Guest Blog Post – The Flavel Arts Centre
Dartmouth adds yet another festival to its repertoire with the launch of an exciting new Book Festival.
Town welcomes Jonathan Dimbleby, John Suchet and Jo Loosemore.
Dartmouth is drawing in the crowds again for yet another festival to add to the town’s already busy festival calendar. The town already hosts Dartmouth Food Festival, Dartmouth Music Festival, Dartmouth Beer Festival and Dartmouth Regatta. The addition of Dartmouth Book Festival 2024 is an exciting new venture led by The Flavel Arts Centre, in partnership with Browser Books, Dartmouth Community Bookshop and Dartmouth Library.
We have created a busy programme of events over the two days, 20th and 21st September 2024. This collaborative book festival is a first for Dartmouth, and we hope that it will join the other hugely successful festivals in the town and become an annual event. The festival covers several themes, including the environment, historical fiction, crime writers, and general fiction. Also, given that 2024 is the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, we have a section on this subject, particularly since Exercise Tiger took place on Slapton Beach just down the road.
We are delighted that Jonathan Dimbleby will be returning to The Flavel for this event to talk about his new book, Endgame 1944: How Stalin Won the War. He is an acclaimed author and esteemed broadcaster, having worked for both the BBC and ITV. We are also very pleased that our new patron, John Suchet will be interviewing him. John will also be talking about his own latest book: In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey. John is recognised as an authority on Ludwig van Beethoven, and this is the most recent of several books on the composer. He is a previously well-known TV reporter and broadcaster and is now a regular presenter on Classic FM.
Jo Loosemore, BBC producer, presenter and theatre lover, will be performing her one-woman show: A Christie Mystery by Randall David Cook, as well as interviewing other authors. We have a host of participating authors including Tim Pears, Liz Fenwick, Felicity Fair-Thompson, Anna Turns, Stephanie Austin, TP Fieldon and many more. We have involved a variety of local groups and organisations in the festival and have organised some events specifically for local school children. Also taking part are members of Britannia Museum Trust, Dartmouth History Research Group, and the Poetry Group.
Liz Fenwick’s book, The Secret Shore has been chosen for The Big Book Club Read, which invites book club members to read this title, and to attend Liz’s talk and discussion session. For all you writers out there, we have a workshop on creative writing and one on self-publishing, also a Poetry Pick and Mix session, and an exciting workshop led by illustrators Josie Birch and Bethan Welby where children will create their own folded books, and an amazing storytelling event: Murderous Princesses and Gentle Giants in South Devon for our younger book fans. There will be something for everyone, and we look forward to welcoming you to Dartmouth’s first Book Festival in September!
Book your tickets here: https://theflavel.org.uk/TheFlavel.dll/WhatsOn?pg=8325288&sp=9173505
For more Information Contact:
Lindsay Ellwood (Chair of Book Festival) lindsay.ellwood@btinternet.com
Tara Ely (Programme Manager, The Flavel) tara@theflavel.org.uk 01803 839530
