Autumn in Newham

Autumn's come, although it seems as though it's been with us for many months, perhaps since last autumn!

But hey, lets not let the weather get us down, eh, especially as I've got some exciting events coming up as part of my residency here in Newham in association with Spread the Word.

Firstly though, I managed to attend the launch of the 52nd London Film Festival. I attend the festival each year to write about and see what's smoking on the silver screen, and just as the smoke signals had been saying for much of the year, no bonfires combusted under my seat when I saw what was on offer.

However a couple of films did catch my eye and I'll be looking forward to catching them: from the UK, Nick Moran's Telstar, adapted from a play seen here in London (but not by me... busy, you know what I mean?) and artist Steve McQueen's directorial debut about Bobby Sands' hunger strike in the Maze Prison in the 80's, poignantly called Hunger.

I also wanna catch Tyson, the much vaunted documentary about the troubled pugilist which made an impact in Cannes earlier this year (probably because the over-painted bruiser mooched around the Croisette wearing his scowl and penal history firmly tatted on his character) and one can't not see a Steven Soderbergh picture, Che... even though this one's about Che Guevara (a not too underdone screen icon) it's apparently produced in an interesting way (split in 2 halves) and features Benicio del Toro as the iconographic/photographic/legendary lead.

Two other films really grab my attention: The Baader Meinhof Complex directed by Uli Edel, especially because the recent crop of German soul-searching films (Downfall, The lives Of Others) have been so gooood! And Italian film Il Divo which looks a fascinating study of the topsy-turvy world of Italian politics. [I might also go and check out 1 2 3 4 directed by Giles Borg... only cos my mate's an agent and one of his clients is the lead]

Now what's happening in the east of The Smoke you may ask? Well, American author, Candace Allen, eloquent writer of the book, Valaida, will be leading a fascinating event which not only looks at her own work as novelist and screenwriter, but also explores the phenomenon of Barack Obama's race for the US Presidency. Prior to Obama's nomination Candace was in effect his UK representative for his candidacy. This event will take place in October literally 2 weeks before the US elections.

Then a few weeks later, I'm awaiting confirmation on a well known poet launching the publication of a new collection on poetry influenced by her stay in Stratford.

Then in December there is a confirmed "Meet the Author" event with Newham born playwright Georgia Fitch. Georgia has worked with the Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company as well as broadcast media with brilliant original works exploring society today and I'm relishing hearing her discuss her motivations and process.

Another project I'm really looking forward to is taking a group of elderly Newham residents on a tour of the Olympic site and the Newham Regeneration area with a view to eventually launching a writing project- am I gung-ho for this one?- and early next year I will also be working with some young folk on a film project in Canning Town alongside international organisation LIFT as well as putting together a 'Writers and the Community' event.

Recently met up with a Newham based BBC producer and discussed her popping over to Newham one afternoon to give advice to people interested in finding out more about the organisation... and it looks like we might also add to the mix by getting someone over at the competition [ITV] to come as well, which
1) is great
2) shows I'm not biased and
3) the more the merrier.

Watch this space for further details! There are tons of other things in the pipeline/planning stage which will involve authors, film, TV and poetry, especially a major writing competition but for now you'll just have to keep your ears to the ground and your eyes on the prize... or keep checking in to this blog for further updates.

Don't forget, if you're a Newham based writer you can check me out at The Gate, or if you're looking for development do check out Spread the Word, London's leading writer development agency website at http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/


see ya soon

Mark Norfolk
Writer in Residence
Newham Libraries and Arts Service


ps. One other thing before I go, any Cineastes out there, here's a clip from my first feature film, Love Is Not Enough http://www.pruzz.com/l2d051/love_is_not_enough_clip.html