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Southam Book Festival 2023

 

Bookfest 2023 will take place on Sunday October 8th at the Grahams Adams Centre again.

It will run from 11am to 4pm.

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Entry is free to both the exhibition and to speaker sessions.

See Timetable for the day below.

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Last year the main hall was full to capacity with eager exhibitors, not only individual local authors and writing groups, but poets, publishers, a bookbinder and other associated  trade crafts. Book lovers had a field day browsing the stalls and taking part in the various talks and panel discussions. And as usual tea and home made cakes were a feature of the day.

 

Once again, we'll fill the GAC main hall with authors, illustrators, story-tellers, poets, publishers, book sellers, book collectors, bookbinder/restorer - in fact anyone who supports the written/spoken word as an art form. This year we will have more children's activities such as story-telling, book reading and maybe even a talk on how to tell stories in a way to capture a child's imagination.

 

We will also have a number of speakers and panel discussions.

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The Flash Fiction short story competition is up and running again - get your entries in before September 10th.

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We had lots of positive feedback for our second "Book in the Window" shop display competition last year, so watch out for this years entries.

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And of course the cafe will be open for hot drinks and lots of yummy cakes, staffed by our brilliant volunteers. The cafe is however cash only.

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A big THANK YOU goes out to our sponsors the Books Trade Charity whose continuing donations enable us make the festival a success.

Festival Timetable 2023

 

This is a summary of events - more details can be found on the related pages.

PLACE
Main Hall

Oak Room


Oak Room



Main Hall


Oak Room



Oak Room


Children's Room

Oak Room



Main Hall


Main Hall


All

TIME
11:00

11:30


12:15



13:00


13:15



14:00


14:20


14:45



15:30


15:45


16:00

EVENT
Festival Opens

Chris Burleigh: Smile, it could be verse!
A fun workshop for 8 years to adult.

Jo de Lancey
Tips and experiences of self-publishing - what works and the pitfalls to watch out for.

Flash Fiction
Winning entry revealed!

Nikky Smedley: Play. Laugh. Shut Up.
Secrets of non-verbal communication with children (from her TedX Talk).

Penny Batchelor & Victoria Scott
Panel discussion on representing disability in fiction.

Nikky Smedley - Storyteller
Interactive storytelling with children - lots of fun to be had.

Helen Liebling
Talks about her eventful & well-traveled life and work across the African continent.

Book in the Window
Competition winner announced with presentation from the Mayor.

Raffle Draw
May include donations from some of the authors.

Festival Closes
See you next year!

Hits & unique visitor count for 2023

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Visitors

 

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