Walking the Stirchley Skull 4 and Joel Lane Day
Hello walkers of the West Midlands!
In this edition of the Walkspace newsletter we invite you to join us for our fourth Halloween walk around the Stirchley Skull. We also have news of a very special event celebrating Birmingham's master of weird fiction, Joel Lane. And we have some other bits and pieces and recent blog posts to share with you.
Skull Walk 4: Widdershins
As per Walkspace tradition, we shall be observing the beginning of night walking season with a walk around the Stirchley Skull this Halloween. We created the Stirchley Skull three years ago by overlaying a skull image onto a map of the neighbourhood and then walking its outline. We've continued to walk the skull every year since but this time we're going to add a little twist…
Up to now we've always walked the skull clockwise but this year we're going to see what happens if we reverse the direction and go "widdershins" or against the way. To walk widdershins means to walk in a direction contrary to the course of the sun (as it appears from the Northern Hemisphere). In British folklore it's considered bad luck to walk widdershins around a church, but it remains to be seen what happens when you do the same around a neighbourhood skull.
As we go we shall be looking out for otherworldly apparitions and messages from the beyond, and we invite you to bring your own traditions, objects or costumes (if you want to).
Join us on October 31st, 7:30pm outside Stirchley Library.
>>>Click for more information<<<
Joel Lane: The Witnesses Are Here
Voce Books and Influx Press are hosting a weekend celebration of Birmingham's master of weird fiction, Joel Lane. Featuring talks, panels, music, readings, screenings, live art and (of course) a walk, this will be a a kaleidoscopic trip into the dark, weird, queer, punk & poetic world of this remarkable chronicler of the West Midlands.
This event is the brainchild of Walkspace member and Voce Books co-owner Clive Judd. It takes place on November 11 and 12 at Voce Books and includes a twilight walk around Digbeth led by Walkspace co-founder Andy Howlett. The walk will explore Joel Lane's fascination with transitional landscapes and doorways between worlds.
Please note, no prior knowledge of Joel Lane's work is required for this event, just an interest in the weirder side of the West Midlands. We hope to produce some new converts!
>>>click for full line-up and to book tickets<<<
Walkspace Infiltrates the Academy
Walkspace has been recognised and referenced by two academically-oriented publications for our contributions to the walking arts.
In her article for JSTOR Daily, Hannah Steinkopf-Frank provides a historical overview of psychogeography and we're in it! Andy Howlett was interviewed and is quoted alongside Damon Albarn and Alan Moore. It's great to see Birmingham take its place in the history of psychogeography next to the "more popular" centres of London and Paris.
Ellen Mueller's new book Walking as Artistic Practice lays out foundational information about the history of walking and its development as an artistic practice. And we're in it. Once again Andy was interviewed about Walkspace projects and gave his thoughts on walking as an artistic practice.
>>>Read interview here<<<
From the Blog
Polaroids, Podcasts and Perambulation - Adele Mary Reed shares her new Coventry-based, walking-themed podcast
Walk Report: Wandering Rocks 2 - Write-up of Andy and Robson's city-centre Erratic looking at geological oddities and "beached heritage"
"This is Water" – Stourport to Worcester along the Severn Way - Extract from new work by Clive Judd. A highly personal walk revisiting the landscape of his schooldays
What is Walkspace three years on? - Fiona looks back on three years of Walkspace in an attempt to figure out what the hell we are
The Darkest Road - Jay Mason-Burns traces the route of Birmingham's oldest known road and finds that the ghosts of Icknield Street are sending him on a more personal pilgrimage
Until next time,
Happy walking!