Not the Oxford Literary Festival announces expanded programme for its third year

The programme for the third Not the Oxford Literary Festival, which runs from March 27^th-30^th, has expanded to fill three nights. Highlights include a spoken-word showdown between some of the UK’s leading poets and short fiction writers; a novel performed in full in words and music both written by the author; and a dusk till dawn night of workshops, film, and talks by some of the UK’s most innovative publishing figures. Not the Oxford Literary Festival is hosted by The Albion Beatnik Bookstore on Walton Street, and organised by the literary project eight cuts gallery, run by award-winning Oxford-based writer Dan Holloway as an alternative to the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival held at the same time.

“The aim of the festival,” says Holloway, who won the international spoken word phenomenon Literary Death Match in 2010 and whose novel The Company of Fellows was last year voted “best Oxford novel” by the readers of Oxford’s world-famous Blackwell’s bookshop, “is to celebrate a vibrant literary underground that festival goers may not even realise exists. We will be showcasing both amazing, internationally-acclaimed local talent, and forms of literature and performance that never get onto festival programmes. We want people to go away enthused, challenged and inspired by what Oxford has to offer, and we want Oxford to be inspired by the incredible things happening at a time when so many are painting a gloomy picture of the literary world.”

Performers will include stars of the UK’s independent literary scene such as Not the Booker Prize winner Michael Stewart and one of the UK’s most celebrated flash fiction writers, Tania Hershman, and leading members of Oxford’s exciting literary scene such as Davy Mac, award-winning poet and author of The Homeless Oratorio, Lucy Ayrton, one of the current hosts of the leading poetry slam Hammer and Tongue which was born in Oxford over a decade ago, Paul Askew who edits the innovative words & pictures newspaper Ferment, and Anna Hobson, MC of the Oxford International Women’s Festival Poetry Night. There will also be talks and readings from those at the leading edge of the current self- and e-publishing revolution: Philistine Press is an international underground publisher that gives all its work away for free, whilst Authors Electric is a collective of traditionally published writers who have turned to self-publishing their work digitally, represented by Oxford author Dennis Hamley whose children’s and young adult books have been delighting readers for decades.

Full details can be found at http://eightcuts.com

For interviews, articles, and further information, e-mail eightcutsgallery@googlemail.com