Why we need a literary festival

The meeting is to discuss a proposal to hold a literary festival in Wolverhampton, the first of its kind, with a view to a series of events between January 27 and 29 next year, at a variety of locations across the city.

Phil Turner, City of Wolverhampton Council's events officer, says of the proposal: "The theme for the year will be based on the city's motto 'Out Of Darkness Cometh Light', which would give the festival a broad base for contributors. The aim is to grow the festival on an annual basis."

We at the E&S think this is a great idea; good for the area, good for local writers and performers, good for the wider perception of the region, good for the local economy – a real multiple win situation.

It also serves as an opportunity to acknowledge the West Midlands' terrific tradition in literature and dialect. Many may not be aware, for example, that Jerome K. Jerome, author of the classic Three Men In A Boat, was born in Caldmore, or that Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy was educated in Stafford.

Dr Brian Dakin is an associate at the School Of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University. He is a published writer who performs Black Country dialect poetry and stories as Billy Spakemon. Here, he explains why the Wolverhampton Literary Festival should be a reality...

"It's not without precedent. Brendan Hawthorne, Wednesbury Poet Laureate, took his Dialect Festival to Wednesbury last year and that was a big success.

I really think anything that can highlight the creativity in the region has to be a good thing. It's important for the organisers to champion local authors, and the whole scope of what's available here, which means storytelling, performance poetry and other forms of writing.

"Obviously, they've got to look for bigger names, but there are great local writers like Anthony Cartwright, Paul McDonald, Meera Syal, performers like John Edgar, Dave Reeves, Emma Pursehouse – if they invite people from all over, that's great to have them here, but are they representing the local community? It can become rather highbrow and I think it's important to keep your feet on the ground and represent all members of our multi-cultural region. It's still a great idea, anything that can raise the profile of the area is brilliant. But if it's a Wolverhampton literary festival then let's represent the Black Country.

"The cost issue is a hard one. But you can draw the line under anything and say that we shouldn't be spending money on anything. We have to get it all in perspective. It's an opportunity for creative people to put forward their view on what's going on in society. In a way, performers and writers are like mirrors to what's going on, and it could be used in some context to show what's going on. Obviously they can't lavish millions on it, but these things don't actually cost the earth. The organisers can be quite astute about it, and these things can sustain themselves. If local writers are supported than it will sustain itself.

"The wider Black Country still carries a historical stigma, people assume we're this void in the middle of the country where nothing happens, so what's the point? But we have an incredible internal pride in who we are and what we do. We're blowing our own trumpets and that's what we've always done, in a way. The outside perception of the Black Country is still steeped in the attitude of the late 19th century, but we can show what it's really like.

"Wolverhampton might well prove to be the centre of the festival but I think it would be embraced by a lot of towns. Brendan worked really hard on the Dialect Festival and people from all over the country were amazed by the wealth of spoken word and poetry in the region. Wolverhampton takes its fair share of knocks but this is a chance to say, 'Look, we're quite serious about what we do, and we're going to show you. Come along. Be surprised'. You'll get people saying, 'Well, I didn't expect this in the Black Country'. Why not? We own an oral language that is inherent in our make-up.

"I really think people need to be aware about how important this festival could be. The number of libraries that are closing or threatened with closing is awful really.

"To summarise: I'm a Black Country bloke involved in oral history, organising events, writing and performance. This festival needs to represent Black Country writers, performers, theatre groups. Make no mistake, this is a very brave thing to do, but the people of the Black Country should be foremost in the minds of the organisers. Ordinary people can write extraordinary things, I hope they'll be represented."

l The public meeting is held at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, tomorrow at 6.30pm. Follow Pete's live tweets of the meeting at @pcashmore_star