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I am super excited about attending my first book fair here in England. I was a constant presence at the International Book Fair of Turin, in Italy, but never have I been to one here. I have my badge ready for the London Book Fair on April 16th and can’t wait to spend all my groceries’ money on books, which is ok anyway since I was planning on losing few pounds for the summer.
I was so excited that I started looking up more fairs to go to in the summer. After 20 minutes I just didn’t know what to think, I didn’t even imagine that there could be so many events on books and literature and art. There are not only book fairs, but book festivals, poetry festivals, literature and arts festival; a never ending stream of events going on mostly during the summer but some in the winter as well.
In the UK the London Book Fair (16-18 April 2012) and the Edinburgh international book festival (11-27 August 2012) are the most well know, but if you have some spare cash and feel like flying away there is the Frankfurt International Book Fair (10-14 October 2012), the Belgrave International Book Fair (27 -31 October 2012), the BookExpo America in the beautifully sunny New York (5-7 June 2012), and the Cape Town Book Fair (15-17 June 2012).
If you feel particularly exotic and possibly just won a £500,000 jackpot at some lottery, you can always go to the Beijing International Book Fair (29 August – 2 September 2012) or the Honk Kong Book Fair (18-24 July 2012).
If, like me, you are a student, work full time to pay the rent and don’t really have money to spend on travelling halfway the world, don’t start panicking, there are enough literary events around the UK to satisfy even the most eager book lover.
The Provincial Booksellers Fair Association organize about 90 fairs a year; visit their website for the full list including dates. As far as my research go, these are the best fairs and festivals in the UK:
- 29 March – 1 April, the York Literature Festival; four days of workshops, open mics for poetry readings and the hope to meet some famous writer. They offer more than 50 events, spacing from theatre to poetry to storytelling. There is also a guided tour of York’s sites of literary merit. Also many events are free – always a promising start. Visit their website at yorkliteraturefestival.co.uk.
- 19-23 June, the Worlds Literature Festival; if you like literature from around the world, this is the festival for you. It’s a week full of events, discussions and multiculturalism with guest writers from around the world. Event prices vary, about £2-£7.
- 24 March – 1 April, The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, with famous authors coming out of every corner. Bit expensive though, £5-£10 per event, but worthwhile. Hurry up because some events are already sold out. You can buy tickets here.
- 19-22 July, Theakston Old Peculier Harrogate Crime Writing Festival; acclaimed as the best celebration of crime writing in Europe, the programme includes workshops, competitions, talks and the presentation of the Theakstone Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. £8 for single event, weekend passes around £60-£70.
- 12-14 October, Thames Arts and Literature Festival; with famous national and international artists, the full programme will be published in June.
There are so many more that I could spend the next two hours writing and I’d probably won’t be able to cover all of them. What I’d like to do is go to every single one and report back. Of course it’s absolutely a selfless act from my part, Id just do it for the love and thrill of reporting. Am I or I am not extremely dedicated to the cause?
