What are Words Worth?
A closer look at the forthcoming Hastings Book Festival
The idea of a book festival can sound a bit stuffy. It is easy to assume a book festival is just a way for well-established writers to promote themselves and sell books. So, we spoke to one of the directors of the looming Hastings Book Festival (HBF), Wayne Herbert, to see if he had anything to say about these reservations. He came across as a man possessed by the idea that this bookfest has to be the very antithesis of all that. Not a snooze-fest for the white, male and stale people in cardigans. (HIP has nothing against cardigans as such – Ed.) What they are trying to create is something that involves and engages the entire community and, above all, something which may inspire would-be Hastings’ writers.
IGNITE THE SCRIBBLERS
In fact, Wayne – and his fellow director and founder of the very idea of a book event for the town, Sam Davey – have put together something pretty phenomenal. A festival consisting of forty events in just ten days that aims to light a fire under the scribblers of this town. It is going to be the most diverse, quirky, varied and inspirational book event that Hastings has experienced since the festival began in 2018. (It used to be called the ‘Literary Festival’, but they dropped that because it smacked of cravats.) When you look at what is on offer, it is actually quite staggering. Just in terms of the amount of organisation that must have been involved, and is still going on, you have to doff your hat, if you have one.
When we spoke to Wayne, he did not mention the big name authors that are coming to the town, very much: his approach was more evangelically roots. The HBF wants to “get people going”. A festival to sow seeds in the audience. A festival not about passively receiving the wisdom of literary sages; something open to everyone in our town. To that end, Wayne continues, “we have many free events for kids and families,” and many of the workshops have younger people as the target audience. Much of what is on offer is designed to convey what Wayne calls “practical skills” and “useful knowledge”. The little tips and snippets of insight that can sometimes be hard to come across. There is, for example, a talk about precisely what an agent can do for a writer. There is also a workshop on how to do storyboarding, that essential process before embarking upon a film or animation. This is with the highly respected graphic artist Ryan Smith and aimed at young people of 15 plus. Writers such as Patrice Lawrence will talk about the skills involved in writing for Young Adults. The hope is, of course, that young adults will make up part of the audience. There is also a more political workshop on how 10 to 16-year-olds can get their views out into the world in the most effective way: how to channel frustration.
NO DOORSTOPS
The festival has already established a number of writing competitions – for short stories, longer fiction and poetry – with cash prizes. And you don’t have to write a doorstop in order to enter: Hollington and Ore libraries are offering an HBF competition to write a short review of any of their library books and the winner might find themselves £250 better off. The concern is evidently to try to get as many as possible involved and, as Wayne says, “reach out” to those who might not ordinarily see themselves as writers. To help this inclusivity, the festival has established concessions within their “affordable” ticket prices policy.
The desire to create a festival for all has also meant that a wide range of voices have been brought to the table. The LGBTQ+ community have a pretty central role within the event. The Catherine Cookson lecture will be delivered by the now non-binary activist, food-writer, Jack Monroe. An individual who once described herself as a “lefty, liberal lezzer”. The gay cultural writer, Jack Parlett will be talking about his new book on the real-life gay “paradise” of New York’s Fire Island. An almost legendary strip of queer space. Val G. Lee, author of Diary of Provincial Lesbian, is also on the bill and is a judge in the short story competition. Darren Charlton, the author of the extraordinary gay-love-zombie-apocalyptic-chiller, Wrangletsone, will be on board to talk about his new work Timberdark.
BURN YOUR CARDIGAN
If that isn’t quite your thing, there are all sorts of other slightly quirky goodies available. How about this for intriguing: Anita Kelsey, the former backing singer for such notables as the Spice Girls, is coming to explain all you need to know about cats. She is a self-proclaimed cat whisperer. There is a talk that asks, should Proust replace Prozac? Is literature good for your mental health? Go along and find out, perhaps. And then of course there are the long-established authors. Perhaps the queen of current traditional history writing is Alison Weir. She is coming to discuss her recent book on Elizabeth of York, a central figure in the Wars of the Roses. And Natalie Haynes, described by the Washington Post as a “rock star mythologist,” brings us a short zip through the many mythic incarnations of Medusa, including, it seems, what she is currently up to.
Overall, one has to hand it to Wayne and his team, this is a festival with an extraordinary amount on offer. It may not have the pedigree of the Cheltenham Festival or the snooty allure of the Cliveden Literary Festival, but it’s going to be quite something. And this article has only scratched the surface. This is a festival that has the capacity to light little literary fires in the minds of some of the citizens of Hastings. Maybe even your cardigan will catch alight.
• Tickets and further details are available on the website: www.hastingsbookfest.org The main venues are the Kino in St Leonards, the Printworks and the local libraries. The festival runs from 16 – 25 September.
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