Contrary Life

Contrary Life is a website covering quirky events across the UK.

  • Home
  • About
  • Events by region
    • North East
    • North West
    • Yorkshire
    • East Midlands
    • West Midlands
    • East
    • London
    • South East
    • South West
    • Scotland
    • Northern Ireland
    • Wales
Home > Archives for Literature

Archives for Literature

Second Place Rosette, Poems about Britain, Emma Press

Book Review: Second Place Rosette, Poems about Britain

Second Place Rosette: Poems about Britain by the Emma Press is a collection of poems about the quirky customs and rituals we Brits take part in throughout the year…

Being Human festival 2018

Story-filled bus journeys and Edwardian vegetarians at this year’s Being Human festival

This month, the annual Being Human festival will take place with a range of unusual and thought-provoking events across the UK…

Curse Of Frankenstein - Directed by Terence Fisher, 1957

A dead good Halloween and some aping around at London’s quirky museums

This month, celebrate International Gibbon Day with some animal yoga, and Halloween with a talk on Frankenstein and the things we dread…

Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2018

Festival of storytelling spreads magical tales across Scotland

This year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival will take place from Thursday 18th to Wednesday 31st October, celebrating the tradition of sharing tales…

Roll Up Store Street - Bloomsbury Festival 2018 - London events

Walks, talks and circus performances at Bloomsbury Festival

Bloomsbury Festival will present a trailblazing programme of science, literature, performance, music, and discussion, from 17th to 21st October…

Loogabarooga Festival of illustrated children’s literature 2018

Comic art, wacky workshops and live performances at Loogabarooga Festival

Loogabarooga festival of illustrated children’s literature returns to Loughborough from 18th to 23rd October, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Beano comic…

Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2018

Live drawing, workshops and geek music at comic art festival

The 2018 Lakes International Comic Art Festival will take place in Kendal, Cumbria, from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th October, with author interviews, artist signings and hands-on workshops…

Footprints of London - Literary Footprints 2017

Discover Dickens after dark and Jane Austen’s London with literary walking festival

Literary Footprints is an annual festival celebrating London literature and authors. This October discover Shakespeare’s London, Literary St Pancras and Charles Dickens London After Dark…

Apples and Snakes Rallying Cry - Battersea Arts Centre - Image: Jerry Kiesewetter

Hear a Rallying Cry at Battersea Arts Centre

Apples and Snakes, celebrates 35 years with an immersive journey through London’s Battersea Arts Centre, rallying the voices of protest…

Mousehole Sea, Salts & Sail 2018 - Cornwall events

A maritime festival in Mousehole

Sea, Salts and Sail, Mousehole’s maritime festival, will take place from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th July in the Cornish fishing village…

Timber Festival outdoor performance credit Teneight

If you go down to the woods today…

Timber, a new festival weaving together the forest with arts and ideas, will take place this weekend in the heart of the National Forest in Derbyshire…

Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire (Photo: Visit Hampshire/ Laura McCready)

Attend a Regency Ball at Hampshire’s Jane Austen festival

Jane Austen Regency Week is an annual nine-day festival, held in Alton and Chawton, Hampshire, celebrating the much-loved author with talks, tours, dance workshops and period costume…

Broadstairs Dickens Festival

Mother’s ruin and Victorian scruffs at Broadstairs Dickensian Festival

Broadstairs Dickens Festival takes place in Kent this month, with quirky events including Mother’s Ruin Gin Tastings, Victorian Scruffs,and a Dickensian hat demonstration…

Caleb Femi & Lex Amor in Goldfish Bowl by The Paper Birds. Photo: Camilla Greenwell

A mix of spoken word, theatre, music and illustration in Goldfish Bowl

Goldfish Bowl is a collaboration between The Paper Birds and former Young People’s Laureate for London, Caleb Femi, with a combination of spoken word, theatre, music and illustration…

Minack Theatre - credit Steve Farrier

Book Review: Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die

We’ve always included a lot of small and unusual theatre productions on Contrary Life, and so on hearing that someone had written a book about the weird and wonderful collection of theatres around Britain, we were eager for a read…

  • ⬅ Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 11
  • Next ➡

Curiosity of the Week

Visit a Venetian Waterway in Norfolk
Great Yarmouth Venetian Waterway - photo: Gary Philo

Our latest Curiosity of the Week is a Venetian style waterway in the seaside resort of Great Yarmouth…

Top Story

Unique light display in Cornwall
Mousehole Harbour Lights

Head to the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole this winter, for their unique annual Christmas lights display…

Categories

  • Alternative Sport
  • Art
  • Cabaret and Circus
  • Cinema
  • Classes, Workshops & Talks
  • Club Night
  • Comedy
  • Dance
  • Exhibitions and Installations
  • Fairs and Markets
  • Festival
  • Food & Drink
  • Heritage and History
  • Interview
  • Literature
  • Museum
  • Music
  • Review
  • Science and Technology
  • Theatre
  • Walks and Tours

Newsletter Sign Up

Copyright © 2019 · Contrary Life