Two of Birmingham’s most committed journaleers and artists of human experience—a bi-polar working class warrior with a romantic streak you could drown a fascist in, and a cheerful nihilist in love with his own legend—are willing to take on the challenge. The challenge of visiting every one of England and Wales’s 56 surviving pleasure piers in two weeks, because two weeks is as long as it’s possible to get off work.

Chuck them a few quid here then check out the Pier Review site.

Good to see last weekend’s Birmingham Zine Festival looking busy. This is a slideshow from Antonio Roberts.

This month we got Boat Magazine, produced by a London design studio. In their words:

We pulled together the most talented people we know; writers, photographers, illustrators, musicians… gave them a blank canvas, and set them loose on the streets of Sarajevo. We had one goal – to tell a new story

I was flipping through and spotted a bit that said:

Designed/Art Directed by Luke Tonge

Bearing in mind I follow his Tumblr I probably should’ve been aware of this. I checked it was the right guy and, sure enough, at the back of the mag it says:

Luke Tonge is a creative (and Falmouth graduate) currently living and working in Birmingham, UK. As part of the influential FormFiftyFive his voice in the industry continues to grow. A lover of ice-cream floats, all things typographic, and Bill & Ted – he wears shorts all year round. Google ‘Luke Tonge’ to know more.

I bumped into him at the Pointe Blank launch (here’s his contribution to that project) and can confirm the shorts thing.

Oh, hang on, I’ve just spotted Jonathan Cherry was involved in this too. He’s a photographer from (last time I checked) Stourbridge and has provided images for an article called Manchester City, 4am.

FAKE is a brand new independent publication launching this Summer.  We will be showcasing young creatives primarily in the field of fashion; but also including design, photography and illustration, along with many other interesting projects.  FAKE aim to promote local talent and independent businesses.

FAKE isn’t what fake is.

There’s lots of good stuff on their website which is well worth an explore.

And, since I first drafted this post, I’ve seen they’re having a launch event at 6/8 Kafé on Friday 27 May. Here’s the flyer for that:

Digbeth is Good linked to this publication, Uncertain Eastside by Nikki Pugh, the first issue of which is now out, offering a ‘critical questioning of the branding of a version of Eastside as the Cultural Quarter and of her relationship to it (or not) as an artist.’

This is the first document in a series of unknown length recording the shifting landscape of the ‘Eastside’ areas of Birmingham. Including intersecting regeneration projects and plans for leisure, learning and transport developments, these are places with varying characters, histories and aspirations that are very much in flux.

Uncertain Eastside: Document One 2009 is available through Magcloud, where you can also have a flick through the digital version.

First is Ammo Magazine. This cute and colourful little thing is packed with illustration and designer/ artist interviews.

Ammo also accepts submissions, so if you think your work would fit in on the pages of this small but perfectly formed publication, take a look at their submissions page.

This book from Creative Birmingham profiles the 30 shortlisted nominations and 6 winners from the Invisible City Awards. Categories included ‘Things that made me think’, ‘Things that made me smile’, ‘Things that taught me something’, ‘Things that make me proud’, ‘Business things’, and ‘Cultural things’.

Created in Birmingham was up for ‘Things that make me proud’, which is nice, but unfortunately we lost out to Tomorrow People.

This publication for Hello Digital retells ‘stories from a digital city’, with plenty of glossy photos of Birmingham – current and future – along with articles from a range of industry specialists and experts.

This tasteful and nicely designed programme is from the 2010 Supersonic Festival, featuring all the events, activities and artists who performed across the weekend.

While we’re on the topic of festivals, The Independent Festivals Group launched a publication earlier this month, celebrating the cultural value of Birmingham’s independent festivals.

Included in the group are Bass Festival, Birmingham Book Festival, Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival, Fierce Festival, Flatpack Festival, Rhubarb Rhubarb and Supersonic Festival.

This publication can be downloaded for free here, and makes for quite an interesting read – Redefining Culture – Birmingham’s Independent Festivals

After being independently published, Birmingham writer Charlie Hill’s first novel ‘The Space Between Things’ is set in Moseley and looks at the free party people and road protesters of the early 1990′s.

Fellow Birmingham author, Jim Crace, described his writing as ‘intelligent and witty’. Jonathan Coe also gave praise for the book;

What I liked very much about the novel was that it vividly captures a moment in Britain’s recent past, and takes us inside a world and a milieu which most readers won’t have known before. And of course, as a tragic love story, it packs a considerable punch.

The book will be out 1 October, along with a launch event on 14 October at Waterstones’ Birmingham High Street branch.

‘The Space Between Things’ can be pre-ordered from Amazon, Waterstones and London Review Bookshop, but you’d like a head start, Charlie has posted the first chapter online.

This is interesting. The New Optimists is a website and book, which records the answers given by over 80 scientists who were asked the question ‘What are you optimistic about?’

The idea for “The New Optimists” began in early 2009 with me (Kate Cooper) sitting in front of my laptop on the kitchen table, realising that web-based technologies had dramatically changed the publishing game. And that this gave me the opportunity to showcase some of the ground-breaking research going on locally at the 2010 British Science Festival in my home city of Birmingham.

If you’d like to hear more about the project, there’s a series of events happening around Birmingham to tie in with the book’s launch, which takes places on Tuesday 14 September at the Botanical Gardens.

This is followed by a Q&A session on 15 September at the Science Festival, Aston University, and a lunchtime session at Waterstones on 16 September with Kate Cooper and editor Keith Richards.

You can buy tickets to the launch here.

Mark is well known for his Tom Thorne series and his new book From the Dead is no less gripping and fast paced as his previous novels.

Andrew Taylor will be talking about his new book The Anatomy of Ghosts, which is a beautifully written novel of dichotomies set in 18th century Cambridge.

Meanwhile Martyn Waites (who has recently been revealed as being one half of Tania Carver, the ‘author’ of The Surrogate), will be talking about his latest book Speak No Evil based on the award winning Joe Donovan crime series.

Guests will be settling in at 6.30pm, for a 7.00pm start, and the event is free. Book your tickets via the Birmingham Box Office on 0121 303 2323 or in person at Central Library reception.