A Town Explores a Book – Ten Year Celebration
GAIL BORROW
The book choice for 2026 is a lively little book chosen by the voluntary committee which raises festival funds. John Agard’s My Name is BOOK, illustrated by Neil Packer, is about the heritage of books. Previous choices have explored other aspects of social history, including iguanodons and trains.
Book Festival Ambassadors 2026
Ten free events mark the 10th year of this much-loved, local reader-led festival, run by local creative organisations and traders in St Leonards. 2,500 children across eight festival schools have been creatively exploring the book with the team between January and March this year. A further 500 children have been exploring the book through music and other visual arts.
Four Courts Connect High Rise Community participants have gathered around 6,000 drawings from the school visits for an installation, The House of Sketches, opening on Easter Monday, 6 April, and running to the end of the festival. “It’s such a joy to look at the children’s drawings every week and to be immersed in such creativity,” explains Maria, one of the participants’. The installation takes place at ExploreTheArch’s Archer Lodge in Charles Road.
The Zoom Arts collective open their own vibrant mixed media responses to the book at their gallery at Warrior Square Station on Sunday 5 April.
This year’s festival ambassadors – four local children – have collaborated with other children from the Count Us IN Community Music programme, and, inspired by the book, created music for the opening event on 26 March, kindly hosted by the Christ Church community. “I love the way so many parts of the world are included in this book, including my family’s heritage,” says Rojin,one of the ambassadors.
Overcoming educational barriers to musical access, children will be playing instruments with the festival ambassadors and professional musicians Leslee Booth, Vladimir Miller and Dave Rohoman. Like John Agard, Rohoman is Guyanese-British. “This is a celebration of John Agard and Dave Rohoman’s contribution to British culture, along with other artists of this diaspora,” explains team member, Merle Halliday-Sindall.
Illustration and Graphic Design students at University Centre Hastings, working with Peter Quinnell, have created large letterform pictures (inspired by the book) which will be on display at Christ Church for the opening event and at The House of Sketches installation.
Entry points for local people to the book in this year’s festival include ‘early years fun’ at My Tiny Town, and Bexhill Mencap’s paper sculpture workshop in the community café area, two creative mapping workshops at Hollington Library, clay tablet making at The Mudworks, message making at Crafting Connections, and a mixed media exhibition opening at Zoom Arts, St Leonards Warrior Square station on Easter Sunday.
The #ATownExploresABook26 festival runs 26 March-12 April. All details at atownexploresabook.com/whats-on. Part funded by Sussex Community Foundation
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