Shipston Bookfest

Shipston Bookfest programme now live -  www.shipstonbookfest.org

Events are running from 21^st - 29^th September in various locations across the town.

On the first Sunday, we open with a double-bill of events. We start at 3pm with a panel of 4 hugely successful female authors who all write psychological thrillers. Discussing how they write nail-biting suspense and complex characters, this promises to be a sparkling start to our season. This is immediately followed by a LAUNCH PARTY for the Bookfest, featuring local authors and creatives, many of whom will be the stars of events during Bookfest week. Come and meet them for FREE from 5pm. Both events take place in the Townsend Hall.

There are events on throughout the week: on Tuesday, the Shipston & District Literary Society host actor Anton Lesser (Endeavour, Game of Thrones) as he discusses transforming the written word to the screen. On Wednesday, Shipston author Sue Law and the Shipston Amateur Dramatics Society will help bring to life Sue’s book, the Dark Side of the Cut, about crimes and misdemeanours on Victorian canals. Join the Thirst Edition on Thursday as they host a themed evening: Sherlock Holmes is in Shipston and has a new murder to solve.

As we hit the weekend, we have a star-studded programme of events! On Friday night we welcome Dame Prue Leith to the Bookfest, talking about her incredible career including 21 cookbooks, 5 novels and her television roles on The Great British Bake-Off and Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen.

Saturday 28^th September is packed: acclaimed author Val Bourne joins us at 11am for a talk on organic gardening, and from 12 noon Stratford-based crime author Angela Dandy will treat us to a literary lunch in partnership with The Bower House. Angela’s fourth novel in her series The Silveries, Silver Lining, launches at the event! At 3pm, we are excited to bring debut novelist PJ Ellis to Shipston; his romantic comedy Love and Other Scams is funny, clever and bang on trend.

Our final Saturday event is Sunday Times multi-million copy bestselling author Adele Parks. Talking us through an illustrious career and sharing her latest novel, First Wife’s Shadow with us, this is an exceptional event and not to be missed.

Our adult programme concludes on Sunday with 2 great events. Sophie Flynn, author of 4 novels, will lead a creative workshop on how to get published, and finally Simon Mason, Oxford author, will close the Bookfest with a talk about his crime novels; described as the “Morse for the 2020s”, Simon’s stories are sharp and poignant.

Finally, Bookfest is running a number of children’s events all of which are FREE, with authors visiting both the Primary & High Schools, and the Youth Group. We are excited to bring Emily Lloyd-Gale, a picture book author, to Shipston Library for a special story time on Saturday 29^th September, and Calypso Kids will be running a special books, music and crafts session for us on the Sunday morning. For these 2 events, please book a ticket via our website to reserve a space.

This Bookfest is only possible through the generous help of sponsors, fund-raising and ticket sales, so please do come along and support us and make the Bookfest a new annual feature in Shipston’s amazing community.

Details of all the events can be found at www.shipstonbookfest.org or scan the QR code. A Bookfest programme will be distributed in September and available across the town, but book early to avoid disappointment as some of our events have limited capacity. You can also come and meet the Bookfest team at the Shipston Lions second hand book sale on Saturday 21^st September.

We look forward to meeting you and enjoying Bookfest together.