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South London Festivals 2018

Planning is already underway for a variety of Festivals in South London in 2018 and Clapham Writers is likely to be involved in more than one.

The Trustees and management committee of the Clapham Book Festival met this week to discuss the Programme for next year. This time we are very lucky to have Paula, currently of the Society of Authors and lately Literary Editor of a national Sunday newspaper, as Programme Director. Paula, whose contact book seems limitless, has taken on the mantle of Trustee Elizabeth, whose involvement this year has had to be reduced. Roberta has also joined the team, after a long and successful career in publishing, as does David, to act as Technical Director and oversee book sales (in part as a replacement for John, who has had to limit his involvement this year). Trustee, Penelope is our brilliant publicity maestro again.

Once again we will be partnering with Omnibus, Clapham Books and Clapham Library and our sponsors thus far include This is Clapham. The Festival will take place in May – we’re still firming up the date ( one royal wedding might lead us to reconsider ) – in more than one venue. We will also be seeking new sponsors nearer the time for some special events, especially as Clapham Writers, the organisation which runs the Festival, is now a registered charitable incorporated organisation.

Our objectives are ‘the advancement of the arts, heritage and culture and the advancement of education in literature, writing and associated arts, for the public benefit

Being a separate entity allows the Festival to enter into contractual relationships, to open its own bank account and to apply for funding from grant giving bodies for which it would not otherwise qualify, so this is a real step forward and something which we have been working toward since last year’s successful Festival. We will be busy applying for funds, for 2018 and beyond.

We will be pursuing the ‘heritage’ aspect next year with a Clapham Literary Trail, a self-guided walk around Clapham following a trail of literary clues which will available at various local outlets and on-line. This is a follow-up to the discussion begun in Place & the Writer in 2016.

The Programme will start earlier next year, running at least one session in the morning at Omnibus and one session, specifically for children, in the Library. The afternoon will see three more sessions at Omnibus, one based on the crime genre, one on poetry and a conversation with a famous novelist.  We will be repeating the Writers Meet & Greet session which proved so popular last year, bringing local authors together with their local readers. Then, in the evening, our headliner. Thanks to Paula there will be some household names at Book Fest 2018.

In addition, aside from our day in May we may also be taking the Clapham Writers on tour this year to the two day Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd July 2018. This is one of the most successful free festivals in London which, in 2017, attracted over 150,000 people. Exactly what our involvement will be is yet to be determined. As ever we will also be attending local events, like the Abbeville Fete, the Clapham Summer Fete and, depending on funding, other local projects. Watch this space…..

If you enjoyed reading about the plans for the Clapham Book Festival 2018 you might also enjoy reading about 2017 and 2016, so try         Pounding the Pavements                Death and the Past                        Espionage    or go to the web-site for more photographs.

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