The Cardiff Book Festival programme has been announced! A weekend of bookish delights and literary indulgence await, featuring literary heroes like Miranda Sawyer and Deborah Moggach. Whoop!
The festival takes place over the last weekend of October (from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 October) in various venues across Cardiff – more details at the bottom of this post.
Read on for our picks of the weekend and details about tickets!
We Are Cardiff’s festival picks!
Improve your Writing: Poetry, Short Story and Novel Writing workshops
28.10.16 – 9.30am to 12.30pm, Cardiff Central Library, Meeting Room 4
A unique opportunity to write with and learn from some of the most exciting names in Welsh fiction. Let our authors guide you through the finer points of fiction, poetry and short story writing, whether you’re just starting out or have been in the world of words for year. Poetry will be taught by prize-winning Jonathan Edwards, whose work has been widely published in magazines such as Poetry Review. Dan Tyte is an acclaimed novelist and writer- he will guide you through getting your novel into shape. The brilliant, award-winning Rachel Trezise burst onto the literary scene at the age of 22 becoming one of the most original writers of her generation. She’ll teach you the art of the short story. Join us for a one-off event that any aspiring author will not want to miss.
Workshops: Getting Published
28.10.16 – 1pm to 4pm, Cardiff Central Library, Meeting Room 4
Need help navigating the often complex process of publishing your work? The Getting Published masterclass covers everything you need to know to get into print. From exploring self-publishing options, how to find an agent and a publisher, building an author profile and platform, tips on how to get your book to sell and much more. With advice from industry experts including Hazel Cushion, the founder and managing director of Accent Press and Richard Davies, director of Parthian, this masterclass is a one stop shop for all your publishing needs.
Owen Sheers: On Life, In Words
28.10.16, 6pm. Yr Hen Lyfrgell
From Zimbabwe (The Dust Diaries), to the war torn fields of Pink Mist, or the rugby pitch in his non-fiction work, Calon, wherever his writing takes him, Owen Sheers\u2019 heart is still in Wales. His latest novel, I Saw a Man, is a gripping and stylish novel and he’s now renowned as one of the best contemporary writers. Owen’s novels, poetry and screenwriting are known all across the world. Chaired by Felicity Evans.
The Debuts, Laura Powell and Dan Tyte
29.10.16 – 10am–11am Cardiff Central Library, 5th Floor Creative Suite
They say everyone has one good book in them. Few ever get round to writing it, far less getting it published. Telegraph journalist, Laura Powell, traded fact for fiction with her debut novel, The Unforgotten, a thriller featuring forbidden love and a serial killer. Dan Tyte’s debut, Half Plus Seven, sees a jaded PR man in search of some sort of meaning in a book described as “a coming of age novel snorting with energy.
Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 11am, The City Cross at Cathedral Green, Llandaff
A hunt for what remains of one of the finest writers Wales has produced with author and poet Peter Finch. Dahl was born here in 1916 and left for boarding school when he was 10. In that time he managed to live in three different houses and to move around Cardiff enough for the city to seep into his creative consciousness. We visit his birthplace and take in other places of historical significance. This two-hour walk is aimed at adults but children are welcome.”
Miranda Sawyer – Mid-Life Moments
29.10.16 – 4.30pm, The Angel Hotel
What exactly is a mid-life crisis, and what happens when one arrives? The respected journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer tackles this most challenging of times with humour and candid insight in her book Out of Time. For Sawyer, her mid-life crisis made its presence felt when she was 44. Here she discusses how our tastes and our bodies change as we get older; and the unexpected new pleasures the second half of life can offer.
Elliw Gwawr – Living the Sweet Life (Welsh language event)
30.10.16 – 11.30am, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
BBC Cymru Wales’ Westminster Correspondent Elliw Gwawr swaps politics for puddings as she discusses her passion for baking. Gwawr has enjoyed cooking since she was a child, and following the success of ‘Paned a Chacen’ the first ever Welsh language baking blog, has gone on to publish two hugely popular books ‘Paned a Chacen’ and ‘Pobi.’ Filled with her favourite recipes for puddings, cakes and biscuits, Gwawr’s books are enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.
Jasmine Donahaye– Memoir and Memory
30.10.16 Yr Hen Lyfrgell
Poet and author Jasmine Donahaye discusses the life-changing events that became her award-winning memoir Losing Israel. In 2007, after a chance conversation with her mother, a kibbutznik, Donahaye stumbled upon the collusion of her family in the displacement of Palestinians in 1948. When she set out to learn the story of what happened, what she discovered challenged everything she thought she knew about the country and her family, and transformed her understanding of the place, and of herself. Winner of the 2016 Wales Book of the Year Creative Non-Fiction Award, Losing Israel is a moving and candid work, which spans travel writing, nature writing and memoir.
Deborah Moggach: The Best Exotic Writer in Wales – stories from the Marigold Hotel
30.10.16, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a smash when it hit the silver screen, cementing Deborah Moggach’s place at the top of the writing tree – it was her book, These Foolish Things, that the film was based on. Now living and writing in Wales, she is the author of sixteen other books – including best seller Tulip Fever – and several screenplays, such as the blockbuster Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley. She joins us to read from and discuss her new novel Something to Hide, which she’s adapting for the BBC. Spanning continents, it follows characters as they uncover secrets. “It turns out that no matter where you are in the world, everyone has something to hide.”
Neil Sinclair on Butetown: Tiger Bay Remembered
30.10.16, Yr Hen Lyfrgell
Afro-Celtic author and Cardiff historian Neil M. C. Sinclair is a native of Tiger Bay, the oldest multi-ethnic community in Wales. He has written extensively on the history of his unique hometown, providing an insider’s view of life in old Tiger Bay. Drawing on personal memories, family history and a lifetime’s worth of connections within the community, Sinclair’s humorous and thought-provoking journey through the old streets of Tiger Bay and Cardiff Docks in their heyday delves into the real heart of one of Cardiff’s most celebrated communities.”
Cardiff Book Festival: full programme
Friday
28.10,16 – 8am – Business breakfast debate- business leaders discuss what 2016 was like and what’s ahead in 2017.
28.10.16 – 9.30am to 12.30pm – Improve your Writing: Poetry, Short Story and Novel Writing workshops
28.10.16 – 1pm to 4pm – Workshops: Getting Published
28.10.16 – 10am Oodles of Doodles with Huw Aaron
28.10.16 – 6pm – Owen Sheers
28.10.16 – 7.30pm – After Euro 2016
Saturday
29.10.16 – 10am – The Debuts
29.10.16 – 11am – Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 11.15am – Caryl Lewis and Catrin Beard WELSH LANGUAGE EVENT
29.10.16 – 12.30 – Rachel Trezise and Thomas Morris
29.10.16 – 13.30 – Roald Dahl Tour
29.10.16 – 1.45pm – Ifor ap Glyn and Clare Potter WELSH LANGUAGE EVENT
29.10.16 – 2pm – Patrick McGuinness and Holly Muller
29.10.16 – 3.15pm – Iolo Williams
29.10.16 – 4.30pm – Miranda Sawyer
29.10.16 -7pm – Martin Williams
29.10.16 – 8.30pm – Sophie Hannah
29.10.16 – late – Swn Festival at CBF
Sunday
30.10.16 – 10am – Poetry – Belonging: A Sense of Place. The immigration Handbook (Caroline Smith) and Jonathan Edwards.
30.10.16 – 11.00 – Elliw Gwawr – Living the Sweet Life WELSH LANGUAGE
30.10.16 – noon – Jasmine Donahaye– Memoir and Memory
30.10.16 – 2pm – Deborah Moggach – stories from the Marigold Hotel
30.10.16 – 3.15pm – Cynan Jones and Tom Bullough
30.10.16 – 4.30pm – Neil Sinclair on Butetown
30.10.16 – 6pm – Debate – Feminism in 2016 with Felicity Evans
More information:
Cardiff Book Festival
Fri 28 Oct – Sun 30 Oct 2016, various venues across Cardiff
Cardiff Book Festival website
Cardiff Book Festival tickets
Cardiff Book Festival Twitter
Old Books – photo by Walt Jabsco on Flickr
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