If you can say it in under 500 words then Oxygen Books want to hear from you. Words: James Walker
Oxygen Books' city-pick series.
Calling all scribes in Nottingham. Have you got a piece of writing that, for you, perfectly sums up Hood town and its surrounding areas, past, present or even future? It could be a poem you’ve penned about overheard conversations on Mansfield Rd, perhaps you’ve been keeping a secret diary about those elusive gigs at Rock City or maybe you simply wish that areas in Nottingham looked like they sound; Forest Fields, the Meadows…
Whatever it is you’ve got to say, take the opportunity to say it now and save us from forever being remembered as that place where folk get shot and merry men prance about in green tights. Oxygen Books want to hear from you as they’re putting together a special event for the Lowdham Book Festival in June 2012 (as well as the Manchester Literature Festival and Cambridge Wordfest on similar projects). Oxygen Books’ city-pick series features some of the best writing on favourite world cities, from New York, Berlin and Paris to London, Amsterdam, Dublin and Venice.
Quite surprisingly, they’re not publishing a book about Nottingham. Maybe asking why not could be your first response? This is a city that recently planted six apple trees in Sneinton market and called it a redevelopment, that pays security guards to keep the public off the steps of the council house while inside making decisions that cut back on services, and who could not admire the hubris of naming a chippy Moulin Rouge. What more do we need to do?
‘We know there’s a wealth of writing out there about the city,’ says Oxygen’s publisher, Malcolm Burgess. ‘We’d love readers and writers to get in touch with us with their choices, ideally 500 words maximum but they could be even shorter, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, on- or off-line, and if they can give us reasons for their choices that’s even better. We’d love to see any new published writing too about Nottingham. All contributors will be fully acknowledged at our festival event.’
Oxygen Books will be presenting city-pick Nottingham at the Lowdham Book Festival, together with a well-known actor. A city-pick Nottingham pod-cast will also be available. Any ideas should be sent to malcolm.burgess3 (at) btopenworld.com. Or contact him on 01277 263770.
