Here at the lofty Transworld tower of art we heard on the grapevine about a sporting contest that happens every four years between teams from all over the world. Having learned about said tournament we decided to adopt it and give it our own spin - after all Unseen Academicals is all about football and being the newest Discworld creation it seemed aptly timed by the literary Gods upstairs to send out the inspiration for the DISCWORLD CUP!

The Discworld Cup is a competition contested by the books of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

The format of the tournament involves 32 teams (otherwise known as books) competing for the title of Favourite Discworld Book 2010 over a period of one month. The 32 teams that start the tournament are made of every Discworld novel in the series, except for those aimed at younger readers and The Last Hero, which was officially known as a Discworld Fable*. Sir Terry Pratchett himself randomly selected the books through a highly scientific process.

Having got this far we realised that a tournament of this sort needs a very shiny, trophy for one lucky participant to kiss and wave about and make everyone else feel thoroughly jealous. Created by the elusive Sergeant Braille we have a cup to rival all other cups! (see below) So to be in with a chance to win the highly covetable, scarily limited edition Discworld Cup make your voice heard and cheer on your favourite Discworld book, I mean team, no I mean book.

 All the terms and conditions and voting can be found at www.discworldcup.co.uk head on  over and make your vote count!

*The decision to omit certain books was made purely to balance the competition with 32 titles and stay true to a similarly named tournament that takes place every four years. Any issues with this see the management.

There are just a few days left to head down to your local newsagents and pick up a copy of SFX Magazine issue 196. ‘And why should we do that?’ I hear you cry, well because it’s guest edited by Sir Terry Pratchett that’s why!

Sir Pratchett headed to Bath to the SFX offices where he camped down, bacon sandwich in hand, to work at the hard graft of what should and more importantly shouldn’t, be included in this month’s issue.

 It’s a Discworld extravaganza, make sure you pick up your copy today!

Well what a place to start! The wonderful chaps at MOB films have very graciously decided to have two fan days on the set of Going Postal, the new Terry Pratchett adaptation for Sky in Budapest. Fans of the Discworld Universe have been invited to apply as extras for the film submitting their details and photograph to a member of the production department. Starring Charles Dance, Richard Coyle, Claire Foy and Andrew Sachs!

Further details can be found on Sandra Kidby’s website PJSM prints.

The deadline for applications is 8 p.m. on Wednesday 29th July 2009, so get cracking!

 PJSM Prints Website 

For months now we’ve been excited about the National’s adaption of Terry Pratchett’s children’s novel Nation. The date the tickets go on sale has been firmly red rimmed on our calendar, more important than birthdays, anniversaries and summer weddings! Much to our surprise and immense pleasure the lovely chaps at the National are opening up the ticket lines a day early for hardcore Pratchett fans!! Follow the steps below to make sure you don’t miss out on what is going to be the hottest ticket in town!!

 NATION

Based on a novel by Terry Pratchett

Adapted by Mark Ravenhill

Oh I think you think I want to eat you but – no no no – I am offering you afternoon tea – over there – in one hour.

A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau’s village and left Daphne shipwrecked on his South Pacific island, thousands of miles from home. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress; neither speaks the other’s language; somehow they must learn to survive. As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe’s fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.

Following War Horse, His Dark Materials and Coram Boy, the National stages Mark Ravenhill’s exhilarating adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s latest witty and challenging adventure story.

There’s no demons, no gods. Just me. And the waves and the sun and birth and death. And there’s no reason for anything. I’m sorry: that’s just the way it seems to me.

From 11th November
Suitable for 10yrs+

Olivier Theatre
World Premiere

Cast includes: Gary Carr, Emily Taaffe
Director: Melly Still
Set Designers: Melly Still with Mark Friend
Costume Designer: Dinah Collin
Lighting Designer: Paul Anderson
Projection Designer: Jon Driscoll
Music: Adrian Sutton
Sound Designer: Paul Arditti

PRIORITY ONLINE BOOKING FOR TERRY PRATCHETT FANS, MONDAY 29 JUNE

Fans of Terry Pratchett can book their tickets online ahead of the general public on Monday 29 June. To access priority online booking please follow the instructions below:

1. Go to www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/buytickets and select Nation from the list of productions
2. In the box on the right hand side of the screen labelled ‘Promotion code’ enter the code 1987 and click enter.
3. You should then click on the date that you would like to book for.
4. Once you have selected your chosen date, you can select where in the theatre you would like to sit and how many tickets you would like to buy.
5. If you have not booked tickets at the National Theatre before, at this stage you will need to register your details before you can purchase your tickets. If you have purchased tickets before, at this stage you will need to log in before payment.
6. Once registered or logged in, proceed to check out.

Then hey presto! We’ll see you there!