BIG NAMES SIGN UP FOR SHOREHAM WORDFEST 2022
The Poet Laureate, a popular newsreader, a celebrated Welsh theatre troupe and a congregation of crime writers are set to descend on Shoreham-by-Sea in October for this year’s Shoreham Wordfest.
There is a strong poetry theme this year, culminating with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, who will be heading to the Ropetackle Arts Centre with his band LYR on October 11. The band will be performing tracks from their debut album Call in The Crash Team, which sets Simon’s spoken vocals to music. LYR will be supported by the very talented local musician and vocalist Rebecca Askew.
Fans of crime fiction will be in for a treat at this year’s festival, with a whole day dedicated to the genre. Hosted by authors Elly Griffiths and William Shaw, the Fatal Shore Festival of Crime Writing will feature 19 best-selling crime novelists, including Kate Mosse, Dorothy Koomson and Vaseem Kahn on October 15.
Following the crime theme, Wordfest patron Simon Brett will be in conversation with Lynne Truss before performing his one-man play Lines of Enquiry on October 15. Actresses Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent will talk about co-writing their Channel 5 series, The Madame Blanc Mysteries, on October 16.
Former Foreign Secretary and recent Conservative Party leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt MP will be discussing his recent book Zero, Eliminating Preventable Harm and Tragedy in the NHS, at The Barn Theatre, Southwick on October 12. He will discuss his prescription for the NHS with Dame Marianne Griffiths, former CEO of West Sussex Hospitals Trust.
There is a whole day on the Environment organised jointly with Sussex Wildlife Trust, CPRE and the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust on Sunday 9 October, starting with guided walks around New Salts Farm, 70 acres bought by Adur District Council for community regeneration followed by discussion on community energy projects and how to work towards net zero waste and carbon.
The State of the Nation debate on 7 October features four very different political commentators, Rafael Behr, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Gary Gibbon and Catherine Pepinster with a great deal of current events to discuss, hosted by Professor Ivor Gaber of Sussex University.
There is yet more lively entertainment including a Poetry Pharmacy on National Poetry Day, Attila the Stockbroker with comic writer Henry Normal, a Ceilidh and a party – something for everyone. Two of the headline events – Clive Myrie and Under Milk Wood are already sold out so don’t delay booking your tickets on www.shorehamwordfest.com/whats-on
Tickets can also be purchased from Shoreham Art Gallery, BN43 5WA and the Wordfest stall at Shoreham Farmers’ Market on Saturday September 10 and 24.
For more information contact general@shorehamwordfest.com or call 07515 800957
