Fans of Isaiah Berlin will be well aware that the creative world breaks down into foxes and hedgehogs. Those of you who bound through this world with a foxlike approach will doubtlessly adore the upcoming YARN festival, which offers us yet another chance to get multi-disciplinary.

Or to lazily assemble the rest of this post by hacking about their press release…

YARN is a brand new festival celebrating story and storytelling – showcasing film, theatre, music and literature and providing a platform for mixing them all up! It’s all about fun and exploration, devoted to letting the imagination run wild.

The first YARN festival will take place 20 – 24 Feb 2010, across The Book Club and The Queen of Hoxton venues in East London.

YARN will include Literary Death Match – The Paper Cinema – Short Film Programmes and most interestingly for YOU sat there reading this – 4 Stories High.

4 Stories High is one of the key events for YARN.

Take Homer’s Odyssey, divide the story into 12 sections; 3 x filmmakers, 3 x theatre groups, 3 x novelists/storytellers and 3 x musicians to take one section each and tell that section of the story in their medium.

Put them all back together in story order, and let a terrific evening’s viewing unfold.

What’s in it for participants?

You get to champion your medium, pitting it against other storytelling forms. You get to tell a section of one of the greatest stories ever written, but in your own voice and style.

At the end of the night the audience will be asked to vote for their favourite section. The makers of that section will walk away with the door money for the event, a guaranteed minimum of £200.

How does it work?
• We will give you a one sheet which will give you a brief synopsis of the story that we’d like you to cover; indicate the section of the original story your section will cover (so that you can bug up on the original and find any elements that you’d like to bring back into your own retelling!); and the beginning and ending that will need to be covered so that it will slot in perfectly with the sections that come before and after!
• You make your section any way you see fit! It needs to be between 30secs and 8 minutes but that’s pretty much it! You can bring more story elements to it, or keep it very simple and to the point; you can set it now or way back when; you can make it with just one person or thousands! The only thing we asked is stay focused on the story, that’s the important bit. YARN would like to keep in touch with you during the process, but the creative is your bit, not ours, so we promise not to interfere.
• Sections ready by Friday 12th February.
• Be around to see it all come together on Tuesday 23rd February at the Queen of Hoxton, and hopefully walk away with some tasty prize money!

More information here: http://www.yarnfest.com