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16 Sep 02Words of Wonder at Poole's Literary Festival
Festival fever will be burning across Poole from 21 September until 12 October as the Borough holds its first 'Word and Book Festival' - a celebration of contemporary literature.
Murray Walker, the voice of Formula 1 motor racing for 20 years, will open the festival at WHSmith on 21 September at 2pm. Along with Murray, celebrities including Ellen McArthur and Mike Atherton plus some acclaimed authors will be visiting Poole Central Library, Ottakar's and WHSmith's during the festival.
Cllr Graham Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Community Development, said: "It is excellent that Poole is hosting an event that actively encourages people to read. The festival will showcase a large variety of styles and there will be something for everyone. It is schemes like this that get people thinking and learning which is good news for everyone."
The first two weeks of the event include writers such as the Whitbread Prize-Winner, Anne Thwaite and her husband Anthony Thwaite, the best selling novelist Josphine Cox as well as the festival's local star Imogen Parker who will be on hand to offer tips. On 2 October John Francome will be in conversation about his action packed best sellers, followed by authors Tim Clayton & Phil Craig on 3 October who tell an evocative story of human endeavour at a moment of crisis in World War Two.
Claire Chidley, Head of Culture & Community Learning for Poole, said: "A big thank you to Poole library staff and our partners Ottakar's and WHSmith, who have arranged such a high quality festival first time around. I hope local people will turn out in force to support events so we can make 'Poole's Word & Book Festival' bigger and better next year. They are already proving popular -our writing workshops have sold out! There's lots more on offer though so come and join in this great event. Who knows, in a few years time, we could have the biggest and best festival in the South West!"
All the writers involved in the festival are giving their time freely but there will be a small charge at some of the events to cover costs. Any profits made will be put back into further development of the library service in Poole.
\nShort biographies of some of the authors involved in Poole's Word & Book festival:
Anne Thwaite
Prize-winning author, famous for her biographies of A.A.Milne and Emily Tennyson.
Anthony Thwaite
Awarded an OBE for his services to poetry, a frequent book reviewer in the Sunday Telegraph and the Times Literary Supplement.
Ellen MacArthur
World class yachtswoman and the Sunday Times 'Woman of the Year'.
Julian Richards
Popular presenter of the BBC's 'Meet the Ancestors' and a professional archaeologist.
Josephine Cox
The UK's biggest-selling living writer of sagas topping the best-sellers lists with every release.
Nicola Thorne
Author of 'My Name is Martha Brown' - a captivating tale of the last person to be hanged on the gallows of Dorchester prison as witnessed by Thomas Hardy.
Jenny Colgan
Health worker turned novelist whose first novel's film rights were sold to Warner Bros.
Barbara Erskine
Internationally renowned novelist - her books combine historical and supernatural themes and have been translated into 23 languages.
Helen Smith
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