Marlborough Town Hall came alive with literary treats over the weekend of 29 September – 2 October, for Marlborough LitFest’s 13th annual festival. Over 40 author talks and events took place at venues around the town, including the Town Hall, St Mary’s Church Hall, The Quaker Meeting House and The White Horse Bookshop. Children were entertained by children’s authors and free pop-up storytelling events; adults could choose from a range of fiction and non-fiction topics – with award-winning authors and debut writers on offer.
LitFest audiences came and went from the Town Hall over the weekend, readers browsed the White Horse Bookshop’s pop-up stall, animated queues waited to chat to authors and old friends caught up in the festival café. The festival was launched last Thursday by over 60 children from Marlborough St Mary’s CE Primary School singing on the steps of the Town Hall. LitFest also provided local schoolchildren with six free schools events in Pewsey and Marlborough for at least 1,000 children and young people from 19 local schools. The festival ended with a packed hall for acclaimed novelist Patrick Gale reading from his latest book ‘Mother’s Boy’, about the Cornish poet Charles Causley. In between, LitFest audiences heard from a rich array of authors who shared their enthusiasm, wide-ranging knowledge and tips about the craft of writing.
2022 LitFest Golding Speaker, Ali Smith, raised a cheer at the end of her conversation with journalist and broadcaster Alex Clark on Friday evening, while at the other end of the town, at the Memorial Hall in Marlborough College, Dame Jacqueline Wilson had young fans hanging on her every word. Over the weekend, debut novelists Jo Browning Wroe, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, Bobby Palmer and Joanna Quinn recounted their journeys to getting published and award-winning writers Kamila Shamsie, Andrew Miller and Abir Mukherjee talked about the context for their latest works of fiction.
Memoirists Hannah Bourne-Taylor, Doreen Cunningham and Clover Stroud gave us moving accounts of their experiences and Cathy Rentzenbrink ran a popular workshop on how to embark upon this genre. Anita Sethi and Simon Parker explained how travel gave them solace. Journalists Sam Knight and Christina Lamb gave us insights into the paranormal and homelessness respectively. The audience for Max Hastings was sombre as he answered questions about the parallels between the Cuban Missile Crisis and today’s conflict in Ukraine. Historian Giles Whittell gave us a gripping account of Operation Chariot during WWII. We learnt about rockpools from nature writer Adam Nicolson, endangered communities from explorer Benedict Allen and the latest theories about the origins of Stonehenge from local archaeologist Mike Pitts. Disaster specialist Lucy Easthope, art historian Philip Hoare and blurb writer Louise Willder all shared their expertise. The ever-popular translation duel stirred up debate about a Grimms’ fairy tale and local clerics Bishop Andrew Rumsey and Rev. Colin Heber-Percy fielded questions about local and national church politics. And finally local reading groups and thriller fans crammed the hall for this year’s Big Town Read, JS Monroe’s The Man on Hackpen Hill, with its complex plot and Wiltshire landmarks.
Photo Credit: Ben Phillips
There was fun for children too. Morag Hood got the little ones drawing along to her stories and Tracey Corderoy enchanted slightly older children with her funny chapter books. And for the first time we had pop-up storytelling in the Merchant’s House garden and St Mary’s churchyard. Wannabe poets gathered in the Green Dragon pub and book collectors took their rare books for valuation at the Katharine House Gallery.
Genevieve Clarke, Chair of Marlborough LitFest said: “There was something for everyone we hope. But for now we’re hugely grateful to our sponsors, partners, The White Horse Bookshop and scores of volunteers for enabling us to create a buzz about reading in Marlborough yet again.”
PRIMARY SCHOOLS COMPETITION
Marlborough LitFest runs an annual competition with local primary schools. This year 13 local schools took part, with nearly 800 entries in total. The 2022 competition was centred around the Platinum Jubilee and invited children to write a story using words or pictures, about the theme of ‘The Day the Queen Came to Stay’. Seven prizes of £25 White Horse Bookshop book tokens each were given to the winning entries, donated by competition sponsor Haine & Smith, the opticians in Marlborough.
The winners were: Franklin Barnes, Year 4 at St Francis School, Pewsey; Eleanor Bell, Year 3 at Pewsey Primary; Iliad Brady, Year 6 at Easton Royal Primary; Chloe Hewitt, Year 7 (now at St John’s Academy), previously at Marlborough St Mary’s Primary; Astrid McCraig, Year 2 Great Bedwyn Primary; Beatrix Meagor, Year 2 at Burbage Primary; Tilly Stacy, Year 4 at Great Bedwyn Primary.
Laura Briscall, Marlborough LitFest Schools Co-ordinator, said: “We were thrilled with the number of competition entries. The Queen’s Jubilee seems to have really inspired the children this year and the level and variety of creativity was fantastic!”
LitFest would like to thank its sponsors for 2022: lead sponsor Sarah Raven, main event sponsor Hiscox Insurance, and event sponsors William Golding Limited, Robert Hiscox, Adam Matthew Digital, St Francis School, Marlborough College, Marlborough.news and Hamilton Trust, as well as our patron Sir Simon Russell Beale, and partners Katharine House Gallery, Haine & Smith Opticians, The White Horse Bookshop and Wiltshire Life for their continued support for the festival.
Marlborough LitFest returns in 2023 from 28 September – 1 October.
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