Tindal authors on World Book Night

A bunch of Tindal Street Fiction Group authors will be chatting about books, inspiration and the fabness of World Book Night at Solihull Library on Monday 23 April, 2012 – 6-8pm.

Come and enjoy the literary stylings of Fiona Joseph, Gaynor Arnold, Andrew Killeen, Sybil Ruth, Amanda Smyth – and me. Tickets are free but need to be booked here. And Fiona has set up a Facebook page for the event here.

Coventry LitFest

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On Wednesday February 17th I will, once again, be joining the novelist Amanda Smyth at Coventry University to give a talk entitled “How I Write”.

Ours is the first talk in a 3-day series for Coventry Conversations. This time however, the formula has been extended to create a mini Literature Festival. The speakers during the week include Mr Golden Pen himself – Andrew Davies (screenwriter of films such as Pride and Prejudice, Middlemarch, Vanity Fair, Wives and Daughters and Tipping the Velvet) and Nick Walker – whose novel Black Box was considered one of the year’s outstanding debuts in 2005.

All the talks are free and open to all, and take place at 13.00pm in Room ETG34, Ellen Terry Building, Coventry University, Jordan Well, Coventry.

• 17th February: Mez Packer and Amanda Smyth
• 18th February: Andrew Davies
• 19th February: Nick Walker

Open Book

Jean Rhys

Amanda Smyth’s novel Black Rock was on Open Book last week (I’ve been busy, so this comes late unfortunately) but thank the Lord for iplayer – because you can listen to it here.

Amanda was in Trinidad at the time the programme went out and the line from the Caribbean was too ‘crackly’ to include her in the final package – but the Jean Rhys dedicated section includes a discussion her novel.

Mez Packer podcast

Mez Packer and Amanda Smyth discuss their novels, Among Thieves and Black Rock, with John Mair as part of the Coventry Literary Festival – in conjunction with Coventry Conversations.

Click on the audio icon below to listen now:

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Amanda Smyth gets Oprah endorsement

Amanda Smyth’s debut novel Black Rock – is being published in the US as Lime Tree Can’t Bear Orange and has been picked as one of Oprah Winfrey’s Summer Reads.

Amanda’s novel is listed as one of this summer’s  25 books you can’t put down.

You can meet Amanda and hear her reading from her novel at the Oxfam Bookfest event in Leamington Spa on July 6th 2009.

Bookfest update

Amanda Smyth has confirmed for the Oxfam Bookfest gig on July 6th. This will be an informal ‘meet the authors’ session with readings and conversation and wine! All are welcome. SIGN UP ON FACEBOOK FOR THIS EVENT.

Check the Oxfam Bookfest website for more information about events in your area.

Talking Books Oxfam Bookfest

After their success at Coventry Conversations,  Mez Packer and Amanda Smyth are planning another joint gig for July 2009. Amanda Smyth has not confirmed yet, but an evening with both authors looks set to go ahead on Monday 6th July.
The event is part of the Talking Books Oxfam Bookfest fortnight, which aims to showcase the work of local authors across the country. Mez and Amanda will read from their novels (Among Thieves, Black Rock) and answer questions from the audience about their work.

Venue: Oxfam Bookshop, 51 Regent Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 5EE
This is a free event with refreshments – although audience donations (for Oxfam) will be gratefully received.

Coventry Conversation

I was joined by Amanda Smyth at Coventry University yesterday. We read from our novels (Black Rock, Among Thieves) and answered questions about discipline, process, how much a new writer makes (fuck all), how much we have invested in our creativity (stupid amounts) etc. My answers in parentheses not Amanda’s. We had a good audience and I enjoyed myself, sold some books etc. I’d gone skidding across Coventry looking for copies of our respective books to sell as Amanda’s publisher had cocked up – or someone had – and no books had arrived at the venue – to find that Waterstones in Coventry had precisely one copy of each of our novels. How sad. But it all worked out fine.

Amanda was great fun and we had coffee afterwards with a friend of my daughter’s who turned up out of the blue. I think he was rather overwhelmed as me and Amanda lit gossiped. Between us we demonstrated the six degrees of separation theory. I know one or two people of note but Amanda knows tons of people and I know people who know other people so within a couple of minutes, at two degrees of separation only, we had got to  – Andrew Motion, Catherine O’Flynn, Ali Smith and Salman Rushdie. I danced with a man who danced with a girl – you know the song?

Thanks to John Mair for organising the event – and Coventry University for a free lunch.

Podcast to follow shortly.

Mez Packer & Amanda Smyth

Publicity posters for the Coventry Conversations event on May 20th have been released. Mez Packer and Amanda Smyth will give a short talk about their work and read from their respective novels; Among Thieves and Black Rock.

The event is part of the third International Coventry Literary Festival and is followed by a professional lecture at the Herbert Art Gallery Cafe featuring Carole Angier – the award-winning biographer of Jean Rhys.

Amanda Smyth joins Mez Packer in Coventry

Amanda Smyth – debut novelist and one of Waterstone’s New Voices 2009 will join Mez Packer at Coventry University to talk about her novel Black Rock. The writers will read from their novels and answer questions from the audience.

The event takes place on Wednesday May 20th 2009 in the Ellen Terry Building, Coventry University at 1pm.

Admission: Free