Sound Communications is delighted to have a new client on board – the Verbal Arts Centre, a provider of verbal arts services to schools and the community for almost 20 years.  The VAC has delivered community relations programmes province- wide, language arts based projects and literacy projects, the Centre’s aim being, that everyone has a story to tell and inviting them to “tell your story”.

As they are “all about books”, the Verbal Arts Centre uses books to deliver its programmes and projects. The Centre, through its social economy enterprise, called Verbal Media now offers a full design and print service based in the Derry City Centre where they offer design for print and web, print only and publish books.

As hosts of the Northern Ireland 2D Comic Book Festival, the Centre has an illustrator in residence who organises the festival.  The Centre has just celebrated the 4^th successful year of the festival, building on its reputation as a leader in comic book projects and publisher and offering a unique “graphic facilitation” service.

The Verbal Arts Centre also designs and publishes Verbal Magazine – a monthly publication featuring poets and writers and other verbal media contributors.  

Sound Communications is looking forward to working with the Centre and would like to wish their team all the best in promoting their services to the third sector, arts organisations and the wider business community.

Derry~Londonderry has made history today after winning its bid to be the first ever UK City of Culture in 2013. At 7:30pm today, it was announced that Northern Ireland’s maiden city had won the judging panel’s vote, over the three other shortlisted cities Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield to take the prestigious title.

The momentous win means that in 2013 Derry~Londonderry will play host to a year-long celebration of culture in the city, opening its doors to visitors from across the world. It is anticipated that people will come in their thousands to experience the cultural life that has been at Derry’s heart for generations.

The team behind the successful UK City of Culture 2013 bid has described the wave of euphoria across the city following this outstanding achievement is just the beginning in the telling of a new story for the region.

There are four core programmes within the city’s ambitious 2013 programme which aim to deliver significant change: Unlocking Creativity focusing on children and young people, Digital Dialogue as the UK Digital Cultural Champion, Creative Connections offering an international cultural programme of events, and Telling a New Story which will create a cultural platform to explore issues of identity. The city’s promise for 2013 is to connect and reconnect people through culture.