City literature festival build-up gets under way

Final preparations are under way for Wolverhampton's literary festival which will see 81 events held across 15 venues next weekend.

The first pre-festival events take place on Saturday, a week before the main event, to build excitement, organisers said.

They include a discussion on mixed heritage identity between Jassa Ahluwalia and Sathnam Sanghera, unearthing "a journey of self-discovery".

And the annual poetry slam will also take place with 15 poets going head to head at the Arena Theatre.

Georgina Cheung, festival organiser, said the poetry slam often saw people gathering outside because it was such a popular event.

She said live music events and dance performances are being held in the main festival line-up from 31 January to 2 February, inspired by ideas surrounding words.

"It's about storytelling, and engaging different types of storytellers," Ms Cheung said. "It doesn't always have to be about reading."

This year's programme includes events exploring the connection between hip hop, poetry and rap.

Live music events will look at lyricism and the use of words in music.

"And we have such amazing speakers with really powerful stories," she added.

She said they included Jordan Stephens from Rizzle Kicks discussing what it means to be a modern man in his talk headed Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs.

And journalist and broadcaster Ashley John-Baptiste will be talking about his experiences of growing up in the British care system, she added.

"At the moment we are in the midst of final bits, getting the signage up and the stage prepped," Ms Cheung said.

She said organisers had a good number of volunteers but they were always looking for more.

The aim is to make sure every venue has staff and support for ticketing and helping people to find their way, Ms Cheung said.

She said people could still get in touch to help out.

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