On the evening of Saturday 17th May, the litfest will host a brand new event - The Word On The Street: A Literary Cabaret.  It's free and will take place on the Market Terrace, but what exactly is a literary cabaret?

I put a few questions to organiser Vanessa Mee:

“Hi Vanessa.  What can people expect to see when they come to see a literary cabaret?”

The literary cabaret should be a fantastic evening of literary japes combining comedy, poetry, music and prose. The bar will be open from 7 and the fun starts at 7.30pm.

“How did the idea come about?”

The idea came about as a alternative to some of the more formal events on offer at the festival. We wanted to create an event that you could bring the whole family to where everyone could be entertained. The dream is to put homegrown talent side by side with literary royalty on the bill!

“Do you think this will help better showcase the island’s writing talent?”

I hoped it would showcase local writers but so far I haven't had a great deal of interest from people putting their writing forward which is a great shame. I've got performers lined up to perform stuff so shyness isn't an excuse. I'd really like to have as much local talent represented as possible as it's so difficult to get a platform for sharing work with the public.

Who is involved?  And if people would like to get involved, how can they do so?

I'm thrilled that Improbables Guernsey (left) will be MCing the event; they are an amazing bunch of performers who will no doubt inject their zany comedy into the mix. Also on the bill are The Ukuladeez (pictured above with Louis de Bernieres at the Litfest launch last October) , the winner of last year's poetry slam and some local writers. There might be a few surprises too!

Any other writers who would like to perform their work or even have their work performed should contact me as soon as possible on [email protected]

Thanks Vanessa.  As someone who both writes short fiction and is not particularly keen on public speaking I was delighted to hear about this opportunity.  If you're in the same boat, this could be your chance to take part in a performance without having to worry about actually performing.  Email Vanessa your best stuff and - if your work is selected - on the day all you need to do is turn up, get a nice, cold drink, sit back, relax, listen to your words being performed, and think, "I wrote that."

by Ric Carter