This year we’ve expanded our Children’s Literature Festival to give young readers in the East Riding a fun-packed weekend of performances, readings, workshops and story-telling of all kinds – all based in that treasure house of literature, Beverley Library. We’re keener than ever to show that libraries are at the centre of our literary and cultural life in the East Riding.

We’re also getting words off the page for adults, with two performances: one involving a story from Tristram Shandy set to the exquisite period music of Heinrich Abel; and the other a fantastic story-telling performance of Frankenstein. Our emphasis on performance extends into our programme of creative workshops, with script-writing, and a directing master-class from Chris Monks (artistic director at the Stephen Joseph Theatre), joining other workshops on fiction and life-writing!

As official partners in the Larkin25 celebrations, we’re delighted to be running two readers’ groups looking at Larkin’s poetry, and organising the new Larkin and East Riding Poetry Competition, which has total prize money of £2000, half of which has been generously donated by the Philip Larkin Society, the other half coming from us – so get writing.

We hope you enjoy our programme. And remember, books are great value (free from your library) – and the best of them, priceless.

John Clarke
Festival Director

Acknowledgements

Volunteers
Without the work of our Festival Friends the Beverley Literature Festival would be unable to take place – so many, many thank to them for the hundreds of hours they donate of their time each year. Particular thanks to Carrie Judge for the enthusiasm and expertise with which she manages the running of the Festival Friends. If you’d like to join them, email john.clarke@eastriding.gov.uk.

Funders
East Riding Library Service, and Arts Council England, Yorkshire, who provide regular funding to Wordquake, the literature development organisation that runs the Beverley Literature Festival and Bridlington Poetry Festival.

Sponsors and Supporters
Strategy Plus, PanMacmillan, HarperCollins, Penguin, Random House, Bloomsbury, Little Brown Book Group, Scholastic, Faber & Faber, Transworld Publishers.

Sponsorship opportunities
Following the success of our partnership with Strategy Plus (designers of our website), we’re keen to encourage further sponsorship. If you'd like to be associated with us as we develop, contact john.clarke@eastriding.gov.uk to discuss your part in shaping the cultural life of Beverley and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Who we are
The Beverley Literature Festival is part of the Wordquake project, which receives regular funding from Arts Council England and East Riding of Yorkshire Library Service. Wordquake was set up to promote creative writing and reading throughout the East Riding of Yorkshire. Wordquake and The Beverley Literature Festival are managed by the part-time project-director Dr John Clarke and volunteer festival co-ordinator Carrie Judge with professional advice, help and office support from East Riding Library Service.