International Literature Forum Aberystwyth 2016
Find out more about our International Literature Forum on Audience Development to be held in Aberystwyth 15-16 April, the latest in a series of ambitious Literary Europe Live projects for 2016.
This two-day event will bring together a wide range of industry professionals: arts and culture institutions, literary organisations, festival organisers, venue programmers, publishers, translators and writers from the UK and Europe. It will offer a unique opportunity to network, debate audience development policies and share best practice in the beautiful setting of Cardigan Bay.
The programme will consist of keynote speeches, panel discussion plenaries and parallel breakout sessions, as well as public events. A Creative Europe seminar and networking opportunity is scheduled for the second day and Wales PEN Cymru will hold its AGM in conjunction with the Forum.
The Forum will also mark Literature Across Frontiers’ fifteenth anniversary and we look forward to having you join the celebration!
DEVELOPING AUDIENCES
Our focus is developing audiences for international literature. In order to promote intercultural understanding through literature and translation, we need to engage and extend audiences for international writing. This Forum will explore approaches to developing live, print and digital audiences for writing in translation, examine and highlight innovative projects and best practices and provide an opportunity to discuss the concept of audience development across different art forms and its application in the field of literature.
REGISTRATION
You can choose to register for both days of the Forum – or just one – and there are also options to select accommodation and a celebratory dinner on Saturday evening. A limited number of subsidized spaces for freelancers or individuals attending without organisational backing (at £80 for both days) are available. Email us at news@lit-across-frontiers.org if you’re interested in these places.
PROGRAMME OUTLINE
Download the full programme: International Literature Forum 2016 Official Programme
Lawrlwythwch y rhalgen lawn: Rhaglen Fforwm Llenyddiaeth Rhyngwladol 2016
Friday 15 April 2016
Two plenaries followed by breakout sessions will address the following questions and more: What do we mean by audience development? Who are the existing and potential audiences for international literature today? How and why do people engage with writing from other cultures? Is there a magic formula for maximizing attention for literature in translation? What barriers are there to engaging audiences and how can we dismantle them or overarch them? How can innovation in international literature programming and audience development be fostered and promoted? How can we achieve deeper engagement beyond commercial limitations and audience numbers imperatives? Should we challenge the emphasis on quantitative assessment of literary public-facing projects? How can we make ideas sharing and cooperation work in a time and resources-starved working environment? How can new technologies help us reach new audiences meaningfully?
Daytime Venue Friday – Aberystwyth Arts Centre
0900-0945: Registration
0945-1330: Keynote speech by Sjón (Iceland): Small Worlds – World Literature; plenary panel debate on audience development followed by three breakout sessions.
1430-1730: Methods and technologies of engagement: Showcase session followed by three breakout workshops highlighting examples of projects, programming approaches and audience development practices illustrating possible answers to the above questions. Keynote speaker: Vinutha Mallya (India).
Evening Venue Friday – National Library of Wales
2030-2200: Fflur Dafydd and fellow author Caryl Lewis speak about adapting books for the international screen audiences in the iconic setting of Dafydd’s noir thriller.
Saturday 16 April 2016
Daytime Venue – Old College, Aberystwyth University
0930-1100: Audience Development Resource: A plenary session to create a take-away menu of future visions, ideas, tools and resources for audience development.
1130: Keynote speech by award-winning author Patrick McGuinness ‘Other People’s Countries’. Supported by the Learned Society of Wales. Free to the public.
1400-1500: Creative Europe Seminar
1615-1730: Keynote speech by Jo Glanville, Director of English PEN: ‘The Price of Freedom of Speech’, chaired by Owen Sheers.
Evening Venue – Belle Vue Royal Hotel, Aberystwyth
1900-2300: Celebration Dinner to close the Forum and mark LAF’s 15th anniversary
For any queries, please contact us at news@lit-across-frontiers.org
The International Literature Forum is organised by Literature Across Frontiers as part of the Literary Europe Live project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, with support from Arts Council Wales and the Welsh Government through Creative Europe Desk UK – Wales.
