham with her family.
This event is FREE but booking is essential – book your place here.
Elgar's Worcestershire with Richard Westwood-Brookes
Thursday 16 November, 7pm-8pm
Discover more about Edward Elgar's lifelong love of Worcestershire with local Elgar expert and author Richard Westwood-Brookes. This talk will tell the story of Elgar's connections to the county, as well as what kept him coming back throughout his life to his self-proclaimed favourite place.
This event is FREE but booking is essential - book your place here.
Worcestershire Archaeology Day
Saturday 18 November, 10am-4:30pm
An annual day of eight talks celebrating and sharing recent investigations in Worcestershire, run by Explore the Past, the county Archive & Archaeology Service.
This year's talks will include:
- Body on the Bromyard Line
- Fascinating Finds of 2023
- Insights into Artefact Conservation
- Updates from the Field
Booking required - purchase day tickets here (£23) or purchase recording only tickets here (£6)
Why We Need Fantasy: Neil Gaiman in conversation
Monday 20 November, 7pm-8:30pm
This event is a live screening from The British Library.
One of the the leading fantasy writers of our time talks to Roz Kaveney.
Neil Gaiman is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and creator of books, graphic novels, short stories, film and television for all ages, including Norse Mythology, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and The View from the Cheap Seats.
Roz Kaveney is a poet and novelist living in London. She is perhaps best known for books on popular culture including Reading the Vampire, her verse translation of the poems of Catullus and her Lambda-winning trans novel Tiny Pieces of Skull.
This event is FREE but booking is essential – book your place here.
The Worlds of Terry Pratchett: Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins in conversation
Tuesday 21 November, 7pm-8:30pm
This event is a live screening from The British Library.
A special celebration of the remarkable creative life of Sir Terry Pratchett, forty years after the publication of the first Discworld novel The Colour of Magic. Soon after the book was published, it inspired a young journalist Neil Gaiman to meet Terry, beginning a long collaborative friendship that was epitomised by their joint novel Good Omens, which appeared in 1990. The TV version of Good Omens was created by Neil Gaiman, with the first season on screen in 2019 and the second earlier this year.
Neil is joined by Terry Pratchett’s biographer and former assistant Rob Wilkins, in a conversation hosted by Kat Brown.
This event is FREE but booking is essential – book your place here.
Creative Writing Series: Luke Wright's Silver Jubilee
Wednesday 29 November, 6:30pm-8pm
Wright does what a poet does best and takes a deep dive into himself. What follows is his most confessional show to date. Wright was adopted as a baby and grew up believing that his adoption “wasn’t a big thing.” But one night he idly stumbled across his birth mother on Facebook. This window to a world that might have been his has thrown up deep questions about privilege, familial love, and destiny. This show is an excavation of lives lived and not lived.
Wright navigates his audience through a warm and honest hour of poems and stand-up with the directness and pathos that has made him one of the most popular live poets in England. With some wild experiments in form, a nervous kitten called Sir John Betjeman and a healthy smattering of drum n bass, Wright manages to navigate some heart-wrenching material and keep the laughs coming. “Luke is on fire! A poetic interrogation of himself, who he is and where he is from that leaves you tenderised and bruised and with a little something in your eye.” Mark Thomas
This event is FREE but booking is essential – book your place here.