An incredibly imaginative programme of events has been unveiled for this year’s Essex Book Festival.
Thought-provoking talks, readings, exhibitions and installations will be taking place throughout March at our Colchester and Southend campuses plus venues across Essex.
The Art Council-backed Festival is led by Director Ros Green based in the Centre for Creative Writing in our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies (LiFTS). Other key partners include Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
Festival highlights at our campuses
Highlights will include: Vince Cable speaking in the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall; Louis de Bernières at our new Essex Business School Lecture Hall; Art Exchange holding a series of events with top writers including Chris McCully and Max Porter; and The Forum Southend-on-Sea hosting a Children’s Detective Workshop and Local Authors’ Day while also welcoming writers Hamid Ismailov, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Andrew Lownie.
Other events include Professor Jeffrey Geiger speaking at Lakeside Theatre as part of our Professorial Inaugural Series and Adaptation in LTB10 of our Colchester Campus which will screen new short films by Essex students.
Pushing back the boundaries - creating new collaborations
This year the Festival is also developing new projects to encourage creative collaborations, make us think differently about our world and encourage us to reflect in new ways on our experiences. This includes writing laboratories in January and February led by LiFTS writers.
Writing on the Inside will celebrate new writing created through a collaboration between the Festival, HM Prison and Youth Offending Institution Chelmsford, Essex Libraries, English PEN and the University which will run a series of workshops with prisoners.
The Thinking and Writing Home Weekend at Firstsite curated by Ros and Professor Sanja Bahun from LiFTS will include a day of readings, panel discussions, stories and workshops on Saturday culminating in a building a boat ceilidh followed by book-making workshops and the Essex Camarade - a collaborative poetry event.
Exhibition and Writer-in-Residence
Art Exchange will have an exhibition reflecting on the Festival’s theme of ‘home’ from 19 February to 19 March curated by artists Damian and Delaine Le Bas while writer-in-residence – their son - Damian James Le Bas will ‘occupy’ the space outside the Silberrad Student Centre for three days alongside giving a talk at Art Exchange and taking part in the Home Weekend at Firstsite.
Our alumni join the Festival
Many events are also linked to Essex alumni including John Ashdown-Hill speaking at Wivenhoe Library and writers connected to Patrician Press, established by Essex alumna Patricia Borlenghi, reading work at Wivenhoe Bookshop.
Find out more
Pick up a programme at our campuses including our arts venues or visit the Festival website at: essexbookfestival.org.uk