|
NORTH WEST POET SHORT LISTED FOR TOP LITERARY AWARD
AWARD-WINNING
poet and academic Paul Farley from Lancaster University has been
short listed for poetry’s most prestigious prize. Born in Liverpool
in 1965, he is now one of poetry's rising stars.
The TS Eliot Prize 2006 has been described by the Poet Laureate,
Andrew Motion, as “the prize most poets want to win”.
The £10,000 prize is to be presented by TS Eliot’s widow, Valerie,
for the best new collection of poetry published this year. Paul
Farley, Reader in Poetry at the Department of English and Creative
Writing, is on the shortlist for his book “Tramp In Flames”
(Picador).
The Poetry Book Society announced the shortlist of ten books which
includes works by the Nobel prize-winner Seamus Heaney and the
Pulitzer prize-winner Paul Muldoon.
Paul Farley said:- “It’s an absolute honour to be in the
company of Seamus Heaney and Paul Muldoon. The TS Eliot Prize is
Britain’s most prestigious literary award and I’m pleased about
being on the shortlist.”
He studied at Chelsea School of Art before turning to poetry and he
has since published three collections of poetry to widespread
acclaim. His first collection, “The Boy From The Chemist Is
Here To See You” received many awards including the Forward
Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award and in 1999 he was named the
Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. His second collection,
“The Ice Age”, won the Whitbread Prize for Poetry in 2002.
He said:- “Writing poetry is vocational, rather than
aspirational: it’s like an itch that you have to scratch and you
know it’s going to come back again.I don’t think I’m ever satisfied
with what I’ve written. If I ever wrote something perfect, I’d give
up.
I don’t sit down to write a poem, it’s something that happens when I
get a line or a phrase in my head that nags at me and I have to
write it down. It happens when I’m doing something else and it’s not
always the right time to stop and write a poem.”
One of the judges of the TS Eliot Prize, Sean O’Brien, said he was
impressed by the quality of the poetry in the competition.
“The diversity of the shortlisted work resists simple
categorisation, offering rich pleasures and exciting challenges for
poetry lovers and newcomers alike.”
The judges will make their final decision in January.
More info.
COMPETITION LAUNCH BRINGS CHRISTMAS CHEER TO LOCAL SCHOOLS
CHRISTMAS has
come early for two local Tarleton schools with the launch of a
creative Christmas card competition by local estate agent Moving
Works.
Moving Works, based on Church Road in Tarleton, has joined forces
with All Saints Primary and Tarleton County Primary to find a new
design for its corporate Christmas card.
Children from participating schools are being asked to provide the
concept for the card that will be distributed to hundreds of Moving
Works customers and contacts across the North West.
The child behind the chosen design will also turn into Santa by
winning a sack load of computer equipment for their school
guaranteeing a merry Christmas all round!
All thirteen Moving Works branches across the North West are
participating in the competition, with each branch working with
schools local to their area. Local entries will be submitted to
Moving Works’ head office for judging with the winning design being
transformed into a card in time for mailing out in December.
Launching the competition, Managing Director of Moving Works
Georgina Cox commented:- “I want something different for our
Christmas card this year and who better to capture the magic of
Christmas than children. We are looking for a real Christmas scene
that will bring some festive cheer to everyone that receives it and
I’m confident that there is a creative child out there that can come
up with a winning design for Moving Works.”
Entry forms are being distributed to participating schools now with
entries open until 20 November 2006.
The winning card will then swing into production in time for
Christmas with a framed version being provided for the youngster
behind the concept as a memento of their achievement. |
Emap Radio Wins Liverpool FM Licence with “CityTalk”...
EMAP Radio,
part of media group Emap plc, on Thursday, 9 Novmber 2006 was
awarded the new FM local radio licence for Liverpool and will launch
“CityTalk” - the group’s first all-speech service.
Emap beat off competition from nine other applicants including UTV,
Chrysalis and GCap, to be awarded the licence by regulator Ofcom.
The licence covers an adult population (aged 15+) of approximately
1,500,000 and will be worth an estimated £20 million to Emap in
terms of revenue and commercial opportunities.
Emap already has two analogue radio services in Liverpool: Radio
City, Liverpool’s number one commercial radio service, and Magic
1548. They broadcast from the iconic Radio City Tower which
dominates Liverpool’s city centre skyline and which will also become
home to CityTalk.
Terry Smith, Chairman of Radio City, who founded the station in
1974, said:- “We are delighted at the news and it will give a
great boost to the services our two stations, Radio City and Magic,
already provide for Merseyside.
The new station will be 100 per cent speech and nothing like any
existing service in the UK. It will tackle real issues and real
emotions through the eyes of real people.
We knew we were being radical in our application and applaud Ofcom
for recognising our vision. We are now ready to create some more
great radio for the area. Work on the project starts tomorrow when
we shall start looking for people who want to be part of something
absolutely new.”
It is the second FM licence win for Emap following its successful
bid for the West Midlands FM licence, won with Kerrang! Radio, in
2003. The station will add to Emap’s portfolio of 40 existing
analogue stations covering London, the north of England, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. These complement the
group’s winning position in digital radio, owning five of the top 10
performing digital only services.
The Liverpool licence will cover the city of Liverpool and the
surrounding areas, comprising the metropolitan boroughs of Knowsley,
Sefton, St. Helens and Wirral, the Cheshire districts of Ellesmere
Port and Neston, Halton and Warrington and most parts of Flintshire
in Wales. Coverage may also include all or some parts of Chester.
CityTalk will be a compelling mix of conversation, skillfully laced
with news, sports, current affairs, comedy and local issues.
CityTalk will not be dominated by cheap phone-ins, instead it will
offer intriguing insider views, local comment, around-the-world
insight, and in-depth commentary on the biggest stories of the day
alongside the most pressing local issues.
These will be interspersed with regular ‘flagship’ programmes which
will tackle topics in a more in-depth way. These will include
‘Home from the House’, in which a local MP answers listeners’
questions; ‘Rag Mag’, a programme produced by students at
Liverpool’s John Moores University; ‘Worldwide Radio’ an hour
from an English speaking station from wherever in the world the
biggest story is that week.
There will also be lifestyle, celebrity and comedy features to
ensure a balance throughout the schedule.
In addition to the flagship shows, other regular features would
include:- ‘Lost Liverpool’ investigating the hidden gems
amongst Liverpool’s streets; ‘Battle of the Sexes’, a daily
trivia quiz; ‘Our Kid’, tackling parenting issues and ‘Pub
Spy, giving the listener the latest lowdown on the latest openings.
CityTalk will also feature regular comedy shows, business and money
features and investigations into Liverpool’s property scene.
Sport will play a key part in CityTalk’s schedule with a nightly
two-hour sports show featuring a host of local sports people for
expert debate across the whole spectrum of local sports.
Emap will also be able to call on its portfolio of experts from the
entertainment world with regular updates from journalists from the
likes of Heat, Empire and Grazia.
abyPinkStar vs. Bonnie Tyler promises to be one of the enduring
sounds of Christmas 2006...
ONE of the
UK’s most talked about rising bands combine their huge guitar disco
riffs and throat shredding vocals with one of the most iconic female
singers of modern times.
The unlikely combination came to life when BabyPinkStar played their
take of ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ as an encore at a
live performance in early 2006. The reaction grew and fans demanded
the song as the final piece of musical mayhem to signal the end of
every BabyPinkStar performance.
The band were curious to find out Bonnie’s reaction their take on
one of the most recognized songs of the last two decades. Bonnie
loved the single and immediately confirmed what fans of BabyPinkStar
had known for a long time…this was a smash hit song. Studio’s were
booked as the band came face to face with one of their musical
heroes for the first time, recording was completed the same day and
a copy was rushed to the legendary Jim Steinman for approval…not
only did he approve, he wanted a dash more BabyPinkStar disco guitar
adding!
BabyPinkStar were quickly snapped up by Stick Music Ltd and 'Total
Eclipse of the Heart' is released across Europe on 11/12/2006.
‘A musical nuclear bombshell of a record.’ Glasswerk
‘A riotous slab of Indie-disco riffarama’ Subba
Cultcha.com
Log on to Liverpool Reporter to here the bands now. |
