The annual Lancaster Litfest has been hailed as a huge success, with even more literary events planned in the coming weeks.
The 2023 event consisted of fifty participating artists and speakers, three exhibitions, six venues, and around 1,400 audience members enjoying a packed programme.
With author events, participation opportunities and drop-in activities, Lancaster’s 44th Annual Literature Festival returned to the city across ten days last month.
This year the festival explored how the past is shaping the decisions we make and the legacies we will leave for the future through fiction, illustration, poetry, history, nature writing, exhibitions, idea exchanges and storytelling.
And if you missed any of the festival events, there’s the chance to catch up on any events you missed via www.YouTube.com/litfest for 30 days.
Although the festival is over, there’s lots coming up over the next few weeks and months:
· There’s still time to enter the Big Read Challenge and have the chance to win prizes by reading one of this year’s fantastic chosen books: Cynthia Murphy’s Last One to Die, or Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s Noah’s Gold.
· Delayed returning from a humanitarian trip to Ukraine, Norwegian novelist Roy Jacobsen will now be coming to the Litfest International (Zoom) Fiction Book Club at 6.30pm on 17 April to discuss his novel The Unseen. To receive a Zoom link to join the book club, simply email litfestbill@gmail.com.
· On 20 April, Litfest and Lancaster Arts are delighted to welcome legendary reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson to the Nuffield Theatre at Lancaster University. He will be joined in a conversation about his life’s work by writer Jacqueline Crooks for an unforgettable evening of poetry, prose and discussion. All tickets are £12.
· On 25 April, Vietnamese novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of best-selling The Mountains Sing, who was awarded a PhD in Creative Writing by Lancaster University, will launch her latest novel Dust Child at The Storey, Lancaster.
· In May, author, journalist and campaigner George Monbiot will deliver the popular Lancaster Environment Lecture at Lancaster University – this year the subject will be ‘Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet’ – one of the most difficult challenges facing humanity today. Although in-person tickets for this free event are now booked up, you can join us online via Crowdcast – simply reserve your place via the Litfest website.
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