Chichester Writing Festival
6 August 2007
After reading a book I've enjoyed, I love finding out about the author - how they write, where their ideas come from - fascinating. I've been lucky to have interviewed a host of remarkable novelists, from Margaret Atwood to Philip Pullman and Maya Angelou.
In a couple of months, we will be welcoming many others to the second Chichester Writing Festival, which takes place from 9-11 November 2007. Booking is now open at www.westdean.org.uk.
The festival's home is West Dean College, near Chichester in West Sussex in the south of England. The College is housed in an extraordinary flint mansion at the heart of a beautifully managed 6000 acre farming and forestry estate. It was left by its owner Edward James, the celebrated surrealist writer, artist and patron, to provide 'an Eden for the arts'.
The CWF2 programme includes 13 interviews, panel discussions and workshops with authors, agents and booksellers from the widest possible range of publishing genres.
On Friday night, I 'll be in conversation with Marian Keyes, the brilliant, best-selling, darkly-comic Irish author of Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday and Anybody Out There?
On Saturday night, I will be talking to Sarah Waters, an exceptional author of extraordinary range, displayed in four superb novels - Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, Fingersmith and The Night Watch.
On Sunday, we will have an audience with Joanne Harris, another author of startling variety, empathy and confidence - Chocolat, Gentlemen and Players, her lovely cookbook The French Kitchen and the new best-seller The Lollipop Shoes.
Also on Sunday, it will be an enormous treat for me to interview the former Children's Laureate Jacqueline Wilson, author of the Tracy Beaker books, the wonderful Girls series (in Love, under Pressure, out Late and in Tears), as well as many other beautifully judged, realistic children's novels and an autobiography, Jacky Daydream, written for 9-11 year olds.
There are a limited number of residential tickets available for the festival, covering all 13 events from lunchtime on Friday 9 November to teatime on Sunday 11 November. Accommodation and meals are provided in West Dean House itself and in some of the estate's delightfully converted outbuildings.
Greg and I are putting the finishing touches to the programme and will publish the details of all the panels and workshops, in addition to these major interviews, later this week. We will also publish details of a new creative writing competition ...
Use this link to see a local map showing the location of West Dean College. For more information on booking and accommodation, please call 0844 4994408 from the UK or +44 1243 811301 from abroad.
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