THE
SWLF
WRITING COMPETITION
Opens17th April
Closes 30th June
Shortlist announced during August,
Winners announced
1st September
Entry £3
Prose, Poetry or Creative Non Fiction
Please read the guidelines Here
Saturday 23rd September
Harbury Village Hall, South Parade, Harbury, Warwickshire CV33 9JE
10-4.30pm
Thank you to our sponsors Tool Connection, Inside Homes & SGPM Ltd
Hello and welcome to the South Warwickshire Literary Festival 2023. We have a wonderful line-up this year and tickets are now on sale at a reasonably priced £8 (plus a 20p charge). Please note however that if you'd like to attend one of our brilliant and inspiring workshops you must pre-book by email (but at no extra cost). Simply buy your ticket then email us with your name and ticket reference number and let us know your workshop preference. Better be quick though, 'cause when the spaces are gone, well, - you know the rest!
We will be hosting the festival from the lovely village of Harbury, S Warks. New this year is our lunchtime open mic session. If you've bought your ticket and feel brave enough to tread the boards in front of a live audience bring a short piece of your work to read and see what happens! The event will be compered by author Gwyneth Box.
The hall has good wheelchair access. There is limited parking at the front of the hall and there is a small car park two minutes walk away. Our Cake Team will be with us again, so stand by for tea, coffee, cakes and other deliciousnesses. Is that even a word? It is now.
And because we can, we'll also be having a raffle!
10am Festival Opens
MAIN HALL - AUTHOR TALKS
plus lunchtime open mic & raffle
10.30 Author talk from Dr Claire Millington. Claire is an archaeologist and will be talking about writing for children, specifically for 9-12 year olds, respecting them as readers and providing reassurance for what could be quite scary topics. Children reading now have to cope with a lot of disruption and fear, and Claire will be addressing that writing now needs to reflect their needs particularly.
11.10 Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate Emily Hunt plus runner up Amelie Friess, plus Winners of the SWLF Writing Competition.
11.50 Womag author and creative writing tutor Gabrielle Mullarkey. Introducing writing for wellbeing and personal development, Gabrielle will look at aspects such as creative journalling and free writing, explaining how this approach can foster creativity, mine your subconscious and help you look at your writing process in a new light.
12.30 Author Celia Rees. Leamington author Celia is the author of the much-commended Witch Child. She will be talking about her transition from YA to adult author, and how she came to write her current fascinating novel Miss Graham's War. It would seem some family secrets are destined to remain just that!
1.00pm Lunch and Open Mic
2.15 Author Erin Green. Erin is published with Headline Publishing group and agented by DHH literary Group. Once a self-confessed 'secret writer' she will be discussing her journey to publication: how she goes about starting a brand-new book, the process, the planning, the research, the use of real-life experiences and memories, creating her cast of characters, the physical task/routines of writing, and how she combats the struggle to edit. She also discusses the stages after the book is written - what happens regarding editors/publishing house. She will also give us some insights into life as an author.
3.20pm Louise Boland, Fairlight Books. We're delighted to welcome CEO and founder of Fairlight Books Louise Boland. Fairlight are publishers and promoters of high quality original fiction as well as supporting short story writing. Many of their authors have been shortlisted for writing prizes, not least the Women's Prize for Fiction.
FARLEY ROOMS - WORKSHOPS
BOOKINGS FOR WORKSHOPS ARE ONLY BEING TAKEN BY EMAIL. TO CONFIRM YOUR PLACE ON A WORKSHOP PLEASE EMAIL southwarwickshirelitfest@gmail.com with your name, order id and workshop preference
10.30 WORKSHOP 1 - CREATIVE NON FICTION SOLD OUT
Alyson Morris and Poppy Sall are Doctors of Philosophy specialising in Creative Nonfiction. In this workshop they will focus on life writing exercises using prose and experimental poetry. The aim is to have fun! Alyson and Poppy want you to leave their workshop buzzing with ideas and an enthusiasm to write!
10.30 WORKSHOP 2 - BASIC PRESENTATION & PERFORMANCE SKILLS FOR WRITERS
Breathe out; Speak out. However good we may be with the written word, not all writers are born performers and fear of public speaking is believed to affect up to 75% of the population. Join Gwyneth for a session where we aim to overcome some of these fears and reservations and explore some techniques to help you to present your work in public with confidence. (Note that this is not a workshop in improv or slam poetry techniques: it is suitable for writers of all genres.)
To book a place on this workshop please email us at southwarwickshirelitfest@gmail.com quoting your order ID number. Thank you. ONLY 8 PLACES LEFT!
11.50 WORKSHOP 3 - WRITING THE FUNNY
with Fran Hill. Join Leamington author Fran practising features of comic writing such as exaggeration, anticlimax, irony and incongruities. Experiment with joke writing until you get the most funny from it and finish off with funny haiku writing - using the 'surprise' ending to get the laugh.
To book a place on this workshop please email us at southwarwickshirelitfest@gmail.com quoting your order ID number. Thank you. ONLY 8 PLACES LEFT!
11.50 WORKSHOP 4 - ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS FOR SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS. ONLY 9 PLACES LEFT!
Successful self-published author Melissa Addey talks entrepreneurial Skills for Authors where she explores five core pillars all writers can adopt to develop a more entrepreneurial approach and build a thriving writing career.
To book a place on this workshop please email us at southwarwickshirelitfest@gmail.com quoting your order ID number. Thank you.
THE
SWLF
WRITING COMPETITION
Opens17th April
Closes 30th June
Shortlist announced during August, Winners announced
1st September
Entry £3
Prose, Poetry or Creative Non Fiction
Please read the guidelines Here
