Organisers are delighted that the first Two Rivers book festival (16 – 30 June), taking place across the Waveney and Blyth area, is going swimmingly.
The opening event in Halesworth saw three distinguished publishing figures reveal inside stories, past and present, about how books get made. Since then there have been book signings, workshops in letterpress printing, book-binding and folded book-art and other bookshop activities.
Brian Guthrie, of the organizing group Waveney & Blyth Arts, commented “The festival celebrates all things book-related and is promoting the process of publishing, printing and getting books to people, as well as the writing of books. We have had very positive feedback about all the events to date and there are many more happening before the book festival closes on Sunday 30th June.”
Still coming downstream are How Books Get Made, in which book designer Will Webb and illustrator Jeff Fisher will discuss why books look the way they do with the Two Rivers festival patron, co-founder of Bloomsbury Publishing and current Booker prize judge, Liz Calder at the Cut in Halesworth, Tuesday 25 June.
On Friday 28 June, in association with Southwold Arts Festival, Connecting Books and People will see Henry Layte of Norwich bookshop The Book Hive, Philip Langeskov of UEA’s Creative Writing department, local self-published writer Emma Bacon, and owner of Halesworth Bookshop Abbie Clements discuss the decline of independent bookshops, the expansion of self-publishing, and how books get to us.
The Bookshop, a film based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s book about her experience of running a bookshop in Southwold is being screened on 28th June at Southwold Picture Palace. Workshops in Letterpress printing and Folded book-art take place at Halesworth library on Thursday 27th June and at Beccles library on Saturday 29 June.
To conclude the festival in style The Low House in Laxfield is hosting a stimulating weekend of book stuff. Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June will see no fewer than 18 authors (four of them children’s) talking about and reading from their work. They include Melissa Harrison, Frank Gardner, Rachel Hore and Zeb Soanes. Interviewers include BBC Radio 4’s Paddy O’Connell and writer India Knight.
For more information, take a look at our Two Rivers Book Festival page.
