Friday 13Th—Sunday 22Nd March 41St Lancaster Literature Festival Litfest 2020 Letter from the Chair
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Friday 13th—Sunday 22nd March 41st Lancaster Literature Festival Litfest 2020 Letter from the Chair This year we celebrate the 41st Lancaster Literature Festival and we hope you will enjoy the programme we have to present to you. This year the festival will be running from the 13th March – 22nd March. We believe we have a programme which provides an excellent variety of events suitable for all ages. The festival will be launched on 13th March at the Priory and we welcome Professor Robert Barrett, Head of the Eden Project Learning to talk about the exciting plans for Eden North on Morecambe Bay. This is a fabulous opportunity to discover more about this project. We are delighted to bring to you two exhibitions during the festival which will be showcased at Lancaster Library. The first is called ‘Migrations’ and we are honoured to host this international exhibition in Lancaster which features the work of many artists from across the world exploring the subject of migration through illustrations. The second exhibition ‘In Pursuit of Peace and Hope’ has been created locally by young refugees covering three countries South Africa, Turkey and Uganda. The work has been led by Dr Melis Cin from Lancaster University. To bring the exhibitions to life we have our first Illustration Day featuring two illustrators. Illustration and the power of illustrations to tell compelling stories is something that Litfest wants to promote further in our programmes. We have an impressive array of authors and poets this year, beginning with best-selling Norwegian author Lars Mytting. We are also proud to showcase the work of eminent thinker A.C. Grayling who will appear on both Saturday and Sunday. Following last year’s successful events featuring writing and translation we conclude our first weekend with an evening focusing on emerging Gulf literature on Sunday. During the week we have a workshop ‘On Rejection’ presented by Dr Inés Gregori Labarta exploring the complex nature of the creative process. On Wednesday we are thrilled to host Stacey Halls who will be in conversation about her new book The Foundling which follows her highly successful book The Familiars. Stacey is no stranger to Lancashire as she was born in Rossendale and The Familiars is based in Lancashire. The venue will be Lancaster Castle which is highly appropriate as the castle features in her first book. We explore the genre of memoir and how we define its boundaries on Thursday evening. This event will feature Jenn Ashworth who has previously appeared at Litfest festivals and also ran a successful short fiction course for us. This time she is accompanied by John Schad and they will be in conversation with Polly Atkin. Our poetry weekend opens with one of Britain’s best loved poets Ian McMillian. Ian will be working with a local school during the day and you will be able to experience his own unique performance at Lancaster University’s Nuffield Theatre in the evening as he opens our Poetry Weekend. This will continue with a full day of poetry on Saturday 21st starting with a Baby, Bounce and Rhyme session, which is a brilliant way to introduce babies to the wonderful world of language. This will be followed with a set of double bills featuring Sean O’Brien and Victoria Adukwei Bulley; Paul Farley and Tara Bergin. The day will conclude with A new Divan –a lyrical dialogue between East and West. Our storytelling finale event will feature Emma Rucastle who will be encouraging us all during a fun and interactive performance to listen, tell and create stories. Throughout the month of March our podcast of Claire Dean's story The Stone king will be free to download. This is a fabulous way to interact with our beautiful Williamson Park. Listen to the story of The Stone King as you walk around the park led by the storyteller herself. Finally, this is my first year as chair of the festival and I would like to thank the wonderful Jacqueline Greaves for the superb work she did as chair of the festival for many years. The festival has achieved it’s 41st year because of her drive and commitment. A huge thank you to the board for once again creating a festival to be proud of and to be enjoyed by everyone. I would also like to thank all our sponsors for their contribution to the festival this year and we are indebted to Lancaster City Council in particular for their continued support. A special mention should also be made to Acahtes Philanthropy who have sponsored us this year and provided invaluable support throughout the year. Julie Bell Lancaster Litfest is Funded by: Friday 13th March 7:30pm Festival Launch: Eden North - A new vision for Morecambe Bay For our opening event we are delighted to welcome Robert Barratt, Head of Eden Project Learning, to talk about the exciting plans for Eden North on Morecambe Bay, to explain how it fits into Eden’s international programme and to champion the importance of involving children in environmental education. The plan is for a destination that combines indoor and outdoor experiences, connecting people with the internationally significant natural environment of Morecambe Bay while also enhancing wellbeing. Robert’s emphasis will be on a new vision for what a seaside resort in the twenty - first century could be, including reimagined lidos, gardens, performance spaces, immersive experiences and observatories. Central to the carbon neutral project is a series of pavilions inspired by mussels, which like the original Eden Project in Cornwall could house a variety of environments. The project is wonderfully imaginative and the impact on the area would be huge. After his talk, Hamish Mills of Lancaster Youth for the Environment (LYFE) will interview Professor Barratt, followed by an audience Q&A. Venue: The Priory, Priory Close, Lancaster LA1 1YZ Tickets: £12 Full/ £10 Concession/ £8 Student Tickets can be purchased in a variety of ways: Online: www.litfest.org In Person: Lancaster & Morecambe Visitor Information Centres By phone: 01524 582394/ 01524 582808 ‘Eden’s mission is to explore our dependence on the natural world, to use that understanding to excite people into delivering transformation where they live and to ask really serious questions about what a great future might look like for all of us.’ Tim Smit, Co-Founder of the Eden Project, and Executive Chairman of Eden Project International Professor Robert Barratt is the Head of Eden Project Learning, and is a specialist on children’s participation in environmental education. Formerly Professor of Education at the University of Gloucestershire, and prior to that Director of Education at Bath Spa University, he is currently researching the impact of the Anthropocene on the school curriculum and children’s learning. Robert has collaborated on large scale education research projects with colleagues from Australia, USA, Russia and Europe, and recently published a new International Handbook with Springer on Childhood Nature (2018). This event is sponsored by: Achates Philanthropy is delighted to sponsor Lancaster Litfest’s 2020 Launch Event: ‘EDEN NORTH A New Vision for Morecambe Bay’ Achates Philanthropy works for and with the cultural sector to enable resilience with integrity. www.achates.org.uk Friday 13th March - Sunday 22nd March Exhibitions: ‘Migrations’ and ‘In Pursuit of Peace and Hope’ This year Litfest plays host to not one but two beautiful exhibitions which will be on display at Lancaster Library throughout the festival. 'Migrations' is an exhibition of images and personal messages from picture book illustrators across the globe. The exhibition aims to express support for and solidarity with hundreds of thousands of human migrants who face immense difficulties and dangers in their struggle to find a better and safer place to live. The exhibition was first shown at BIBIANA, Bratislava, in September 2017 and has been put together and exhibited by the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society. 'In Pursuit of Peace and Hope' is a free photographic exhibition which you can see at Lancaster Library 13-22 March from 10am to 5pm, featuring photographs that have been taken by young refugees and host community members in South Africa, Turkey and Uganda. The images were taken as part of a project that looks at the use of photographs as a tool for building peace between these groups within those three countries; it was led by Dr Melis Cin from Lancaster University and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Venue: Lancaster Library, Market Square, Lancaster LA1 1HY Entrance is free and no ticket is necessary Saturday 14th March 11:30am Illustration Day: Workshop 1 - Petr Horacek Petr Horacek, author and illustrator of many picture books, such as Silly Suzy Goose, A New House for Mouse, Elephant, Puffin Peter, The Greedy Goat and Blue Penguin will read, draw and talk. In Petr’s books a fly can talk, an elephant sits in the bath and a goat can eat your pants. Anybody who loves children books, good stories and wants to know how to make a picture book is welcome! You are never too old to enjoy a good picture book! Petr Horácek was born on 30th June 1967 in Czechoslovakia. He grew up on the outskirts of Prague. From the age of 15-19 Petr studied at the High School of Art in Prague. The school specialised mainly in design. From age 19 Peter worked in a state design studio for two years. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Art in Prague from 1988. Petr graduated as a Master of Fine Art in 1994. As a student Petr met his English wife Claire and in1995 they moved to England.