The Bloomsbury Festival returns in October and, this year, we’ve teamed up with our friends at the festival to offer two exciting projects for 26 members. Read on to find out more about what’s in store and how to get involved.
Bloomsbury in
London is an extraordinary place. From a writer’s point of view it’s famous for
‘the Bloomsbury set’ of the early 20th century with Virginia Woolf at the
centre. But there is so much more – and it is a completely international
location through the people and places associated with it over the years.
26 has been
proudly involved in the Bloomsbury Festival since it was founded four years
ago. We’ve held events based on 26 projects such as Memory Maps and Armistice
100 Days. This year the Festival has expanded from a long weekend to ten days
of activities reflecting Bloomsbury’s cultural diversity in the arts, academia,
science and innovation.
It’s a place
that has always fizzed with ideas. So we were delighted when Bloomsbury
Festival responded positively to 26’s proposals for participation in the 2019
festival from 11 till 20 October https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk
The theme this
year marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing which lingers in collective
memory through its images and also the words of Neil Armstrong when he stepped
onto the surface: ‘one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind’. Our
project #26Leaps asks the question: who in Bloomsbury’s past, present or even
future has made or is making such a leap?
So with JP
Muir, the festival’s programme director, the 26 team of John Simmons, Andy
Hayes and Neil Baker have been researching and drawing up a list of 26 people
associated with Bloomsbury. To reflect the range of world-leading ideas and
people we’ve come up with a list that goes way beyond ‘the Bloomsbury set’. It
contains 15 people from Bloomsbury’s past, eight from its present and three from its future
(school students who might, for example, make the impact of a Greta Thunberg on
the world).
We’ll reveal the
list when we’ve allocated names to our volunteer writers. Thanks to all those
26 members who have put their names forward to make this another
over-subscribed project. Congratulations if you make the final list, you’re in
for an exciting exploration of people and ideas.
A second
connection with this year’s Bloomsbury Festival is that ten writers from 26
will become writers in residence on each of the festival’s ten days. They’ll be asked to immerse themselves in
the festival activities on a particular day, to observe, record and respond to
their experiences with their own words. It’s an exciting way to flex your
writers’ muscles and respond to what should be fascinating encounters with
diverse cultures.
As with all
our creative projects, we’ll need editors and project managers. Being involved
is a great way to contribute, and take an active role in our community. And you’re
sure to meet some brilliant new people on the journey. Just contact us.