Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival brings together top local talent

There must be something in the west Suffolk air that brings out the best in writers, the organiser of Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival has said.

In putting together the second festival last weekend, former mayor Julia Wakelam succeeded in her goal of creating a line-up featuring those born or working locally.

Nicola Upson, Josh Winning, Ann-Marie Howell, Francis Young, Ruth Hogan and Sophie Hannah were among the authors to hold talks and readings at the Unitarian Meeting House.

Ms Wakelam said: “It was lovely to hear the authors speak about their inspirations and ways of working.

“They are all from very different genres; but it was wonderful to learn how they get their ideas and plan writing novels. They all share this desire to tell stories.”

Organising the event featuring solely local writers was not Ms Wakelam’s original idea, but the project came together after adding her first names to the bill.

“We wanted to try and appeal to all readers,”

“We wanted to try and appeal to all readers,” she added. “Literature festivals can have a reputation of being very high brow. And we did have high brow authors there, but they were all brilliant story tellers, and I found myself buying a book from all of them.”

“Some of the events sold out and I think overall there were more people than last year,” she continued. “Other events were less well attended but everyone who came had a good time.

“I want to thank everybody who attended. The authors loved engaging with the readers and answering questions.

“We are hoping the event will return next year and I am hoping to engage more young people. There is so much on offer to them now, but I hope they can discover the thrill that reading a good book can bring.”

In future festivals, the authors may be joined on the bill by Isabelle Norton-Berry, 12, and Eleanor Whistler, 15, who won their respective age categories in a writing competition.

Both had their short stories published in last week’s Bury Free Press and read their works out to an audience to launch the event.

Ms Wakelam said: “I think Bury St Edmunds is such a beautiful place to live that it attracts people in, and we have so much on offer to support them.”