There are literary festivals everywhere ranging from the famous such as Hay on Wye to the little known. Those I’ve been involved in are very much at the lesser-known end. So why should people attend a minor literary festival which won’t be featuring the big names of Pulitzer Prize winners or best-selling authors?
We’re cheaper for a start and when it’s a local in-person event, it can introduce readers to fairly local authors. When I helped organise the Finchley Lit Fests in London, we discovered the most amazing authors on our doorstep (and a few from a little further afield.) Some weren’t well-known at the time but have gone on to pretty stellar heights (all because of us obviously!!)
Our festivals included workshops which brought local writers together and introduced new people to writing groups. It was about community; encouraging emerging writers, supporting local published writers and giving our community enjoyable events that they could reach on foot.
The literary festival I’m currently organising is 12,000 miles from London. The Society of Women Writers Victoria in Australia is a state-wide group so our three-day event comprises one in-person event in Melbourne where we’ll launch our book of the Society’s 50-year history followed by a weekend of online sessions so those who live across the state or intestate don’t have to drive for 8 or more hours to join us!
Several big literary festivals were delivered online during the pandemic but the numbers of attendees precluded much interaction. A smaller online festival can include more audience engagement. We’ve chosen our sessions to appeal primarily to our membership but have opened it up to anybody who’s interested.
Our sessions include three writing workshops: short stories; history writing and ekphrastic poetry, plus author talks ranging from established Australian authors to those who have brought out only one book – so far. Covering memoir, historical fiction, modern fiction and non-fiction, the aim is for these events to enthuse and inspire our members and guests as well as entertaining them. We also have an Open Mic session open to all ticket holders to give us 4 minutes’ worth of their writing and a showcase of short monologues written by our members.
Big festivals generally go after big names, but there’s so much more to the literary world than big names. Small festivals may introduce you to authors unknown to you, help you discover books you’d not come across. Small festivals involve their audience.
For $70.00AUD (currently about £35.00) a ticket covers the whole weekend so attendees can dip in and out of the sessions that appeal or join every single one. That’s the same price as one session might cost at one of those big events!
Check us out: https://www.swwvic.org.au/
The timings of this one won't suit everyone, so if you know of any small literary festivals coming up in your area, please share the details in the comments.
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9 comments:
Hi everyone.
Just to report back on the discussions last week regarding claiming ALCS on stories sold to Future. I've received my permission from Andrew Shaw today and, as I mentioned before, I already have an email from ALCS confirming it is fine so long as the publisher agrees. Hope this clarification helps those in this position.
Thanks so much for this info about ALCS, Sue. It's good to know that several of us have confirmed that we're taking the correct approach.
A nice piece about festivals but I live in an area where they are hardly held, as there's little demand for them. When they are on, there's very little to interest me and the writing workshops are aimed at beginners or children. Sorry but I can't help thinking that the majority of it is a promotional event to help authors sell their books, but I'm a cynical sort.
I love literary festivals! We went to the Hay-on-Wye winter weekend in November. It was wonderful. There were big names, but I also attended a fascinating talk by a first time novelist.
For anybody on the South Coast (thinking of you, Patsy!) my friends run the Fishbourne Literary Festival with talks, second hand book sale and great cakes!
https://fishbourneliteraryfestival.co.uk/programme-2025
Thanks Patsy & Lindsay. Great advice, I love the opportunity to go to the odd festival to hear authors speak about their books & I usually come back laden down with new books from different authors.
@ Sue – I'm glad you've got answers.Hopefully anyone else in the same situation will get the same positive response.
@ Sharon – The ones I've been to have had very useful workshops and talks. Yes, those who'd written books had them for sale, but that didn't feel like the main point of the event – and I'm sure that many people would have been disappointed if, after talking with and author they admired, they didn't have the chance to buy a signed copy.
They do vary though, and have differing focusses. One I went to (and was on the panel of one discussion) was about self publishing. Really helpful for those interested in doing that, but of little value to anyone who'd decided not to go down that route.
@ Maisie – I've not been to the Fishbourne one, and won't be able to go this year either. You've convinced me I'm missing out.
@ Sheelagh – I must create more opportunities to go to such things!
We have an annual festival at Cowes every autumn - ashamed to say I've not been to one. Maybe this year...
I went to the Stratford on Avon festival last year and hoping to go again this time as we really enjoyed it.
The literary aspect was part of our small town's art festival and I did attend author talks and workshops but the funding for the arts festival ran out last year. The numbers were pretty low. It wasn't exactly a sell out. As I say, there's little interest in literary events where I live. I'll only attend an event if it really grabs me, and I'm afraid it has to run during the day, as I'm unable to go out alone at night, due to anxiety. We don't have a car and buses don't run as often after 6 pm.
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