Wakefield Literature Festival

date entered : 5th July 2012 area : Wakefield | Wakefield City category : Arts and Entertainment   Communities of Interest e.g.Older People

Wakefield’s first literature festival this autumn!

The Orangery has successfully bid for funding from Arts Council England to deliver what we believe to be Wakefield’s first literature festival this autumn! ‘Wakefield Lit Fest: A Festival of Reading and Writing’ will be programmed by Beam and will take place between 22- 30 September. The festival aims to help promote writing, reading and the enjoyment of literature for everyone. Festival events will include readings from nationally acclaimed writers, workshops with schoolchildren and young people, master classes for local writers, readers events, a book swap and a ‘Poetry Party’ event. We will also commission a new work to explore the place of writing and reading in a contemporary city centre, which will be performed as part of the festival. Beam, which manages The Orangery, will be working with a range of partners and advisors to deliver the festival —- including the Wakefield Express, Red Shed, the Poetry Business and Wakefield Libraries. This year’s festival forms part of longer-term ambitions for a regular literature celebration event in Wakefield and for The Orangery as a key cultural resource for the city. Beam Creative Director Robert Powell said: “We’re delighted to be offering The Orangery as an exciting new base for writing and reading in Wakefield. We’d be pleased to hear from anyone who’s involved in these activities and who may want to be part of the festival. The announcement of the ‘Wakefield Lit Fest’ comes at an exciting time for literature in Wakefield with the opening of the new library facility in Wakefield One. We’ve got some great writers in the area—- people like David Peace, Ian Clayton, and John Godber—- and we’re keen to show how writing and reading can be important and inspiring for everyone. We’re also very pleased to have the Wakefield Express as one of our key partners in the festival.”