A three-day festival is heading to the borough next weekend where people can meet and learn from leading authors, illustrators and poets.
The Gedling Book Festival will take place from Friday, June 12 until Sunday, June 14 at Arnot Hill House, Arnot Hill Park.
For the first time the festival is being held in the iconic Arnot Hill House building in the centre of Arnot Hill Park, Arnold. Over the three days there’ll be talks from an array of local and national authors, storytelling, children’s activities and more.
The event, organised by New Writers UK with support from Gedling Borough Council, Haarts and Waterstones, is free and will have different themes over the weekend. On Friday it’s General Fiction Day. Acclaimed crime novelist Stephen Booth will be hosting a talk as will authors Alison Moore, Eve Makis, John Baird and David Ebsworth.
Saturday is Children’s Day, children can come along and dress up as their favourite Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or another one of their favourite literary characters and take part in story-telling. Steve Bowkett will be presenting creative writing workshops for young people and New Writers UK will also be launching their creative writing competition and Katy Perry tribute act, Kaylie Perry, will return to perform during the day.
The festival’s final day on Sunday is Non-Fiction Day. There’ll be talks from Professor Alison Milbank on Tolkien, Dr Nick Thom will be discussing ancient history and Frank Earp will be talking about the A-Z of curious Nottinghamshire. In addition, Notts resident and 60’s rock and roller, Vince Eager, will be revealing just what it was like to be on tour with greats like Billy Fury, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.
The festival organiser and New Writers UK Founder and President, Julie Malone said; “There’s such a tremendous buzz about this event and the response from visitors is always so positive. It’s a fun event but also inspirational and a great pleasure to be involved in.”
Councillor John Clarke, Leader of Gedling Borough Council said; “The Gedling Book Festival is going from strength to strength every year and we’re delighted to be holding it in Arnot Hill House this year. We’re huge supporters of ways to get children to read more and the work New Writers UK do with young people is fantastic. It promises to be a great weekend.”
