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Free Thinking lecture: Phil Redmond
Founder of Mersey TV and writer and producer of some of British television鈥檚 most influential drama, Phil Redmond is one of Liverpool鈥檚 leading voices on the city鈥檚 creative, media and technological future.
Throughout 2005 he was Chair of the Merseyside Entrepreneurship Commission and is currently Patron of the Merseyside hub for Enterprise Insight.
He joined Liverpool's Capital of Culture Board in November 2006.
He launches Free Thinking 07 with a personal and wide-ranging exploration of the competing political and cultural forces redefining our personal identities:
-
Festival events
Schedule of interviews, debates, poetry, live performance, film and more.
-
Broadcasts
Free Thinking broadcasts from October to December.
Other contributors
The 麻豆社 is not responsible for the content of external websites.
-
Contributor
Felix Barrett
Artistic Director, Punchdrunk
Felix graduated from Exeter University with a 1st Class BA in Drama.
He founded Punchdrunk in 1999 and has since staged 15 productions with the company at disused, historic and other sites across London and the south west of England. He has lectured in drama at Exeter University and worked as staff producer and revival director for English Touring Opera.
-
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale
Writer
-
Peter Blegvad. Photo credit Jillian Edelstein.
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad 茂驴陆 Artist, writer, musician, performer, broadcaster. Born New York City, 1951. Lives in London.
Blegvad is Honorary Teaching Fellow in the creative writing programme at Warwick University where he is also course leader in creative writing for the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth.
From 1991 to 1998 he drew the weekly comic strip 'The Book of Leviathan' for the Independent on Sunday. He has performed and recorded with many bands and musicians and is the resident 'Eartoonist' for Radio 3's 'The Verb'.
He currently draws, sporadically, for The Spectator and has a monthly cartoon. 茂驴陆State of the Art茂驴陆, in Word magazine.
Watch and listen to Peter Blegvad's animated eartoon created especially for the festival.
-
Gemma Bodinetz. Copyright Stephanie De Leng.
Gemma Bodinetz
Gemma Bodinetz took up her post as Artistic Director for the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in September 2003.
Gemma previously worked at The Royal Court Theatre, London, leaving briefly to assist Harold Pinter on 'The Caretaker' before returning to co-direct 'Hush' with Max Stafford-Clark. She then moved on to become freelance director and Associate Director at Hampstead Theatre.
-
Peter Butler.
Peter Butler
Surgeon
17 Britain's First face transplant
For more information about Face Reconstruction visit
-
Professor Tom Cannon
Professor Tom Cannon
Economic strategist with a focus on the future of cities.
Born in Liverpool, Tom has had an unusually diverse career: in academia, leading business schools in Stirling, Manchester and currently Buckingham; in business, as a brand manager and running his own research company; and in government, running a key government agency advising on business and management education.
-
Kate Clanchy
Kate Clanchy
Kate Clanchy taught English for ten years in state schools before becoming a freelance writer and a mother. She is the author of three poetry collections and also writes Comment for the Guardian.
-
Philip Collins
Philip Collins
Philip Collins was, until July 2007, Chief Speech Writer to the Prime Minister. Prior to that, he was Director of the Social Market Foundation, an independent think-tank and charity. He has also worked in TV and as a teacher and academic, and published two novels and a number of academic books. He is currently a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics.
-
Frank Cotterell-Boyce
Frank Cotterell-Boyce
Screenwriter
-
Siobhan Davies. Copyright Gautier Deblonde.
Siobhan Davies
Siobhan Davies is one of the leading dancers and choreographers of her generation. She founded the Siobhan Davies Dance Company in 1988 and their work has been recognised by many awards.
-
Jane Davis
Jane Davis
Jane Davis left school at sixteen and became a single mother. After working as a waitress she returned to education and gained a first class degree in English. She founded The Reader magazine ten years ago and is now Director of The Reader Organisation, which exists to promote reading for pleasure at every level.
-
Paul Farley
Paul Farley
Writer / performer
-
Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Film-maker
-
Liam Fogarty
Liam Fogarty
Liam Fogarty is a Liverpool-based journalist and broadcaster. He also leads the campaign for the city to have a London-style Elected Mayor.
-
Ronald Fraser-Munroe
Ronald Fraser-Munroe
Writer, performance and digital artist.
-
Tim Gill
Tim Gill
Tim Gill's work focuses on children's play and free time. He was formerly Director of the Children's Play Council (now Play England), and is author of a new book No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society.
-
Jean Grant
Jean Grant
Jean Grant is an artist working practically and experientially with the ecology of communities in areas of regeneration - listening to them, walking and socialising and developing ways to communicate their understanding of their neighbourhoods.
Jean works as creative director of 'pool, a registered charity which publishes pamphlets about the city past and future, arranges a series of walks and picnics and facilitates several large annual events using the forgotten histories of the city to inform future developments.
-
Sarah Hall
Sarah Hall
Novelist
-
Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe
Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe
-
Gloria Hyatt MBE
Gloria Hyatt MBE
Pioneer of the UK's first black-led Independent School.
-
Jennifer John
Jennifer John
Singer
-
James Jones
James Jones
Bishop of Liverpool
-
Tom Loosemore
Tom Loosemore
Tom joined Ofcom as Senior Advisor, Digital Media in September 2007.At Ofcom he is leading the thinking on the role of interactive media in public service broadcasting. Previously he was at the forefront of much of the 麻豆社's digital media strategy after joining the corporation in 2001 as Head of Broadband. He was one of the authors of 'Building Public Value', the 麻豆社's strategic vision for the next ten years, and most recently lead a major review of the 麻豆社's activities on the Web. Prior to joining the 麻豆社, Tom was Director of Internet Applications at UPC, Europe's largest cable company. He was web editor at Capital Radio, created the 麻豆社's first message boards and in 1998 launched the local information website UpMyStreet.com. From 1995 until 1997 he was a journalist on the UK edition of Wired Magazine.
Outside of work he has been responsible for a raft of e-democracy and civic engagement websites such as and .
-
Ian McMillan
Ian McMillan
Writer and broadcaster
-
Munira Mirza
Munira Mirza
Writer
-
David O'Brien
David O'Brien
Headmaster at St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in Norris Green, Liverpool. Formerly a senior inspector with Ofsted in the Salford diocese.
-
Kirsten O'Brien
Kirsten O'Brien
Presenter
-
Contributor
Iztok Osojnik
(Born 1951 in Ljubljana, Slovenia), poet, translator, artist, tour director, mountain climber. He published 24 books of poetry, 4 novels and 2 books of essays, as well as 3 books of poetry in English: Alluminations, And Some Things Happen for the First Time (Modry Peter, Canada 2001) and Mister Today (Jacaranda Press, California 2004). His poems and essays were translated and published in 20 languages. Recipient of national and international awards
-
Anne Owers
Anne Owers
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons having previously been director of the human rights organisation Justice.
-
Adam Phillips
Adam Phillips
Psychoanalyst and writer
-
Mark Ravenhill
Mark Ravenhill
Playwright
-
Eleanor Rees
Eleanor Rees
Writer
-
Albie Sachs
Albie Sachs
Justice Sachs was a leading member of the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He is now a member of South Africa's Constitutional Court, and has written and published widely on issues around gender, the law and human rights.
-
Dr Tom Shakespeare
Dr Tom Shakespeare
Dr Tom Shakespeare is a Research Fellow at The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre. He also currently holds a Fellowship from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) through which he works on writing and performance projects, exploring stories and characters related to genetics and disability.
-
Gwylim Simcock
Gwylim Simcock
Pianist and composer.
-
Tim Smit
Tim Smit
Tim Smit was born in Holland on 25 September 1954. He read Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. Tim worked for ten years in the music industry as composer/producer in both rock music and opera. In 1987 Tim moved to Cornwall he and John Nelson together ediscoveredi and then restored the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Tim remains a Director of the gardens to the present day. He has received a variety of national awards including The Royal Society of Arts Albert Medal. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary CBE in the New Years Honours List.
-
Mike Stubbs
Mike Stubbs
Mike Stubbs, is Director and CEO of Liverpool's Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) having previously been Head of Exhibitions at the Australian Centre for Moving Image. He is also an artist.
-
Dr Sami Timimi
Dr Sami Timimi
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust.
-
Rose Tremain. Copyright Ellen Warner
Rose Tremain
Rose Tremain was named by Granta as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in 1983, and was a judge for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1988 and in 2000
-
Gemma Tumelty
Gemma Tumelty
NUS President
-
Tim Whitehead
Tim Whitehead
Saxophonist
Founder of Mersey TV and writer and producer of some of British television鈥檚 most influential drama, Phil Redmond is one of Liverpool鈥檚 leading voices on the city鈥檚 creative, media and technological future.
Throughout 2005 he was Chair of the Merseyside Entrepreneurship Commission and is currently Patron of the Merseyside hub for Enterprise Insight.
He joined Liverpool's Capital of Culture Board in November 2006.
He launches Free Thinking 07 with a personal and wide-ranging exploration of the competing political and cultural forces redefining our personal identities:
Festival events
Schedule of interviews, debates, poetry, live performance, film and more.
Broadcasts
Free Thinking broadcasts from October to December.
Other contributors
The 麻豆社 is not responsible for the content of external websites.
-
Contributor
Felix Barrett
Artistic Director, Punchdrunk
Felix graduated from Exeter University with a 1st Class BA in Drama. He founded Punchdrunk in 1999 and has since staged 15 productions with the company at disused, historic and other sites across London and the south west of England. He has lectured in drama at Exeter University and worked as staff producer and revival director for English Touring Opera.
-
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale
Writer
-
Peter Blegvad. Photo credit Jillian Edelstein.
Peter Blegvad
Peter Blegvad 茂驴陆 Artist, writer, musician, performer, broadcaster. Born New York City, 1951. Lives in London.
Blegvad is Honorary Teaching Fellow in the creative writing programme at Warwick University where he is also course leader in creative writing for the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth.
From 1991 to 1998 he drew the weekly comic strip 'The Book of Leviathan' for the Independent on Sunday. He has performed and recorded with many bands and musicians and is the resident 'Eartoonist' for Radio 3's 'The Verb'.
He currently draws, sporadically, for The Spectator and has a monthly cartoon. 茂驴陆State of the Art茂驴陆, in Word magazine.
Watch and listen to Peter Blegvad's animated eartoon created especially for the festival.
-
Gemma Bodinetz. Copyright Stephanie De Leng.
Gemma Bodinetz
Gemma Bodinetz took up her post as Artistic Director for the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in September 2003.
Gemma previously worked at The Royal Court Theatre, London, leaving briefly to assist Harold Pinter on 'The Caretaker' before returning to co-direct 'Hush' with Max Stafford-Clark. She then moved on to become freelance director and Associate Director at Hampstead Theatre.
-
Peter Butler.
Peter Butler
Surgeon
17 Britain's First face transplant
For more information about Face Reconstruction visit
-
Professor Tom Cannon
Professor Tom Cannon
Economic strategist with a focus on the future of cities.
Born in Liverpool, Tom has had an unusually diverse career: in academia, leading business schools in Stirling, Manchester and currently Buckingham; in business, as a brand manager and running his own research company; and in government, running a key government agency advising on business and management education. -
Kate Clanchy
Kate Clanchy
Kate Clanchy taught English for ten years in state schools before becoming a freelance writer and a mother. She is the author of three poetry collections and also writes Comment for the Guardian.
-
Philip Collins
Philip Collins
Philip Collins was, until July 2007, Chief Speech Writer to the Prime Minister. Prior to that, he was Director of the Social Market Foundation, an independent think-tank and charity. He has also worked in TV and as a teacher and academic, and published two novels and a number of academic books. He is currently a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics.
-
Frank Cotterell-Boyce
Frank Cotterell-Boyce
Screenwriter
-
Siobhan Davies. Copyright Gautier Deblonde.
Siobhan Davies
Siobhan Davies is one of the leading dancers and choreographers of her generation. She founded the Siobhan Davies Dance Company in 1988 and their work has been recognised by many awards.
-
Jane Davis
Jane Davis
Jane Davis left school at sixteen and became a single mother. After working as a waitress she returned to education and gained a first class degree in English. She founded The Reader magazine ten years ago and is now Director of The Reader Organisation, which exists to promote reading for pleasure at every level.
-
Paul Farley
Paul Farley
Writer / performer
-
Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Film-maker
-
Liam Fogarty
Liam Fogarty
Liam Fogarty is a Liverpool-based journalist and broadcaster. He also leads the campaign for the city to have a London-style Elected Mayor.
-
Ronald Fraser-Munroe
Ronald Fraser-Munroe
Writer, performance and digital artist.
-
Tim Gill
Tim Gill
Tim Gill's work focuses on children's play and free time. He was formerly Director of the Children's Play Council (now Play England), and is author of a new book No Fear: Growing up in a risk averse society.
-
Jean Grant
Jean Grant
Jean Grant is an artist working practically and experientially with the ecology of communities in areas of regeneration - listening to them, walking and socialising and developing ways to communicate their understanding of their neighbourhoods.
Jean works as creative director of 'pool, a registered charity which publishes pamphlets about the city past and future, arranges a series of walks and picnics and facilitates several large annual events using the forgotten histories of the city to inform future developments. -
Sarah Hall
Sarah Hall
Novelist
-
Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe
Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe
-
Gloria Hyatt MBE
Gloria Hyatt MBE
Pioneer of the UK's first black-led Independent School.
-
Jennifer John
Jennifer John
Singer
-
James Jones
James Jones
Bishop of Liverpool
-
Tom Loosemore
Tom Loosemore
Tom joined Ofcom as Senior Advisor, Digital Media in September 2007.At Ofcom he is leading the thinking on the role of interactive media in public service broadcasting. Previously he was at the forefront of much of the 麻豆社's digital media strategy after joining the corporation in 2001 as Head of Broadband. He was one of the authors of 'Building Public Value', the 麻豆社's strategic vision for the next ten years, and most recently lead a major review of the 麻豆社's activities on the Web. Prior to joining the 麻豆社, Tom was Director of Internet Applications at UPC, Europe's largest cable company. He was web editor at Capital Radio, created the 麻豆社's first message boards and in 1998 launched the local information website UpMyStreet.com. From 1995 until 1997 he was a journalist on the UK edition of Wired Magazine.
Outside of work he has been responsible for a raft of e-democracy and civic engagement websites such as and .
-
Ian McMillan
Ian McMillan
Writer and broadcaster
-
Munira Mirza
Munira Mirza
Writer
-
David O'Brien
David O'Brien
Headmaster at St Teresa's Catholic Primary School in Norris Green, Liverpool. Formerly a senior inspector with Ofsted in the Salford diocese.
-
Kirsten O'Brien
Kirsten O'Brien
Presenter
-
Contributor
Iztok Osojnik
(Born 1951 in Ljubljana, Slovenia), poet, translator, artist, tour director, mountain climber. He published 24 books of poetry, 4 novels and 2 books of essays, as well as 3 books of poetry in English: Alluminations, And Some Things Happen for the First Time (Modry Peter, Canada 2001) and Mister Today (Jacaranda Press, California 2004). His poems and essays were translated and published in 20 languages. Recipient of national and international awards
-
Anne Owers
Anne Owers
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons having previously been director of the human rights organisation Justice.
-
Adam Phillips
Adam Phillips
Psychoanalyst and writer
-
Mark Ravenhill
Mark Ravenhill
Playwright
-
Eleanor Rees
Eleanor Rees
Writer
-
Albie Sachs
Albie Sachs
Justice Sachs was a leading member of the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He is now a member of South Africa's Constitutional Court, and has written and published widely on issues around gender, the law and human rights.
-
Dr Tom Shakespeare
Dr Tom Shakespeare
Dr Tom Shakespeare is a Research Fellow at The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre. He also currently holds a Fellowship from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) through which he works on writing and performance projects, exploring stories and characters related to genetics and disability.
-
Gwylim Simcock
Gwylim Simcock
Pianist and composer.
-
Tim Smit
Tim Smit
Tim Smit was born in Holland on 25 September 1954. He read Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. Tim worked for ten years in the music industry as composer/producer in both rock music and opera. In 1987 Tim moved to Cornwall he and John Nelson together ediscoveredi and then restored the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Tim remains a Director of the gardens to the present day. He has received a variety of national awards including The Royal Society of Arts Albert Medal. In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary CBE in the New Years Honours List.
-
Mike Stubbs
Mike Stubbs
Mike Stubbs, is Director and CEO of Liverpool's Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) having previously been Head of Exhibitions at the Australian Centre for Moving Image. He is also an artist.
-
Dr Sami Timimi
Dr Sami Timimi
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust.
-
Rose Tremain. Copyright Ellen Warner
Rose Tremain
Rose Tremain was named by Granta as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists' in 1983, and was a judge for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1988 and in 2000
-
Gemma Tumelty
Gemma Tumelty
NUS President
-
Tim Whitehead
Tim Whitehead
Saxophonist
