The literary festival newsletter
Welcome to BookAmp, a fortnightly cornucopiea of news from of UK’s literary festival scene…
So things have are now properly kicking back into gear. Line-ups are being finalised, on-sale announcements are coming in thick and fast and the first few 2020 festivals have happened (hello Faversham, hello Church Times, hello Granite Noir). Next weekend also sees the launch of Life Lessons at the Barbican - advertising itself as a ‘thought-led wellbeing event’. £75 will get you entry into three ‘lessons’ and access to mindful crafting, yoga and a wellness shopping village. The line-up relies heavily on authors and is impressive - Derren Brown, Richard Dawkins, James O’Brien and many other big names. Life Lessons is a (thought-led?) joint venture between Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, Brand Events who created Top Gear Live and, bizarrely, the DJ Chris Evans. But is a worrying development - literary festivals are community events. How long before we have our first venture capital backed festival?
Stratford bag Mantel
Congratulations to Annie Ashford and the team at Stratford Literary Festival (19-17 May) for booking Hilary Mantel - she is the hottest ticket for programmers this year. The third and concluding part of her trilogy about Thomas Cromwell The Mirror and Light, is published by 4th Estate on March 5th. Joining her on the bill are Rory Bremner, Michael Frayn, Jonathan Sacks, Maggie O’Farrell, Lemn Sissay, Peter James, John Niven, Simon Mayo, Miles Jupp, James Shapiro, James Naughtie, Joanna Trollope, Louis de Bernières, Hugh Pym, Baroness Camilla Cavendish, Jane Gordon Jane Garvey, and Kit de Waal, Sophie Hannah Cressida Cowell, Sir Michael Morpurgo, Martin Brown and Kate Storytree (surely not her real name).
Charleston announce Rushdie
The first names from new director Susannah Stevenson’s programme at Charleston (15-25 May) have been announced. Salman Rushdie will be talking about his latest novel Quichotte (out in paperback on May 7th). Booker winner Bernadine Evaristo and pioneering American journalist and feminist Gloria Steinmen also appearing.
Rebecca Solnit tour
Hoghly acclaimed American author Rebeca Solnot is on a short tour to promote her new memoir Recollections of My Nonexistence (Granta) at the end of March. Dates so far are: 30th March in Edinburgh, 1st April an LRB event with Mary Beard in London, 2nd April in Bristol.
American Dirt Tour Cancelled
Macmillan have canncelled 13 dates on author Jeanine Cummins tour to promote her fourth book American Dirt a bestselling novel that has drawn criticism for its ssteroetypical portrayal of Mexican families fleeing gang violence. Selected by Oprah for her book club on publication in December American Dirt initially receieved widespread praise. This changed when a review by Chicana writer Myriam Gurba went viral. It included some memorable putdowns . . .“While some white critics have compared Cummins to [John] Steinbeck,” Gurba wrote, “I think a more apt comparison is to Vanilla Ice.” Matters became more heated when it was revealed that at a celebratory dinner hosted by the publisher the tables featured barbed-wire wrapped centerpieces resembling the border wall. Hachette imprint the Tinder Press pubished it in the UK.
Wigonomics
Launched in 1999, the Wigtown festival is a great example of the positive impact a literary festival can make. With 200 events spread over 10 days it brings 10,000 visitors to a Scottish town with a population of less than a 1000. It released a study this week saying that it generated £4.3m for the Scottish economy last year – up from £2.3 million in 2013. The study from Bellerby Economics said it creates the equivalent of more than 57 full time jobs in Dumfries and Galloway. It also showed that 51% of visitors stayed for three or four nights compared with 30% in 2013. These kind of studies really show up the importance of our industry and i would urge all festivals to commission one!
And finally. . . My Kingdom
(temporary stage built for the Horst Festival)
We were excited to read about a collaboration between the architects Assembe and a new dance music festival Kingdom. Assemble have been tasked with designing the main stage and the areas around it. They have produced some beautiful temporary buildings in the past - see the photos of previous Assembe projects. It would be wonderful to see this adventurous approach to creating new venues adopted by literary festivals.
(temporary venue built in the grounds of Chichester Festival Theatre)
(The Playing Field was a 450-seat theatre built for the a town square in the centre of Southampton)
Classifieds
Barnabu Festival Festival Operations Manager
Macclesfield Barnaby Festival (MBF) are seeking an experienced Festival Operations Manager responsible for planning, event management and income generation for the 2020 festival. The successful candidate will join a small but committed team of trustees, volunteers and existing staff of Programming, PR & Artist Liaison and Participation & Learning Coordinator to play a key role in coordinating delivery across the team. Details here.
Charleston Festival Co-ordinator
This role is designed to work alongside and support the Festival Manager and the wider Festival team in the preparation and delivery of the Charleston Festival 2020. It is suited for those passionate about working within the arts and events sector and it will provide valuable, hands-on experience for those wishing to pursue a career in large-events management. Details here
That’s it for this newsletter! Please follow us on twitter and instagram, add us to your press release list and feel free to get in touch if there is anything you would like us to write about: mathew@bookamp.co.uk.