Yorkshire children's literature festival launches
Posted on Saturday, August 25, 2018
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Yorkshire is to hold its first major children's literature festival at Broughton Hall, near Skipton, next month, with more than 65 authors, poets, illustrators, storytellers and animators taking part as well as over 200 schools.
Organisers aim to reach over 40,000 children across Yorkshire during the festival, which runs from Thursday September 27 to Sunday September 30. Authors taking part include Chris Bradford, Robin Stevens, MG Leonard, Ross Welford, Holly Smale, Sally Gardner, Alex Scarrow, Peter Bunzl, Maz Evans, Brian Moses, Alan Gibbons, Steve Cole and Rob Etherington. The event is the brainchild of Trevor Wilson, md of Authors Abroad, which organises author visits to schools across the world. He said, "I don't just want to establish a new children's literature festival in Yorkshire, exciting as that is. "My ultimate aim is to make this the biggest festival of its kind in the UK. We are delighted with the authors we have attracted. There has been nothing like this in the north of England, so we have entered uncharted territory, but we are proud of the substantial progress we have made to date." Trevor Wilson stressed that a central theme of the festival was to involve the 200 schools in the Skipton and Craven region, covering both North and West Yorkshire. All these schools will receive a visit from one of the authors or poets taking part in the festival, and there will be a short story competition with a winner from every school. Each winner will then have their story published in a collection. Authors Abroad has also teamed up with chocolate manufacturer Whitaker's Chocolates of Skipton, which will launch its 'Billy Bonkers chocolate bars' containing 200 'golden tickets' to the final event at the weekend festival. The festival will raise funds for mental health charity The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, that helps train teachers to recognise and address mental health issues in children such as cyber bullying and peer group pressure. Tickets are available for the festival's weekend events, and can be bought here:
