We are delighted to announce that a three-day Literary Festival will take place in St Clémentin, Deux-Sèvres, France, from Friday, August 31st to Sunday, September 2nd, 2012.
This will be the first-ever festival of its kind in this region of France. It is open to English and French authors, publishers and booksellers. It is already attracting a great deal of interest both locally and elsewhere.
We are delighted that well known British authors Helen Dunmore, Roisin McCauley, Katherine Gallagher, Duncan Falconer, The Linen Press, and poet David Cooke have at present accepted our invitation to attend.
The festival will also be celebrating French writing, and amongst the French authors who have accepted our invitation are Michel Cordeboeuf and Isabelle Soulard.
In all, more than thirty French and British authors will be participating. There will be readings, conferences, discussions, book-signings and workshops.
Robert Jessep, a master of the guitar, has especially recorded for us ‘Brigg Fair’, which will be our theme music for the event. By following the link, you can listen in advance to the beauty of the melody. (That should have been the case - but google blogger didn't think that people might want to listen to music. Unless any reader can tell me how to do it.)
We also have a great opportunity for authors and independent publishers.
A new bookshop, has recently opened in Bressuire, a small town near us. The shop is run by a young, enthusiastic Frenchman, who is fluent in English. He is going to be closely involved in the literary festival, and is interested in selling English language books to the large English community in the area. I don't know how easy it is for you to place your books in shops, but here is an opportunity to have your work on the shelves. Email me either at wordswritingbooks(at)gmail.com or leave a comment here and I will give you further details.
St Clementin is God’s own country. There is silence, no light pollution, no pollution at all, only pure beauty. It is also the perfect place to holiday as well as enjoying the festival, so you might want to plan a few extra days to savour the area.
This is a non-profit venture. The mayor and the people of St. Clémentin are very supportive, volunteering their services – transport, marshalling, fund-raising and accommodation.
We cannot stress enough how much we need your support for our inaugural event, which we hope will be the first of many. Who knows, perhaps when we celebrate our 25th festival, you will be able to say, ‘I had a hand in starting that.’
If you are able to help at all, either by way of a donation, or a gift for the prize draw, we would be very grateful. If you happen to live in this area, the offer of accommodation for one of our attending authors, or a ride to and from the airport would be most helpful.
And if I can be of any help at all in reserving tickets for any particular author(s) you may want to meet, then please contact me wordswritingbooks(at)gmail.com or leave a comment here.