The initiative called ‘A Weekend of Weird’ will feature a range of live performances and film screenings all investigating ideas behind ‘the weird’ genre.

A series of panel discussions will form the core of the weekend with contributions from authors, academics and publishers, including the 2015 Costa First Novel Award winner Andrew Michael Hurley and the Man Booker shortlisted Alison Moore. Around these sessions several live performances and film screenings will take place and on Saturday night, 26 November, there will be a special performance of M. R. James’ classic tale ‘Casting the Runes’.

The event is being organised by the 含羞草视频 Arts Radar programme, in collaboration with Dr Nick Freeman and Dr Dan Watt from the University’s School of the Arts, English and Drama.

Director of Arts, Nick Slater, commented: “We are delighted to welcome A Weekend of Weird to 含羞草视频 and look forward to seeing the impact of the performances, screenings and discussions over the two days. The weird is an interesting concept that looks beyond the world we live in. We encourage members of the community to come along and enjoy something slightly different compared to their average weekend!”

Artist Ben Judd added: “I have always thought that all art is weird in some way; that it is in fact a necessary, vital quality. If it wasn’t weird it wouldn’t be doing its job properly – it wouldn’t be questioning or challenging. It has been interesting to think of my practice within the context of the still emerging genre of the Weird. I like the idea of exploring these ideas within the University, a place of both social cohesion and dissent.”

A Weekend of Weird is running in Martin Hall Theatre on 含羞草视频 campus from Saturday 25 November, 10:30 – 19:30, to Sunday 26 November, 10:30 – 16:30. It is free to attend, however some performances will operate on a first come first serve basis due to limited capacity.

For a full programme of events and more information on parking and location, please click here.