Essex Book Festival 1st - 31st March 2016

Between 1 - 31 March 2016 a plethora of household names and emerging talent drawn from the world of literature, art, politics, poetry, journalism, dance, TV and film will be descending on the county for the 17^th annual celebration of culture.   The Essex Book Festival is the only countywide, month-long festival of its kind in the UK. With dozens of events across 35 diverse venues (from lecture halls, art galleries and hotels, to libraries, prisons and bookshops, to Martello Towers and Tudor Palaces) and featuring more than 150 creative talents, the Essex Book Festival is again set to be one of the leading arts events of its kind in the UK.   After Essex icon Grayson Perry kicks off the festival with his sold-out event, the following day (1 March) former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable will be appearing at the University of Essex (Wivenhoe Park, Colchester). Tune into BBC Radio Essex for a 3-hour live Book Festival special edition of the Dave Monk Show with interviewees including Vince, Festival Director Ros and many others, plus the launch of the Essex Crime Short Story Award.   Other highlights of the 2016 programme include Captain Corelli’s Mandolin author Louis De Bernieres talking about his new book, and events including historian David Starkey, actor Simon Callow, BBC’s Peter Hennessey, Josephine Cox, Helen Dunmore, Rosie Thomas and AN Wilson will be appearing in the Tudor Layer Marney Tower and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis will be talking about her first novel.   The Park Inn Palace Hotel in Southend-on-Sea will host the Festival’s ‘Golden Age of Crime Weekend’ marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Essex’s very own doyenne of detective fiction, Margery Allingham. A series of fascinating crime-writing panels, including guest authors from Sweden, Nigeria, Poland and the UK, will be followed by an evening of classic Golden Age film screenings in the hotel’s atmospheric Ballroom. There will also be a Golden Age Criminally Good Afternoon Tea for Mother's Day.   Later in the month the Festival will take a more serious turn with a weekend of events at Firstsite gallery in Colchester under the banner of Thinking Home, Writing Home. This is a collaboration between the University of Essex and Essex Book Festival, and a number of writers, artists, dramatists, poets and musician, all of whom will be exploring what it means to be living on the margins. The weekend will take a rather more rumbustious turn with the introduction of the Festival’s inaugural Essex ‘Building a Boat’ Ceilidh - a fascinating feast of stories, music and dancing featuring Martin Newell and The Hosepipe Band and Glenys Newton, Winner of The Guardian’s live story-telling The Moth Award in 2014.   The festival has plenty for budding writers of all ages – there will be a Killer Women Crime Writing Master Class as part of Golden Age of Crime Weekend, plus Birth of the Book at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford led by Vintage Books with author Ruth Ware and Harper Collins Senior Commissioning Editor Alison Hennessy (an excellent opportunity to find out how to get your book published). There will also be Adult and Children writing Tasters at Firstsite for the Writing Home Day.   Essex Book Festival is also delighted to be launching the Canvey Reads Project, working with all 12 schools on Canvey, Pop Up Festival and Essex County Council to deliver over 100 author workshops and events, which will be taking place on Canvey Island in March. This includes Just Imagine Storytelling Centre, which is bringing Julian Clary, Michael Rosen, Children's Laureate Chris Riddell, Axel Scheffer and Philip Ardagh to Essex for four schools events during March. Festival Director Ros Green says “Essex Book Festival is for everyone. Running for a whole month and taking place in 35+ venues in England’s second largest county, it bridges the gap between different communities and reaches the places other like-minded festivals cannot reach. Our aim is to entertain, Illuminate and inspire, and perhaps most importantly, to be a catalyst for new conversations and friendships countywide and beyond.” For more information and to book tickets please visit www.essexbookfestival.org.uk