After last year's successful first, THE SOUTH will be running their Brighton Poetry and Book Festival again from December 1-9 with the theme MEANINGFUL WORDS.

“With Christmas coming up it's an ideal time to think about poetry, books and reading and different present ideas” says John Davies, Director of THE SOUTH. “There's nothing better than curling up with a good book over Christmas and we aim to bring some exciting alternatives to people's attention. Unless otherwise indicated all the events take place at our regular base The Open House café/bar, 146 Springfield Road Brighton.”

Once again Irish poet Ciaran O'Driscoll will be making an exclusive UK appearance at the festival - reading his work with Brendan Cleary and Nick Burbridge at a special Irish night at The Lectern on Lewes Road on December 3, 8pm, and running his Memoir Writing Workshop at the Open House, Springfield Road on Saturday December 4, 11am-1pm. His workshop was sold out last year so it's well worth booking early.

Other major names presenting their work and running workshops include Roddy Lumsden (Dec 2), and Jane Draycott (Dec 4), Sarah Wardle (Dec 5) and Linda France and Judith Kazantzis (Dec 9) provide a special focus on women's issues and experience. Highly regarded young poet Tim Cumming will be poet in residence for the first weekend of the festival. Recently returned from the American election, Keith Stuart will present ‘Democracy Rocks' (Dec 6) and local publishers Waterloo Press and Frogmore Papers have their own nights at The Mad Hatter Café Hove (Dec 7 & 8 respectively.)

“We are very grateful for the support we are receiving for this year's festival from REMY MARTIN and local estate agents AVARDS,” says John Davies. “Local people and businesses are really supporting literature activity.”

THE SOUTH has recently launched its new friendship scheme THE SOUTH.ALN offering reduced price tickets for all events and workshops. Find out more at www.thesouth.org.uk or call 07810 272791.

Win a bottle of Remy Martin.

Log on to www.thesouth.org and fill in the online questionnaire and you could win a bottle of Remy Martin, a selection of new books and a year's subscription to THE SOUTH.ALN.

Editors: For more information contact John Davies 07740 192250 Pictures, interviews with writers and photo opportunities available if required.

Full programme follows:

THE SOUTH presents

MEANINGFUL WORDS

BRIGHTON POETRY & BOOK FESTIVAL 2004

Proudly supported by Remy Martin

Readings, workshops, talks and discussions

All events at The Open House 146 Springfield Road Brighton unless otherwise stated

1-9 December 2004

£6/£4 concs (Workshops £12/£10 concs)

1.12

7 pm Festival launch

BBC Broadcasting House, 40/42 Queens Road, Brighton

CSV Media Clubhouse Brighton offers a drop in cyber cafe and state of the art media production facilities in the Learning Zone.

We'll be celebrating a year of achievement that has involved many emerging writers and poets

2.12

2 pm Roddy Lumsden Advanced Poetry Workshop

A unique opportunity for experienced poets to work with one of Britain's liveliest and most inventive poets.

8 pm Reading: Roddy Lumsden Tim Cumming Gareth Jones Bernadette Cremin

Contemporary poetry of the finest quality. "Lumsden is a brilliant vivisector and pathologist of the contemporary relationship" (Alan Warner, Scotsman). "One of the most intriguing voices...alternatingly roguish, curmudgeonly, insecure, and tender" (Monique Tschofen, New Delta Review).

Tim Cumming "has the knack of mixing streetwise attitude with occasional jolts of surreal eloquence and the combination is magic" (Steve Spence, Scene), his poems "bristle with our fight against disillusionment and alienation."

Presenting her work with a cello accompaniment and showing her Project poetry! commission, Bernadette Cremin's passionate theatrical performances are spellbinding.

A regular on the London poetry circuit and author of the prose and photos book "Shed Men", Gareth Jones is a distinctively captivating new voice.

3.12

2-5 pm Tim Cumming Workshop

Work your poems with the help of Tim's expert editorial eye and encouraging workshop technique

Over the first weekend of the festival we're delighted that Tim Cumming will be our poet in residence

7 pm RAG Roundabout Worthing: Readings by members of West Sussex Writers' Club and Dan Thompson launching Worthing Artists & Makers at St Matthew's Associated event kindly facilitated by RAG The evening will be compered by poet Steve Carroll. For more information call RAG on 01903 709471, email rag@artistsandmakers.com or log on to the website, www.artistsandmakers.com .

8 pm Irish Knights (All tickets £3)

The Lectern, Lewes Road (opposite B&Q) Brighton (Late licence 1 am)

In association with Brighton Irish Arts Network.

A welcome return for the star of last year's festival Ciaran O'Driscoll in an exclusive UK appearance. Plus the legendary Brendan Cleary and words and music from Nick Burbridge.

Ciaran O'Driscoll's poetry has a special music all its own and "is sharp, lively and intelligent." (Eilean Ni Chuilleanain) He writes "with love and humour" and also penned our favourite poem ‘The Myth of The South':

"It is true that in the South there is, in general,

an absence of agency - I mean of the efficient sort.

Things somehow get done, if you know what I mean.

But things could just as easily not get done."

Uncompromising and honest, Brendan Cleary ("Hank Williams on acid." Harry Novak) continues to strike at raw nerves and demonstrates how poetry is a vital and haunting force. Tragic, sad, but darkly comic, his poems speak for the dispossessed, the bedsit dwellers, the losers in love.

As a writer of prose and poetry, Nick Burbridge has continually concerned himself with life at the margins, offering a provocative blend of black humour and compassion. His style is lucid and articulate, but without literary pretensions: 'an accomplished if controversial writer.'(Avant) As singer-songwriter, he co-founded McDermott's Two Hours, a band that 'cut the mustard' (Q Magazine), and earned a reputation as one of the best live acts of its genre

4.12

11 am - 1pm Ciaran O'Driscoll Memoir Workshop

In his lyrical, affecting, and at times darkly comical memoir of his childhood, 'A Runner Among Falling Leaves', Ciaran O'Driscoll eloquently examines his troubled relationship with his father, whose bullying and mental abuse have affected him profoundly throughout his life. The task the author has undertaken is to give voice to the voiceless: to express the unnerving pent-up emotions he was unable to show as a child. '... at the heart of the book is a deeply affecting, traumatic relationship between father and son. His writing is terrifying and like no other memoir I have read.' Thomas Kilroy

The overall purpose of the workshop is to raise awareness in readers and writers of the viability of the memoir as a literary form, and to encourage those who feel they have stories to tell.

2-3.45 pm Jane Draycott Workshop

Develop your own work with one of today's virtuoso poets

4 pm Jane Draycott Reading

After a brilliant reading in 2003 we've invited Jane back to read from her new collection 'The Night Tree' (Carcanet/Oxford 2004) and present some of her sound work. Jane has recently created sound montages with London's working watermen. Other collaborative work includes audio-montages with Elizabeth James for Radio 3, LBC and the web, and the Online/Offline Project 2004 for trAce Online Writing Department at Nottingham Trent University. There'll be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

7.30 pm Pullitzer Prize winning novelist Richard Ford at The Dome, Brighton

Associated event kindly facilitated by The Dome, Brighton SPECIAL OFFER When you ring THE DOME Box Office (01273 709709) to book please make sure you mention the password SOUTHERN DRIFT and you'll receive tickets at £2 off the normal price. Please note that this offer only applies to phone or counter bookings and not online. The discount isn't available on tickets already purchased and can't be combined with other offers. This tour has been organised by OSCAR, and is sponsored by Arts Council England, Random House and Pirandello.

5.12

11 am The Trouble with Anthologies

Tim Cumming discusses the sad state of anthologising

2-3.45 pm Sarah Wardle Poetry Writing Workshop

"In her work it is always the poem which impresses, never the poet." (Hugo Williams) Sarah shows you how.

4-5 pm Sarah Wardle Reading

"An eye for the arresting metaphor, an ear for the memorable phrase. Vigilant, prudent, and surprising, she can open philosophical puzzles or illuminate the commonplace and local, and write of them with accuracy and grace." (Michael Donaghy) Poet-in-residence at Tottenham Hotspur, Sarah Wardle's poetry ranges from playful wit to gentle lyrics, exploring a personal geography from country to city. 'Sparky and feisty' (Sheenagh Pugh), with 'a hint of darkness and wicked wit' (Roddy Lumsden).

6.12

8 pm Keith Stewart - Democracy rocks

A progress report from Keith Stewart who travelled to the US to write about the presidential election, meet key players and observe the action. To complete his work he'll follow the UK elections next year.

7.12

2 pm Judith Kazantzis 'Regendering the Myth' workshop

An active poetry writing workshop open to everyone, women and men. Judith will explore how you can draw your own personal and/or political poems out of key ancient myths. Everyone will have time and encouragement to draft or write an original work by the workshop's end.

8 pm Waterloo Press Night

Mad Hatter café, Western Road, Hove

Waterloo Press is launching the first ten in its new series of Waterloo Sampler pamphlets showcasing rising poets from Brighton and beyond. Simon Jenner, John O'Donoghue, Alan Morrison, Helen Oswald and Dan Wyke will be reading amongst others.

8.12

2-5 pm Shed Your Fears

Beginners writing workshop with poet and writer John Davies, (aka Shedman) facilitator of the highly sucessful Arundel Writers Group. Suitable for those interested in writing poetry or fiction.

8pm Frogmore Press Night

Mad Hatter Café, Western Road, Hove

Earlier this year 'The Frogmore Papers' celebrated twenty-one years of publication. Join the editor and contributors to recent issues including Clare Best and Rachel Playforth for a festive reading at the Mad Hatter Cafe. For further information on 'The Frogmore Papers' visit www.frogmorepress.co.uk

9.12

2pm Linda France Writing Workshop specially for women.

Twice winner of the Basil Bunting Award, she was awarded the Arts Foundation's first Poetry Fellowship. She is the editor of the Bloodaxe anthology 'Sixty Women Poets'.

8pm Special Space

Linda France Judith Kazantzis Bethan Roberts John Davies [Shedman]

Linda has two children and works as a freelance writer and part-time tutor in adult education. "Energetic, witty, candid, informal and excitingly individualistic" Carol Rumens.

Poet, novelist, printmaker and insightful explorer of women's issues Judith Kazantzis' ninth volume of poetry 'Just After Midnight' (Enitharmon September 2004) ranges from a robust Odyssean translation to a luminous elegiac sequence for her parents. Based in Lewes, she judged The Frogmore Papers' 2003 poetry competition.

Bethan Roberts' stories have been published in Mslexia magazine, Shazkaz and Other Stories (English and Media Centre, 2004) and Dreaming Beasts (Krebbs and Snopes, forthcoming). In 2003 she won first prize in the English and Media Centre National Short Story Competition (judged by Michéle Roberts), and was shortlisted for the Asham Award. In 2004 she won a Jerwood/Arvon Young Writer's Apprenticeship Award, one of nine young authors selected for the prestigious mentorship scheme. As part of the scheme, she is currently working under the mentorship of writer Andrew Cowan to complete her novel, The Pools.

As Shedman, John Davies continues to puzzle, intrigue and entertain. Recently at the Small Wonder Short Story Festival at Charleston and the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment conference at UCC Chichester, he continues his interactive exploration of the wonderful world of sheds with the audience this evening, as well as reading from his work in progress 'Round Britain by Shed'.

(John is also Chair of THE SOUTH and organiser of the festival!)

BOOKING

Call 01273 242850 or 07810 272791 to book tickets for events or reserve your place on workshops, or email with the event or workshop of your choice in the subject line. For readings tickets will also be available on the door.

READING EVENTS

All readings £6/£4 concs [Except the Irish Night all £3]

Festival Do-It-All Pass £40 or £35 concs (workshops and other special events are extra and must be booked individually)

WORKSHOP PLACES

All workshops £12/£10 concs limited to max 16 participants

SPECIAL DISCOUNTS ONLY FOR FRIENDS OF THE SOUTH

Through our new scheme THE SOUTH.ALN - the active literature network, friends of THE SOUTH will receive £1 off the price of any one event and will be given priority for workshop places and £2 off the cost of any workshop.

For more information and to sign up as a friend see www.thesouth.org.uk or call 07810 272791

With many thanks to our major local supporters Avard Estate Agents (www.avards.co.uk), Blue Planet Internet (www.blueplanetinternet.co.uk), Feist Hedgethorne Chartered Accountants (www.feist-hedgethorn.co.uk), Southern Paper and Waterloo Press, and to all our other supporters including Codesign (www.codesign.it), Curious Design (www.be-curious.co.uk), Messenger Brand Communications, Savience (www.savience.co.uk) Studenthealth.co.uk, Terrier TV, Pighog Press (www.pighog.co.uk), Digaprint & The Print House, Hove.