Literary festival taking place early October
The Poet Laureate, a newsreader, a Welsh theatre troupe and a congregation of crime writers are set to descend on Shoreham in October for this year’s Wordfest.
The Adur District Council-supported literary festival celebrates local creativity and attracts authors – and this year’s event is taking place from October 3rd – 16th.
Line-up of authors and poets at the event
There is a strong poetry theme this year, culminating with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, who will be heading to the Ropetackle Arts Centre with his band LYR on October 11th. The band will be performing tracks from their debut album Call in The Crash Team, which sets Simon’s spoken vocals to music.
Actors from The Dylan Thomas Theatre will be at Shoreham for a performance of the Welsh poet’s iconic drama Under Milk Wood at Shoreham Methodist Church on October 8th. Audiences will be transported to the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub where they will delve into the thoughts and dreams of characters.
At the festival launch there will be an open mic night of performance poetry and storytelling. Plus, a Poetry Pharmacy outside St Mary de Haura Church will be dispensing free personalised poems to passers-by on October 6th.
The festival will also highlight some of the hot topics in news and world events, with BBC newsreader and presenter Clive Myrie in conversation with Professor Ivor Gaber at St Mary de Haura Church on October 14th. Clive will discuss highlights of his career and share thoughts on international affairs, including his recent stint presenting live news from Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
Former Foreign Secretary and recent Conservative Party leadership Jeremy Hunt MP will be discussing his recent book Zero, Eliminating Preventable Harm and Tragedy in the NHS, at The Sir Robert Woodard Academy on October 12th. Expect to hear his proposition to prevent avoidable deaths, save money, reduce backlogs and improve working conditions.
Join authors Jon Alexander and Kate Hughes as well as the President of Sussex Wildlife Trust, Tony Whitbread, for an Environment Day summit at The Shoreham Centre on October 9th. There will be a series of talks and breakout sessions throughout the event as well as bookable walks to local environmental projects.
Fans of crime fiction have a whole day dedicated to the genre. Hosted by authors Elly Griffiths and William Shaw, the Fatal Shore Festival of Crime Writing will feature 19 crime novelists, including Kate Mosse, Dorothy Koomson and Vaseem Kahn, across nine sessions on October 15th.
Following the crime theme, Wordfest patron Simon Brett will be in conversation with Lynne Truss before performing his one-man play Lines of Enquiry on October 15th. Plus, actresses Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent will talk about co-writing their Channel 5 series, The Madame Blanc Mysteries, on October 16th.
For the full list of events and to buy tickets visit shorehamwordfest.com. Tickets can also be purchased from Shoreham Art Gallery and the Wordfest stall at Shoreham Market on August 13th and 27th and September 10th and 24th.
