Literary Festival 2018

Friday 16th - Sunday 18th November

The Serpent Stone: Between Two Worlds

Friday 16th November

10am - 1pm: Photography workshop with photographer Colin Dixon
Colin Dixon is a highly respected professional photographer and author, whose exhibition ‘Between Two Worlds: Living in Tashi Llunpo’  will be on show over the Festival weekend. Colin will be leading a practical photography workshop in and around the Museum. Includes tea/coffee and biscuits.
£10.00 (places are limited so must be prebooked)

2pm - 5pm: Theatre and script writing workshop with Theatre by the Lake
This is a new departure for the LitFest. Participants will learn about how to write for the theatre and produce a script of their own. The workshop will be led by Peter Macqueen, actor, fight director, director and writer. Peter has appeared in over twenty plays at Theatre by the Lake, where he is resident Fight Director. Includes tea/coffee and biscuits.
£10.00 (places are limited so must be prebooked)

7pm for 7.30pm: Prose, Poetry and the Sacred with Marie-Elsa Bragg
Marie-Elsa Bragg will open the Festival and explore her writing and her work. Her haunting debut novel Towards Mellbreak received much acclaim for its evocation of fell farming in Cumbria. Her second book, Sleeping Letters is due for publication this year. Marie-Elsa will be accompanied by singer Suzanne Bonnar. Includes wine and canapes.£10.00

Saturday 17th November

12 - 1pm: The Wordsworths: Between Two Worlds with Susan Allen
Susan Allen, Outreach Officer for the Wordsworth Trust, will present a session on the Wordsworths' view of nature and their awareness of the 'Other Worlds' which inspired William's poetry and Dorothy's journals.£5.00

1.30 - 2.30pm: Photographing Tibet with Colin Dixon
Colin is an acclaimed photographer now living in Cumbria. His book Light and Time accompanied an exhibition of sixty black and white photographs, and examined humanity's earliest interactions with landscape and the ways in which humankind has altered landscape and the environment. His exhibition ‘Between Two Worlds: Living in Tashi Llunpo’ will be part of the LitFest over the weekend, and will show the stunning colour photography Colin produced while living with the monks in this Tibetan monastery in India.£5.00

3pm - 4pm: Kathleen Jones - Catherine Cookson: A Secret Life
Kathleen is a well-respected biographer and a valued friend of the LitFest. In this session she will talk about her new, in-depth biography of Catherine Cookson, bringing together her two previous biographies of the writer and some fascinating new material.£5.00

4.30pm - 5.30pm: Running the Red Line with Julie Carter
Dr Julie Carter is a champion fell runner whose first book Running the Red Line has just been published to acclaim. As a doctor and sportswoman she explores the idea of 'flow' - that moment in sport, art and life where we transcend ourselves into an effortless moment beyond time and space, truly 'between two worlds'. Julie will also be launching her first poetry collection Is it Serious...? £5.00

7.30pm: Murder at the Litfest with Mark McCrum
Travel writer and artist Mark McCrum has changed direction and written two murder mysteries, both out this year. The Festival Murders and  Cruising to Murder explore the occasionally murky world of literary festivals and the contrast between literary fiction and our darkest impulses! £5.00

Sunday 18th November

10am - 1pm: Memoir writing workshop with Mark McCrum
Join Mark McCrum for an inspiring re-imagining of the not-so-gentle art of memoir writing. Includes tea/coffee and biscuits. £10.00 (places are limited so must be prebooked)

1.30pm - 2.30pm: Angela Locke - Re-imagining the Gods: Mrs Mullett and the Cloak of Gaia.
Angela’s new book is the sequel to Mr Mullet Owns a Cloud, her popular adult/children’s book set in Cumbria, and later serialised in Cumbria Life. Suitable for adults and children, the session looks at the way we imagine, and relate to, the ancient gods in a modern setting, in this case a fell farm in Cumbria. Angela will be launching a Poetry Competition ‘Imagining the Gods’ during the session. The competition will be open to 8-11 yr olds and 12 –16yr olds, alongside a series of workshops after Christmas at the Museum. £5.00

3pm - 4pm: Stepping into 'Tree Time' with Harriet and Rob Fraser
Harriet and Rob Fraser’s repeated encounters with seven remarkably ordinary trees across Cumbria, in all weathers, all seasons, night and day, took them on a personal and collective journey which they capture in photographs, prose and poetry in The Long View. They have walked to these trees with hundreds of other people, celebrated them and made temporary art works with them, and asked questions including: How does our relationship with trees change as we get to know them better? How do they inspire creativity? And what can we do for them and their wider environment? £5.00

4.30pm - 5.30pm: From mines to Mountains: Early history of the Cumberland Coast with Chris Donaldson
Chris will be exploring the developments around Whitehaven's mining industry and connections with America, how the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, for example, grew up simultaneously. How poets such as Wordsworth were very aware of what was happening on the West Coast, and early poetry was being written locally in the 1700s to reflect the explosion of growth in Whitehaven and the West Coast. Chris is a historian lecturing at Lancaster University and this is his second book. £5.00

6pm: Cumbria poetry published by Handstand Press
Poets read a selection of their poems published in a new anthology by Handstand Press ‘This Place I Know’. Hosted by Grevel Lindop. Followed by an open-mic. £5.00

Day tickets for Saturday and Sunday: £10.00 / day for all events except the Sunday morning workshop

Tickets are available from the museum, credit and debit cards accepted

Telephone on 01900 816168

The Festival is supported by Arts Council England and Allerdale Borough Council