tjunctionfestival.co.uk

is a four-day poe

try festival of rea

dings,

workshops, perfor

mances, debates,

master-classes, gu

est-lectures and

book-launches, in

cluding a dozen

poets of local, re

gional, national a

nd

international rep

utation. It is a uni

que

opportunity for lo

cal readers and

writers

to enjoy the rich

ness and divers

ity of

international con

temporary poetry,

a showcase for the bes

t of Teesside’s

own long-standing

poetry scene an

d a

celebration of th

e region’s intern

ational

history and multicultu

ral character.

T-junction

Sponsors

Events

Civic-reception

6.30pm, mima, INVIT

ED GUESTS ONLY

The Electric Ko

ol Aid Cabaret o

f

the Spoken Word

T-junction kick

s off with the legenda

ry,

high voltage pe

rformance night hos

ted by

poets Bob Beag

rie and Andy W

illoughby,

combining poetry, li

ve music and comedy.

Featuring guest

performances f

rom

Patience Ezinw

oke, Marilyn Longstaf

f

and Amir Darw

ish. 7.30pm, The Em

pire,

Corporation Roa

d, £5/£3, ages 1

4+

Events

Taking a Line fo

r a Walk

A Creative Writing walk throu

gh Middlesbrough,

past and prese

nt. All you need

is a pen,

some paper and a b

it of historical

imagination. Led b

y local poet PA M

orbid.

2.30pm (starts

at the Bottle of

Notes), FREE

John Berger

We are proud to w

elcome John Berger

to

T-junction for t

he UK launch o

f his Collected

Poems, publish

ed by Teesside’s

Smokestack

Books. A uniqu

e opportunity to

hear the

distinguished n

ovelist and critic

read and

answer questions ab

out his work. 5.3

0pm

refreshments, ev

ent starts 6pm, Teessi

de

University, Step

henson Lecture

Theatre,

Stephenson Buil

ding, off Boroug

h Road, FREE

The Black Ligh

t Engine Room

Teesside’s Blac

k Light Engine

Room

magazine hosts a

special night o

f poetry

from Black Light reg

ulars, plus spec

ial

guests Nikola M

adzirov, Nader

Hussein,

Hannah Lowe and Ta

ra Bergin. 7.30p

m,

Westgarth Social

Club, Southfield

Road,

£5/£3

Thursday 16

Friday 17

Monday 20

Sund

ay 19 Events

Poetry Master-cl

asses

Your chance to w

ork with three of our b

rilliant festival po

ets – Hannah Lo

we,

Ivana Milankov

and Riina Kataja

vuori. 10am-12 noo

n, Town Hall, £6/£4

Donny Johnny

The Teesside la

unch of A Mode

rn Don Juan: C

antos for These

Times

by Divers Hand

s. Three of the b

ook’s authors –

Bill Herbert, Ge

orge

Jowett and Andy Cr

oft – drag Byron

’s satirical anti-h

ero laughing an

d

screaming into

the twenty-first centur

y. 12.30pm, Town Hall, F

REE

Inpress Poetry

Book-fair

A chance to buy

books from indepe

ndent poetry pu

blishers includin

g

Bloodaxe, Arc, I

ron, Five Leave

s, Smokestack, Ek Zu

ban, Vane

Women, Arrowhead an

d Mudfog. 12 noon

to 5pm, Town Hall, FREE

Mushaira

An afternoon of

poetry in Urdu,

Punjabi and En

glish from local, n

ational

and internationa

l poets. All welcome. 2pm, St Mary’s Ce

ntre,

Corporation Roa

d, FREE

Mudfog

Middlesbrough pu

blisher Mudfog c

elebrates twenty yea

rs of publishing

with readings by

some of the many loca

l writers they have

helped to put

into print over tw

o decades. 4pm

, Baker Street Kit

chen, Albert Roa

d, FREE

The Crypt-Kick

er Five

T-junction ends w

ith a bang rather

than a whimper, with a poe

try-reading

from Nikola Madzirov,

Linda France, I

vana Milankov,

Sasha Dugdale

and Víctor Rod

ríguez Núñez. 7.

30pm, Town Hall Crypt, £6

/£4, ages 14+

Events

Poetry Master-cl

asses

With Tara Bergin,

Hannah Lowe, Patie

nce Ezinwoke and

Marilyn

Longstaff. 10am

, Teesside Univ

ersity, Waterhou

se Building, FRE

E

Lost in Transla

tion

Reading and pa

nel discussion a

bout poetry and

translation,

featuring Amir Darw

ish, Nikola Madzirov,

Tara Bergin, Víc

tor

Rodríguez Núñe

z, Bill Herbert a

nd Sasha Dugda

le, hosted by An

dy

Willoughby and B

ob Beagrie. 12 n

oon, Teesside U

niversity, FREE

Also T-junction poet

s are running w

orkshops and m

aster-classes

during the festi

val for students

. Special thanks

to Middlesbrough

College, Macmillan Ac

ademy and Stockton

Riverside Colle

ge.

Saturday 18 Events

Poetry Master-cl

asses

An opportunity t

o work with some of the

poets taking pa

rt in this year’s T

-junction:

Martín Espada, V

íctor Rodríguez

Núñez and

Linda France. 1

0am-12 noon, mima, £6/£4

Blue Horse

Darlington’s Van

e Women collective

launch Blue Ho

rse, the latest c

ollection

from Forward Prize short-

listed poet

and Arrowhead ed

itor Joanna Bou

lter.

12.30pm, mima, FREE

Free Verse

T-junction poet

s hand out poe

try-postcards

in central Middlesb

rough. 2pm

Jewels and Binocul

ars

A reading of poe

ms written in respon

se to

the new exhibit

ion at mima telling

the story

of jewellery design fr

om the 1960s to th

e

present day. 2.3

0pm, Jewellery Gallery,

mima, FREE

Unacknowledged

Legislators

Are poets really

the ‘unacknow

ledged

legislators’ of th

e Age? Or is Jere

my

Paxman right to say t

hat these days

poets write only

for each other?

Join our

international pa

nel as they disc

uss the

roles and respo

nsibilities of poe

ts in the

contemporary w

orld. 4-5pm, Middlesb

rough

Central Library

, FREE

Snake Diva

The launch of G

ail Henderson’s

Snake Diva

from Teesside publis

hers Ek Zuban.

5.30pm, mima, FREE

The City is Here

for You to Use

T-junction’s big

Saturday night

poetry-

reading with poem

s from John Berger, A

mir

Darwish, Martín Espada, R

iina Katajavuor

i

and Bill Herber

t. Plus music fro

m Barry Hyde

of The Futurehe

ads. 7.30pm, mima, £6/£4

Contributors

John Berger

John Berger was born

in London in

1926. A poet, no

velist, draughts

man,

film-maker, essayist a

nd critic,

he is one of the

major European

intellectuals of o

ur time, the author of

books like Ways o

f Seeing, Perman

ent

Red, To the Wed

ding, A Painter of

Our

Time, Pig Earth,

Once in Europa

, Lilac

and Flag, The Se

venth Man, The

White

Bird and Pages o

f the Wound. In 1

972

he won the James Tait B

lack Memorial

Prize and the Bo

oker Prize for h

is

novel G. In 2009

he was awarded

the Golden PEN

award by London

PEN for a lifetim

e’s contribution

to

literature. He liv

es in a village in

Haute-Savoie in

the French Alp

s.

Tara Bergin

Tara Bergin was born

in Dublin.

She moved to Englan

d in 2002 to

write a PhD on po

etry in translati

on.

She has publish

ed a book of st

ories

Russian Conver

sations, and a

collection of po

etry, This is Yar

row.

Amir Darwish

Amir Darwish was born

in Aleppo,

in Syria, in 1979

. His poems have

been widely pu

blished in the U

K

and the US; his

first full-length

collection Rand

omly Selected,

was

published in 20

13. He is curren

tly

studying for an

MS in Internationa

l

Studies at the U

niversity of Dur

ham.

Sasha Dugdale

Sasha Dugdale

was born in Suss

ex.

Between 1995 and 2

000 she worked

for the British Co

uncil in Russia,

where she set up

the Russian Ne

w

Writing Project w

ith the Royal Co

urt

Theatre. She ha

s published sev

eral

translations of

Russian poetry

and

three collection

s of her own poem

s,

Notebook, The

Estateand Red

House. She is c

urrently editor o

f

Modern Poetry

in Translation.

Martín Espada

Martín Espada was born

in Brooklyn,

New York in 1957. H

e has worked

as a bouncer, a p

rimate caretaker,

a door-to-door

encyclopaedia

salesman, a gas station

attendant

and a tenant law

yer. He has publi

shed

more than fifteen b

ooks as a poet,

editor, critic and

translator, inclu

ding

The Trouble Ba

ll, Imagine the A

ngels

of Bread, The Re

public of Poetry

(a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize),

Alabanza, Cruci

fixion in the Pla

za de

Armas, The Me

aning of the Sho

vel

and His Hands

Were Gentle: Sel

ected

Lyrics of Victor

Jara. Espada is

a

professor in the

Department of

English at the U

niversity of

Massachusetts-A

mherst.

Patience Ezinw

oke

Patience Ezinw

oke was born in

1970 in Nigeria,

where she worked

for many years for th

e British

Council. She is

currently study

ing

for a PhD at Tee

sside Universit

y.

Her books inclu

de Flowers in th

e

Ghetto, Drill, B

aby Drill and Th

e

Boy Who Believed. In 2

013 she

won the Nigerian

Author's Prize

for teen fiction

for The Lost Be

ach.

Linda France

Linda France w

as born in Wallsend,

Newcastle-upon-Tyn

e, in 1958 and

now lives near Hadr

ian’s Wall in

Northumberland

. Her books incl

ude

Red, The Gentle

ness of the Ver

y

Tall, Storyville, T

he Simultaneou

s

Dress, The Toas

t of the Kit Cat

Club, book of da

ys and You Are

Her. In 2014 she

won the National

Poetry Competition

.

W.N. Herbert

Bill Herbert was born

in Dundee

in 1961. His col

lections include

The Testament

of the Reverend

Thomas Dick, F

orked Tongue,

Cabaret McGo

nagall (shortlis

ted

for the Forward Poe

try Prize), The

Laurelude, The

Big Bumper B

ook

of Troy, Bad Sh

aman Blues and

Omnesia. He is

currently Profe

ssor

of Poetry and C

reative Writing at

Newcastle Universit

y.

Nader Hussein

Nader Hussein w

as born in 1985

in

a Palestinian ref

ugee camp in the

Lebanon. He ha

s published poe

try,

criticism and sto

ries in the Leban

ese

newspaper al akhb

ar, usually unde

r

the pseudonym

shahid aayan

(‘witness’). He is p

resently studyin

g

Psychology at T

eesside Univers

ity.

Riina Katajavuo

ri

Riina Katajavuo

ri was born in

Helsinki, Finlan

d, in 1968. She

has published n

ovels, short-sto

ry

collections, pic

ture books for

children and many coll

ections of

poetry, includin

g The Book Thi

ef,

The Full Story and Dan

cing Bear.

Her work has been tr

anslated into

more than twenty lan

guages.

Marilyn Longstaf

f

Marilyn Longstaff

lives in Darlingt

on,

where she is a m

ember of the

writing, performing and

publishing

collective Vane W

omen. Her books

include Puritan

Games, Sitting

Among the Hop

pers and Raime

nt.

Hannah Lowe

Hannah Lowe was born

in Ilford

in 1976 to an En

glish mother an

d

Jamaican-Chinese f

ather. Her

books include

The Hitcher, Ch

ick

(shortlisted for t

he Forward Priz

e)

and Long Time,

No See. She liv

es

in London.

Nikola Madzirov

Nikola Madzirov

was born in

Strumica in Macedon

ia in 1973.

He has publish

ed several prize

-

winning collectio

ns of poetry,

including Locke

d in the City,

Somewhere No

where, Relocat

ed

Stone and Remnants o

f Another

Age. His work has

been translate

d

into more than thirty la

nguages.

Ivana Milankov

Ivana Milankov

was born in 1952

,

in Belgrade, Se

rbia. She is the

author of seven

books of poetry

,

including Dinne

r with Fish and

Mirrors and a b

ook of poetical

prose. She has t

ranslated many

English and Am

erican poets int

o

Serbian, includ

ing Dickinson,

Plath, Yeats, an

d Blake. She

works as a teach

er of English

in a secondary

school.

Victor Rodrigue

z Nuñez

Víctor Rodrígue

z Núñez was born

in Havana, Cub

a in 1955. Durin

g

the eighties he

was the editor of

El Caimán Barb

udo, one of Cub

a’s

leading cultura

l magazines. He

has also worked in

Nicaragua,

Colombia, and the Uni

ted States,

where he is curre

ntly an Associa

te

Professor of Sp

anish at Kenyon

College. He has

published eigh

teen

books of poetry

, including Cay

ama,

El último a la fe

ria, Reversos, T

haw

and The Infinite

’s Ash. His poetr

y

has been transl

ated into a doz

en

languages. He i

s currently the

assistant directo

r of the Mexican

cultural journal

, La Otra.

Festival programme at a glance

Thursday 1619.30 Electric Kool Aid Cabaret The Empire £5/£3

Friday 1714.30 Taking a Line for a Walk The Bottle of Notes FREE18.00 Launch of John Berger’s Collected Poems University FREE19.30 The Black Light Engine Room Westgarth Social Club £5/£3

Saturday 1810.00 Poetry Master-classes mima £6/£412.30 Launch of Joanna Boulter’s Blue Horse mima FREE14.30 Jewels and Binoculars mima FREE16.00 Unacknowledged Legislators Central Library FREE17.30 Launch of Gail Henderson’s Snake Diva mima FREE19.30 The City is Here for You to Use mima £6/£4

Sunday 1910.00 Poetry Master-classes Middlesbrough Town Hall £6/£412.30 Launch of A Modern Don Juan Middlesbrough Town Hall FREE12.00 Inpress Poetry Book-fair Middlesbrough Town Hall FREE14.00 Mushaira St Mary’s Centre FREE16.00 Mudfog’s 20th Birthday reading Baker Street Kitchen FREE19.30 The Crypt-Kicker Five Town Hall £6/£4

Monday 2010.00 Poetry Master-classes University FREE12.00 Lost in Translation University FREE

Where to find us1. The Empire 2. Middlesbrough

Town Hall 3. St Mary’s Centre 4. Middlesbrough Central Library 5. mima 6. Baker Street Kitchen 7. Teesside University8. Westgarth Social Club

Booking informationT-junction tickets are available fromMiddlesbrough Town Hall box office by calling 01642 729729, online atwww.middlesbroughtownhallonline.co.ukor on the door.

Free events do not require tickets - entry on a first come first served basis.Concessions apply for children, students, unwaged and senior citizens.

Credit / debit card payments will incur a charge of £1 per ticket for phone or online bookings, or £1 per transaction for in-person bookings.

Weekend ticket £25/£15entry to all ticketed events - LIMITED AVAILABILITY

2 masterclass tickets £10/£6

Sat and Sun evening readings ticket £9/£5