Sian Norris is the director of the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival taking place at the Watershed on March 16 and 17. Writers and academics attending the inaugural festival include TV screenwriter Emilia di Girolamo, novelist and playwright Stella Duffy, and Orange Prize-winning writer Helen Dunmore.

Visit www.womensliteraturefestival.wordpress.com for more information.

Here are Sian’s top-five Bristol favourites:

Watershed
“Where else can I go see Zero Dark Thirty, Cabaret and The Red Shoes all in the same week? The Watershed is probably central to my social and cultural life in Bristol. Meeting friends for a drink on a Friday night, discovering there’s a talk happening over the weekend featuring my favourite writer and then going to see an old classic or discovering a hidden gem of a film that I’ll keep talking about for weeks. The staff are friendly, the ethos is so supportive of independent, DIY arts events such as the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival, and the helpings of their pasta dish of the day are always generous!”

Bristol Festival of Ideas
“It’s so wonderful that we have this fascinating, exciting and surprising programme of events here in Bristol. Over the years the festival has brought controversial, challenging, celebrated and always stimulating speakers to our city to trigger debate, ask questions and generally inspire. Last year I went to a few of the events on Angela Carter and sat, spellbound, as the writer’s life and work was brought to life for me again by those who knew her. Bristol Festival of Ideas is also so wonderfully supportive of innovation and creativity in the city.”

My mum’s cafe – Cafe on the Square
“Because, well, she’s my mum and she makes the most delicious chocolate tiffin. My mum rocks. She’s so supportive of events like the Literature Festival – the cafe has hosted two fundraisers and she baked a cake to offer as a prize for the festival quiz. Apparently her chicken, cheese and leek panini is the best panini in Bristol too.”

The first really sunny evening sat outside the Arnolfini
“Everyone probably puts this one down in their Bristol favourites, but who can blame us? It’s a Bristol cliché but at that first hint of spring or summer, the cry of ‘let’s go to the Arnolfini’ rings through the city and before you know it, the sun-drenched cobblestones are packed with sunglass-wearing beer drinkers, laughing and joking and watching the cormorants, gulls and swans flock on the river as the Matthew lazily sails past. I remember sitting there with my friend the summer before I left for university, and he told me about a picture he painted of the view where the steel cranes became giraffes. Every time I sit there at the start of summer, I see those giraffes.”

Clubs, pubs and live music
“I can’t really define one venue that captures my love of the Bristol music scene. As a teenager, I spent my nights raving at the now defunct Level club on Park Row, I went to nearly every Big Ting run by the Imperial Music gang (and some of my closest friends) that for five years lit up Cosies with a ‘baddest selection’ mix of reggae, hip hop, pop and techno. Some of the best gigs of my life have been at the Thekla – from Scout Niblett to Scratch Perverts to Matthew Herbert; Carl Craig at the now-closed Native; Bass Clef coming home to the Croft; venue-hopping at Dot to Dot; pop-up parties at the Motorcycle Showroom; and the eclectic Bristol-friendly line-ups at the Exchange. What I love about Bristol’s music scene is never knowing who you’re going to discover next, but knowing that whoever it is, they’ll probably become your new favourite band pretty sharp-ish.”