Lancaster Litfest Autumn Long Weekend

Anne of Green Gables said, ‘I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,’ and so are we when it comes to the Litfest Autumn Weekend! This October (18-25 October), we have put together a showcase of talent – many with northwest connections – to entertain and surprise as the nights draw in and Halloween approaches.

On Friday 18 October: Jacqueline Harris’s storytelling event Slowing Down to the Speed of Light (with original music by ’cellist Maja Bugge) explores an adult ADHD diagnosis through a playful and provocative narrative.

On Saturday morning we’re off to Prince Edward Island to revisit childhood in a fun retelling of Anne of Green Gables by Katherine Woodfine, who brings the story to life for younger readers. In the afternoon, our ever-popular Poetry Double-Bill pairs newcomer Camille Ralphs (After You Were, I Am) and veteran Ian Seed (Night Window).

There is a fantastic opportunity, too, for the north-west’s poets: we are inviting them to submit 20 pages of work to our Pamphlet Poetry competition. Ten poets will be shortlisted to read from their work, and then judges Ian Duhig and Jane Routh will select 3 poets for pamphlet publication by Litfest and Wayleave Press, with a launch reading at Litfest 2025!

To enter, go to www.litfest.org/pamphlet-poetry and share your poems with us by 28 September 2024.

On Saturday evening, Sharon Ruston launches The Notebooks of Humphry Davy – chemist, inventor of the Davy Lamp, and poet. The next day, Jonathan Healey presents The Blazing World, a new history of the world that emerged from the English Civil War in the turbulent seventeenth century. 

Sunday and Monday offer three fantastic fiction events:

- Catriona Ward discusses horror and her new novel Looking Glass Sound with Oliver Langmead

- Inés Gregori Labarta talks with Jenn Ashworth about The Three Lives of St Ciarán – stories of hope and salvation in times of darkness and despair

- Celebrated Mexican novelist Guadalupe Nettel discusses online her Booker short-listed novel Still Born that challenges traditional ideas of motherhood. The next day she gives the 2024 Lancaster International Fiction Lecture (a collaboration with Lancaster University), showing how writers turn the pain of human experience – physical, emotional, psychological – into moments of literary gold.

Finally, we are delighted to offer a unique event on 25 October, in partnership with Lancaster Arts, as legendary record producer Joe Boyd comes to the Nuffield Theatre to talk about And the Roots of Rhythm Remain – the history of global music from Tango and Bossa Nova, through Ravi Shankar and the Beatles, to Fela Kuti and the Buena Vista Social Club. Email hello@lancasterarts.org (subject heading: Joe Boyd) to request the story of your favourite artist, and Joe may pick your request out of a hat and tell that story!

As always, almost all our events will take place both in-person and live online, so that you can choose the experience that suits you best. Ticket prices (with the exception of the Lancaster Arts event) are being kept low at £5 in person and £3 online as the cost-of-living crisis continues to make life challenging for all. 

And lastly, we are delighted to be working with our friends at The Dukes, who will be providing a festival box office for both our venues and our online sales. Book your tickets in person on Moor Lane or by going to their website at www.dukeslancaster.org.

To find out more about the Litfest Autumn Weekend (18-25 October), please visit www.litfest.org
or look out for copies of our printed programmes in venues and outlets around Lancaster and Morecambe.