Tiverton Literary Festival announces literary line-up

Tiverton Literary Festival is back for its third year, giving book lovers the chance to meet top authors and offering aspiring writers the opportunity to learn from professionals on how to improve their craft.

Venues all around the historic Mid Devon market town will be buzzing with author activity from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 June 2017.

Headliners for the 2017 festival include Sunday Times bestseller and thriller writer Jane Corry, who will be in conversation with local author and BBC journalist Simon Hall. Showbiz legend Christopher Biggins and Devon’s own Judi Spiers are also set to make appearances at the Festival, as well as International bestseller Maeve Haran and one of the Queens of cosy crime, Rebecca Tope.

Other top names appearing over the four-day festival include bestselling author of sweeping Cornish sagas Liz Fenwick, award-winning performance poet Lucy English and top children’s authors Amy Sparkes, Dan Metcalf and Victoria Eveleigh.

On Sunday, there will be a female author panel with Amazon #1 creative writing guru Cathie Hartigan, Exeter Novel Prize winner Su Bristow, romantic comedy writer Jan Ellis and women’s fiction author Alison Knight. Each will discuss their own work and their journey to becoming successful authors.

Closing the festival on Sunday 25th will be the man of Exmoor himself, Johnny Kingdom. Much loved local character Johnny will share some of his famous West Country tales and show clips from his years of wildlife filming.

Aspiring authors will also get the chance to learn from the professionals at a range of workshops run by Jenny Kane, Alison Knight, Amy Sparkes and Cathie Hartigan. The workshops will cover topics including the vital elements of a story, writing for children, how to get published and writing for young adults.

Families are sure to enjoy the free Saturday Morning Story Walk around Tiverton, visiting secret locations with entertaining stories at each stop. Children aged 7-11 years can also try their hand at codebreaking with the writer of the Lottie Lipton Adventures, Dan Metcalf. 

Phoenix Lane café Elsie May’s will be holding Magical Teatime Stories for families on each night of the festival. Guests are invited to come in their best party clothes to enjoy high tea, make party hats and expect some magical surprises. Is that a tiger eating his tea?

Tiverton Literary Festival’s main sponsor is Tiverton Portas Company.  Portas Chair Sue Griggs said: “After the success of the past two years, we are really pleased to be holding another TivLitFest again this year. It is a great way to raise the profile of our town, and brings together a range of different people from our local community, as well as bringing a large number of visitors into the area. New volunteer festival organizers Rachel Gee from Tiverton Library, and Caro Bushnell from Tiverton Community Radio have worked extremely hard to get such a fantastic line-up. The weekend is full of events and authors to tempt readers from far and wide.”

Tickets for the festival will be available from Monday 15th May and range from £3 – £15. Event venues include Tiverton Library, Tiverton Town Hall, Tiverton Rugby Club, Tiverton Castle, Elsie May’s Café, The Oak Room and CreatTIV Hub.

The full line-up and ticket information can be found online at www.tivertonlitfest.co.uk/ or call Tiverton Library 01884 244644.  It’s not too late to volunteer, contact the library if you want to help at events or offer your services. Follow TivLitFest on social media for the latest updates:  facebook.com/tivlitfest, twitter.com/tivlitfest