After attracting over 5,500 thousand visits from over 50 countries with the digital version of its Spring Festival earlier this year, Cambridge Literary Festival has announced that it will be running a Winter Online Festival in November. The online offering is set to be just as exciting as the face-to-face festival, with a fully loaded programme of events promising a weekend of eclectic entertainment.
Back in April, Cambridge Literary Festival was forced to adapt its spring programme of events – and fast. “We were one of the first festivals scheduled to run after lockdown, so we had to pivot to digital very quickly,” says Cathy Moore, Cambridge Literary Festival’s director. Within just a few weeks, the team managed to rescue around a dozen of the events, and the Spring Festival went ahead under a new, digital guise. “The response we received after the Spring Festival was great,” Cathy adds, “and we attracted audiences from as far afield as New Zealand, Colombia and Poland.”
As there is still a degree of uncertainty in the air, it was decided that the Winter Festival would also be an online affair. But that doesn’t mean there’ll be any shortage of excitement; “we’re doing a few things differently this time,” explains Cathy. “We’re mixing up the formats and making some films and recording in homes.” The festival’s brand-new upgraded website is due to launch in mid-October, too, just in time to host the festival’s array of exciting and exclusive events.
This year’s Winter Festival will be jam-packed with familiar faces, as well as a few newcomers to the UK’s ever-growing literary scene. “We will reflect significant global events, literary prizes and anniversaries plus arts, culture and poetry as well as the festival’s particular blend of issues and stories. There are many highlights about which I am hugely excited,” enthuses Cathy. Some of this year’s most exciting events feature household names such as Matt Haig, who will be introducing his life-affirming new novel Midnight Library, and comedian David Mitchell, who will be discussing his latest book Dishonesty is the Second-Best Policy, as well as tackling some of the most prominent political issues of today in his characteristically humorous way. Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason – matriarch of the most musical family in Britain – will be online to talk about her new book, chronicling role of race, immigration and education in a moving story about family, music and love. There will also be an event with celebrated artist Maggi Hambling, which promises to be a wonderfully unique occasion. Filmed at her studio in Suffolk, the event will celebrate the release of A Suffolk Eye, a long-awaited publication that brings together the works of Maggi’s father, visionary artist Harry Hambling.
And that’s not all; as usual, the festival will feature several prizes and prize-winners: the new Poet Laureate Simon Armitage will be launching the Laurel Prize, celebrating poetry surrounding nature, climate and environmental issues, the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize for fiction will be making an appearance, and the festival will also be hosting the six shortlisted writers for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, just a few days before the winner is announced.
Cambridge Literary Festival has always been committed to getting children excited about books from an early age, and this November’s digital offering will be no different. The weekend after the festival, there will be a slew of free, family-friendly events to look forward to – including an exclusive recorded event with Jacqueline Wilson at her home in Sussex. There are many more events to be announced, so keep an eye on the Cambridge Literary Festival website for more information and updates.
The Winter Online Festival will be running from 19 to 22 November. cambridgeliteraryfestival.com
