25TH EDITION OF OUR ESSEX BOOK FESTIVAL IS NOW LIVE AND PROGRAMMES ARE READY FOR YOUR DELECTATION

 

Essex Book Festival 2024 launches

We are delighted to be launching the programme for this year’s 25th Edition of Essex Book Festival. With over 250 amazing writers and artists in the mix, we urge everyone to log onto our website and find out what’s happening when the programme goes ‘live’ this Thursday!!

essexbookfestival.org.uk

The theme for this year is This Land. A nod to our wonderful county, its fascinating history and natural heritage, and most importantly, the people who inhabit it.

One event not to be missed is Festival Patron and University of Essex Chancellor Sarah Perry. Sarah will be talking to Festival Chair Peter Donaldson at University of Essex about her new book Enlightenment on 1st June. This event follows on from a day of activities on Campus to launch the festival.

Other activities on the day include our community Radical Essex Procession in partnership with internationally acclaimed arts organisation Kinetika. Following on from our Radical Walks in Essex and last year’s Radical Pilgrimage led by artist Lora Aziz, the Radical Procession will commence at St Leonard-at-the-Hythe Church, one of the iconic sites of the Siege of Colchester in 1648, and will conclude at University of Essex, which was founded in 1964 as a radical university, with its first vice-chancellor, Albert Sloman, committed to providing an environment that encouraged radical thought and taking students who would challenge prevailing orthodoxies.

To make it all the more special we are teaming up with internationally acclaimed arts organisation Kinetika, who will be bringing their 500 Beach of Dreams hand-painted natural dyed pennants to literally raise the flag on our 25th Edition. Anyone wanting to join in the fun and be one of our flagbearers for the day, please sign up here.

Other Festival Delights

With John Crace, Helen Lederer and Lionel Shriver all taking part in author events at Anglia Ruskin University; Mark Cocker and Joanna Glen in the line-up for our Restless Brilliance Day at Hylands House on 16th June (Father’s Day), we have an exciting range of events taking place in Chelmsford this June. Make sure you get in quick.