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All you need to know about the 43rd Lancaster literature festival

Friday, 4 March 2022 09:52

By Greg Lambert X @greglam72

Author Joseph Coehlo will be part of The Big Read at Litfest 2022.

Beyond Radio has spoken to one of the team behind the 43rd Litfest - Lancaster's literature festival which starts on Tuesday (March 8).

The festival runs until March 20 and will bring the best in fiction, poetry, history, nature, writing, ideas and storytelling to the city.

Natalie Sorrell Charlesworth, Litfest director, said the event would be a celebration of literature and the arts, and accessible to all.

Listen to Natalie Sorrell Charlesworth talking about the line-up for Litfest 2022:

For the first time, Litfest will be a 'hybrid' festival, with events taking place in-person and online.

Most of the in-person events will be held at The Storey in Lancaster, with some taking place at Lancaster Library, Lancaster Castle and the Royal Kings Arms Hotel.

"We have always tried to celebrate the best of the local, but also the best of the national and international, and bring it to our community," said Natalie.

"We are an historic old city, we have a wonderful heritage and a vibrant cultural arts scene, and we want to be part of that.

"We want our audiences to be part of that as well. We don't want them to feel like it's something for the elite or just a privileged few.

"Literature and the arts, creativity, is a core principle for our community and we can all get involved in it and we can all enjoy it."

The festival begins this Tuesday (March 8), opening at 6pm with a photography exhibition at the Storey by local photographer Darren Andrews, featuring stunning photographs from his book 'Murmur'.

This will be followed at 7.30pm by an online talk by Rachel Holmes about her book 'Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel', to mark International Women's Day.

One of the stand out events will be The Litfest Big Read at The Storey on March 11.

This will feature author Joseph Coehlo reading from his book 'The Girl Who Became a Tree' for 11-15-year-olds, and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi reading from her book 'The First Woman' (16 plus). 

There will also be a Children's Festival including four special events on Saturday, March 12.

On March 13, author John Mullan will talk about the history of Charles Dickens in Lancaster, at the Royal Kings Arms Hotel, where Dickens stayed.

Darren Andrews will team up with Jon Carter from RSPB Leighton Moss on March 16, for a conversation about bird populations, migration, climate change and the challenges of wildlife photography.

The overall theme of Litfest 2022 will be 'This Place, This Planet'.

As part of this, celebrated environmental campaigner Dr Vandana Shiva will give the first ever 'Lancaster Environment Lecture', available online on Friday March 18.

Litfest will also tackle the issue of Lancaster's role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, in partnership with Lancaster University and the Lancaster Black History Group, exploring the legacy of slavery in Lancaster and how it affects our community and the wider world, with two events 'Lancaster and the Atlantic Slave Trade' on March 15 and 'Legacies of the Slave Trade' on March 20. 

A Poetry Day on March 19 will culminate with a reading by TS Eliot Prize winner, Roger Robinson. 

The festival will round off with acclaimed storyteller Dominic Kelly performing 'Crow' at the Storey on March 20.

For the full line-up of events and ticket details see here. 

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