But I Know This City!

But I Know This City! is a unique and intimate free performance by 100 people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nottingham-based novel The Unfortunates by B.S Johnson. Acclaimed as one of the great post-war experimental novels, the 27 separately bound chapters (other than the first and last) can be read in any order.

For Being Human Festival 2019, 100 readers will be taking on the role of B.S. Johnson. Spreading out across the city of Nottingham in which the book is set – in bookshops, pubs, churches, homes and a host of atmospheric nooks and crannies – this event brings the celebrated novel to life by inviting you to explore the city centre to visit up to 25 different (and often highly unusual) locations to piece together a deeply moving and evocative work.

You can begin the event at any time from 10am through to 3pm in the Lounge, at Broadway Cinema, with readings of the First chapter happening every half an hour. The Final chapter will be read from 3.30pm through to 10pm, also every half an hour. You will be given a map and will be free to plot your own journey through the city and the novel.

The event starts and ends at Broadway from 10am and runs through to 10pm. To download a map and details on how to take part in the event, please go to www.excavate.org.uk or pick up a leaflet at Broadway.

This event is part of Being Human Festival 2019, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, and is funded by The University of Nottingham.