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May Bank Holiday weekend will see the celebration of one of Bolton’s best known sons, Bill Naughton. Bill Naughton is probably best known for Alfie, which was brought to the big screen in 1966, starring Michael Caine. This year marks Naughton’s centenary and to celebrate the town will come together on Saturday 29th May to participate in all things Naughton.

The Mayor, Councillor John Byrne and representatives from the University of Bolton and the Octagon Theatre will launch the day of celebration at Bolton Museum, at which Bill Naughton’s widow, Erna, will also be present. There will be an academic conference at Bolton Museum Lecture Theatre, featuring nationally known figures discussing his work. There will also be a chance, at The Octagon, to spend the day observing how the novel Alfie moves from page to performance, culminating in a read through by actors.

There will also be a number of other activities in the Community, including a chance for the people of Bolton to record their own memories of Bolton (in Victoria Square). Along with an opportunity to take a bus tour of Naughton’s Bolton, which will be looking particularly at where The Family Way and Spring and Port Wine were filmed. In the evening, the Octagon Theatre is showing Rafta Rafta, a play based on Naughton’s own The Family Way, but setting it in a contemporary British Asian context.

Prof. David Rudd, who initiated plans for the Celebration believes that “this is a fantastic opportunity for the town to remember and celebrate Naughton’s work in all its aspects: his plays, films, novels and short stories, his autobiographical memoirs, and more generally, crediting him for putting Bolton on the cultural map at a time when everything centred around London and the South. We are delighted that his widow, Erna, will be there to join us in the celebrations. This is a great opportunity for the people of Bolton to unite in celebrating not only Naughton’s Bolton, but also their own thoughts and memories of the town”.

Further information about the day and schedules for the bus tour, academic conference and Octagon activities are available at http://www.bolton.ac.uk/Conferences/BillNaughton/Home.aspx

Peter Walker completed an MA in photography in 2008 at Bolton University and has further developed a keen interest in social documentary photography

In 2009 Peter was jointly commissioned by Oldham Council’s ‘Gateways to Oldham’ team and the Housing Market Renewal pathfinder project to create a photographic record of the environment, history and community of the Primrose Bank estate.

Working with residents and community groups, Peter has created images that bear witness to the cultural and social diversity of a changing community.

The photographs taken over the course of a year portray the changing face of the estate and the changing community – from a stark 1960s concrete council housing estate, towards a twenty first century place to live. Peter has recorded surprising images that are both beautiful and powerful, and these are complimented by a vision of the latest proposals to regenerate the estate.

Cy Bonnet is studying on the MA in Public Art and is proposing a piece of public art for inclusion in the Student Learning Zone and would love to receive feedback from staff and students across campus

‘Live Wall’ provides a window for the student and staff to experience and explore the rich content, diversity, sheer hard work and commitment that makes up our unique university culture.  Dynamically it will provide a visual portal, the means by which we, within the university can view, peruse, understand and critique the commitment and diversity within our community and culture.

The potential of Live Wall is only limited by the imagination of more than 11,000 students.

The focus is not about ‘Higher Education or E-Learning’ alone but the infrastructure for a more holistic approach.  Showing the Cybonnetic project is helping to deliver the academic vision of the University.

To find out more see Cy Bonnet’s Blog http://cybonnetics.wordpress.com/

Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Bolton, David Rudd, is the editor of a new collection of essays exploring his subject.

The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature is a comprehensive, contemporary investigation of children’s literature, exploring its various genres and qualities. Expert contributors worldwide provide in-depth analyses of why children’s literature is the way it is.

The book’s cover was also illustrated by a member of University staff, Art and Design Foundation diploma programme leader, Julie Brown.

Said Professor Rudd: ‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most up-to-date and thorough study of this rapidly expanding field that there’s been – although I might be slightly biased!’

Added Julie Brown: ‘I’m very pleased with the cover. It seems to capture that mix of edginess, innocence and allusion that characterises so much modern children’s literature.’