The Verbal Arts Centre from the Double Bastion - geograph

The Verbal Arts Centre is based in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, and is a centre for the development of the verbal arts and

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

(i.e. the ability to read, write, communicate and comprehend). It was established in 1992 as an educational charity. In 2000 it moved to the First Derry School, a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The project's goal is to promote the written and spoken word and is also involved in research and the publication and provision of information, including material for schools. It has also developed literacy building programmes for schools, works on literary heritage, storytelling and works also with youth and community groups throughout the north-west. The centre coordinates an annual

comic book festival A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

, the "2D Festival". It also promotes verbal arts events. The centre publishes a bi-monthly, Verbal, which has a circulation of over 235,000 and is the largest free literary magazine in Ireland. Launched in January 2007 the publication covers books, authors, reading and the arts in general. The centre hosts a readers circle and children's book club. The centre houses a number of arts and crafts pieces, including works by Louis le Brocquy and John Behan.

References

Education in Northern Ireland Literature of Northern Ireland Arts centres in Northern Ireland Grade B1 listed buildings Arts organizations established in 1992 1992 establishments in Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-stub