The East Riding Festival of Words will be returning this October, with several best-selling authors in attendance.
Organised by East Riding Libraries, the Festival programme has been put together by librarians from the service, based on authors, poets and other creative writers who are popular with library members and customers.
This year, there are even more events going on, featuring more authors, workshops and activities than ever before. New to the festival this year is the Gardening Day, held at Burton Constable Hall and Gardens and featuring a plethora of authors and speakers.
The programme kicks off on Friday, 11 October at North Bridlington Library at 11am with The Big Read, with the special guest this year being Milly Johnson. A bestselling author, Milly is one of the top 10 female fiction authors in the UK and has sold millions of copies of her books across the world. This event is FREE but requires booking to ensure your place.
Alongside Milly Johnson on Friday, 11 October, we’ll also see Glenda Young and Mollie Walton in conversation with Val Wood, discussing their romantic historical fiction novels. This event will take place at 1pm and will cost £7 per ticket. To close out the first day at the festival, Bridget Collins, author of number one bestseller The Binding, will come along to speak about her new book, The Silence Factory – a story of complicity, desire, and corruption. Taking place at 3pm, tickets are £7 per person.
A day ticket will be available for this event, costing £10.
On Saturday, 12 October, a morning of murder and mystery will take over Beverley Memorial Hall. The first speaker, at 10am, will be crime writer, screenwriter and director, Tim Sullivan. Best known for his critically acclaimed crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross, Tim Sullivan will be joining the event for a talk and meet the author event. Tickets are £7.
Taking over at 11:30am will be bestselling authors Erin Kelly and Ruth Ware, as they discuss psychological thrillers and the reasons we find them so very captivating. Tickets cost £7.
At 1.30pm, the venue will host J R Ellis, the author of the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series. In conversation with Nick Quantrill, he’ll be discussing his crime stories set in the landscapes of Yorkshire. Tickets cost £7.
To close off the Crime Morning event at Beverley Memorial Hall, we’ll be visited by bestselling author Louise Swanson to discuss her latest novel, Lights Out. Her author talk will take place at 3pm, costing £7 per ticket. There will also be a day ticket available for the Crime Day event, costing £21.
On Sunday, 15 October, visit Haltemprice Library for an afternoon that’s sure to bowl you over. In two separate author events, we will be joined by David Kynaston and David Horspool. David Kynaston will be speaking about his latest book, Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes: an insight into the Ashes test of 1961. This event will take place at 2pm and costs £7 per ticket. He will be followed by David Horspool, an editor for the Times Literary supplement, as he speaks about his book More Than a Game: a slice of social history that traces the links between our passion for sport and various forms of social change. Tickets cost £7 per person and the event will take place at 3.30pm.
A joint ticket will be available for the events at Haltemprice Library, costing £10 per person.
Monday, 14 October sees the turn of Robert Gildea, professor emeritus of modern history at the University of Oxford, as he visits Willerby Library. Robert will be talking with Ian Clayton about his book, The Backbone of Britain: an insight into the mining communities of the UK that were affected by the largest strike in British history. Tickets for this event cost £7 per person.
There are also events running throughout the week dotted around the county. On Wednesday, 16 October at 7.15pm, Robin Ince will be visiting Goole Library. A multi award winning comedian, author, broadcaster, bibliomaniac and a populariser of scientific ideas, he is perhaps best known as the co-host and co-creator of the Sony Gold Award winning BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. Tickets for this event cost £10 per person.
On Thursday, 17 October, Pocklington Arts Centre will host Marc Burrows, as he discusses the Magic of Terry Pratchett. Based on his Locus Award-winning biography and officially endorsed by the author’s estate, explore Pratchett’s life, influences, impact, wit and wisdom. Tickets for this event cost £10 per person.
Friday 18 October will see the turn of Greg Loades, A.K.A the Hull Urban Gardener, as he visits Withernsea Library. Greg is the author of The Modern Cottage Garden, The 30-Minute Gardener and the National Trust Gardener’s Almanac 2024 and 2025. The event will take place at 1.30pm and tickets are £7 per person.
To round off the week, Hornsea Hub will be hosting a Kokedama Workshop, facilitated by Botany Boutique. Kokedama translates to ‘moss ball’, and is an ancient Japanese practice that transforms plants into living art. Tickets for this workshop are £10.
Kicking off the weekend on Saturday, 19 October will be the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Day at Beverley Memorial Hall.
At 10am, Sarah Brooks and Frances White will chat about their novels, The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands and Voyage of the Damned with Abi Whitaker from The Debut Digest. Tickets cost £7
Following at 11.30am is Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat, as she talks fairytales, myths, magic, peril and true love in her latest book, The Moonlight Market. Tickets cost £7.
At 2pm, New York Times bestselling author Jasper Fforde tells all about his 17th novel, Red Side Story, the much-anticipated follow up to Shades of Grey. Tickets cost £7.
Rounding off the day at 4pm will be Sunday Times #1 bestselling author, Natasha Pulley as she discusses her latest novel, The Mars House. Tickets for this event cost £7.
Day tickets are also available for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy day, costing £21 for all four events.
A new addition to the festival is ‘Where the Wild Things Grow’: an entire day dedicated to gardening.
The day will take place at Burton Constable Hall and Gardens on Sunday, 20 October. Our first author is Leigh Johnstone, A.K.A the Beardy Gardener. He is a theatre director turned award-winning garden designer and broadcaster who rediscovered his passion for plants during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is popular on social media and an active mental health campaigner, using his past struggles to advocate for the power of gardening to improve wellbeing. This event will take place at 10.30am and will cost £7.
The next event will be the UK Houseplant Doctor, Joe Bagley. Joe, who has a feature on BBC’s Gardener’s World, will tell us about his journey to becoming THE HOUSEPLANT DOCTOR™, how his love of plants developed, his plant journey so far and the process of writing his first book. Plus, of course, answering all your houseplant questions. This event will take place at 1pm and costs £7.
Our last author event for the day will feature Philippa Forrester, as she discusses her book, Wild Women. Taking place at 3.30pm, her career as a presenter began with Children’s BBC and spans three decades of primetime TV, including much-loved series like Robot Wars and Tomorrow’s World, as well as producing natural history programming including Halcyon River Diaries. As an author, Philippa has published six books to date, including Wild Woman, Amazing Animal Journeys and On the Trail of Wolves.
Day tickets for the Where the Wild Things Grow event cost £14. Terrarium workshops will also be happening on the day for a separate fee, at 11.45am and 2.15pm. These cost £10 per person. Anyone who purchases a day or author event ticket will also be able to attend a free parkland tour with the Burton Constable rangers at various times throughout the day.
Tickets for all events are on sale now at: www.festivalofwords.co.uk or by calling 01482 392699 during office hours. Please note that even for free events, booking is essential.
