Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama 2007

Sedbergh's Third Annual Literary Festival was held from August 24th.to September 8th 2007, offering a very varied programme including many different activities and performances which have grown from the skilled use of language.

The newly registered Charity, "Sedbergh Book Town Literary Trust" aims to celebrate language and to encourage everyone's efforts to use words for pleasure, to educate themselves or others and to produce original and innovative work and performance.

The Festival, whilst featuring marvellous, newly published, potential blockbusters also celebrated the efforts of 'amateurs' to offer a unique and very local experience.

• William Hague MP for Richmond headed the role call of well-known authors introducing his book about William Wilberforce the great anti-slavery campaigner.
• Local authors, Sarah Hall, Peter Hobbs, Mike Barlow, Jacob Polley and Jim Eldridge introduced their latest work.
• Short story competition.
• Everything Beatrix Potter, was celebrated with talks and a children's play, "Beatrix Potter at Home".
• Drama workshops from companies visiting from London and Zimbabwe offered a feast for play-goers.
• Two wonderful theme-days, the Charter Market Fair and “Gypsy Characters - Gypsy Life” offered pictures of country life as it was and is now.

We are grateful for the financial support from our sponsors who are listed at the bottom of this page.

Short Story Competition

For a second year BBC Radio Cumbria and Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama collaborated with a competition to find stories from local authors. The theme for this year was Freedom, to tie in with the 200th. anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade.

More than thirty writers entered the competition, a response which delighted the organisers and there was a wide range of interpretations of what freedom means. The three stories selected for broadcast at the end of August 2007 were by Cally Taylor, Vivien Jones and Martin Chambers.

• Cally‘s story, “Super Ed”, told the gently comic tale of a young boy unhappy after his family moved from Cumbria to London. So he decides to build himself a Leonardo Da Vinci-style flying machine and fly back north!
• Martin‘s story, “The Official”, was completely different in style and tone. This was a sombre look at what freedom really means as a prisoner contemplates his release and wonders whether there‘s any such thing as total freedom.
• Vivien‘s story, “Clark‘s Sandals”, also dealt with the pressures of childhood, this time a young boy having to wear the dreaded sandals rather than boots and his attempts to “lose” the sandals!

BBC Radio Cumbria‘s managing editor Nigel Dyson says “ We always enjoy getting involved with writing projects in the county when we can. I‘m delighted there was such a good response and hope our listeners enjoyed the three winning stories.”

Winning stories were broadcast on Radio Cumbria and presented at the Festival's “Night of Words” event.

Events

Peter Hobbs

Sarah Hall

Jim Edldridge

A Novel Idea

A summer exhibition by resident artists at the Farfield Mill Arts & Heritage Centre with works of art inspired by books or the idea of books were on show. Classic Penguins, Aboriginal Dreamscapes and Illustrated Mugs were just some of the exciting handcrafted items on offer.

Classic Characters

An exhibition of historical costumes from the Farfield Collection featuring Charlotte Bronte and Beatrix Potter.

Story time with Wendy B. Jones

Children's story sessions of between ½ an hour and 1 hour at Farfield Mill

Short Story Competition

The three winning stories were be broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 22nd to 24th August.

Barry McKay - Fine Books & Fine Dining

“Thank You, I've Read One” - books and readers in Cumbria in past centuries. Followed by a Gourmet Dinner at Farfield Mill Tearoom.

Sedbergh Market and Charter Fair

To celebrate the granting of the Market Charter in 1251 Sedbergh's Main Street was closed to traffic for the day and lined with a variety of stalls offering a traditional mix of Farmers' and Producers' stalls featuring fine food and crafts, demonstrations, charity stalls, children's entertainments, music and fun.
There was a street show performed by A J James who has performed in 17 different countries around the world and has appeared at Glastonbury Festival and the O₂ Dome this year. He has won several international street performing competitions and has made numerous appearances on television and film.
This years event featured a display by the Sharpe Appreciation Society. The Society was set up in 1996 to deal with the many hundreds of requests for information etc. from the fans of Sharpe novels written by Bernard Cornwell. There was a varied display of weaponry some of it used on the sets of the films, prints relating to the Napoleonic period, a good range of "Sharpe" merchandise and naturally the books and films of Sharpe.

An Introduction to Bookbinding

Lydia from Blaise Bookbinding gave a talk about the history of bookbinding, demonstrating her skills and helped participants to make their own notebook.

Library Theatre “The Kingfisher”

An effervescent romantic comedy by William Douglas Home which proves you’re never too old......

Theatre Under Fire - “Cry My Zimbabwe”

Theatre Under Fire Productions is a community based arts organisation that was formed by professional artists who found themselves under-fire from political turmoil and other circumstances. This led them to flee their countries of origin in fear of persecution to become asylum seekers/refugees exiled in Britain. They held an afternoon theatre workshop followed by an evening performance of “Cry My Zimbabwe”, a funny, moving and truthful high energy production about the determination to survive with dignity as asylum seekers.

Razed Roof Theatre Workshop

This exciting workshop followed by an evening performance, based around their latest production, Henning Mankell's Bridge to the Stars, demonstrated how Razed Roof work around disabilities to produce their work which is supported by the National Theatre. The workshop was particularly suitable for teachers, carers and parents.

Beatrix Potter, Artist, Storyteller, Countrywoman

Judy Taylor MBE, Chair of the Beatrix Potter Society gave an illustrated presentation of her biography of Beatrix Potter.
June and Norman Buckley introduced “15 Walks in Beatrix Potter Country”. The book, celebrating the world of Peter Rabbit and friends, brings three worlds together: the Edwardian Lakes seen in sepia photographs; the imaginative world of the Potter books with their unsurpassed illustrations; and the Lakes of today in good contemporary pictures.

Hon. William Hague MP - “William Wilberforce”

William Hague speaking to Hal Bagot of Levens Hall.

Former Conservative party leader, William Hague introduced us to the life and struggles of William Wilberforce, a unique man of his time and a devoted conservative MP, who tirelessly campaigned against the slave trade to achieve the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1807. Winner of the British Book Awards History Book of the Year with his biography of William Pitt the Younger, William Hague spoke about his latest work and entertained the audience with political anecdotes from Wilberforce's era.
The talk was accompanied by a display “Sedbergh and Slavery”, by Sedbergh and District History Society.

Colin Barnett & Ray Marriott

A talk and Discussion about the Trade Union Movement in the 20th Century as documented in Ray Marriott's new biography of Colin Barnett.

Gypsy Characters - Gypsy Life

A day of history, stories and music from now and then.

“Collecting characters: the Gypsy Lore Society at Brough Fair”.

Katie Hooper from Liverpool University Gypsy Lore Society Archive gave an illustrated presentation about a group known as the Gypsy Lore Society. In 1907, the GLS members travelled around the country, documenting the vanishing way of life of the Romany Gypsies. Their archive records the eccentricities and passions of the collectors, including Augustus John, Lady Arthur Grosvenor, R.A. Scott Macfie, John Sampson, Dora Yates, the photographer Fred Shaw and the genealogist Rev. George Hall, many of whom gathered annually at Brough in the years leading up to the First World War.

Documentary film, “Gypsy Fair, Krush on the Drom”

NOISEfestival.com has worked with a group of young Romany Gypsy and Irish Travellers to allow the young team to record the undocumented culture of the historic Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria. NOISEfestival.com taught the young filmmakers key television production skills including researching, interview techniques, camera and editing skills. The NOISE Festival project resulted in a documentary, “Gypsy Fair, Krush on the Drom”, which was screened at this event, it shows the transition of the Gypsy and Traveller culture from ancient rural traditions to the 21st Century. The film looks behind the customs of the community to explore the tensions that surface when Romany and Irish Traveller cultures mix with the residents of the small rural town of Appleby. The Gypsy Fair project has been undertaken in partnership with Gypsy and Traveller Exchange (G.A.T.E) in Leeds and Young Roots - a programme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

David Smith and Geoff Halford of PanBOX

A collection of traveller songs stories, banter and dance tunes, accompanied by fascinating dancing dolls.

William Petulengro & Carolyn Francis

World Champion Accordion Player and Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year 2006, William Petulengro and fiddle player Carolyn Francis performed a lively collection of pieces.

Beatrix Potter at Home, with Daphne & Martin Neville

A play featuring the life of Beatrix Potter with music, songs and excerpts from some of her stories.

Three Acclaimed Modern Poets - poetry reading & panel

Tamar Yoseloff, Jacob Polley and Mike Barlow gave readings from their latest works and formed a panel to discuss issues around poetry today and to answer audience questions.

Tony Juniper - “How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take To Change A Planet?”

Tony Juniper, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth outlined the objects of his book which proposes the many changes that need to happen in the areas of climate, production, economic policy, travel, food and international relations in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Young and Successful” - two acclaimed local writers present their latest work.

Sarah Hall, previewed her third novel “The Carhullan Army” published in August 2007.
Following the spectacular critical success of Peter Hobbs' debut novel, his “I Could Ride All Day In My Cool Blue Train” drags the British short story into the 21st Century and reveals a writer of enormous range and virtuoso ability.

Jim Eldridge - “Writing - the Inside Story”

Jim Eldridge has been a scriptwriter for 35 years and has had many TV and radio scripts broadcast in the UK and across the world. He is the creator and writer of Radio 4's long-running "King Street Junior", as well as many other TV and radio series. He has written sitcom, sci-fi, drama, soaps, for children and for adults. He has also had 60 books published in both the UK and internationally. This was a question and answer session dealing with the whole business of writing for a living: both the artistic and the business side, with anecdotes from his long career.

John Rice - “The Night of Words”

This was an evening of storytelling, comedy, poetry and song presented by John Rice, a nationally known poet and storyteller whose hugely entertaining performances take the English language from the depths of dark depravity to the heights of mythical mystery whilst featuring songs in Scots, Gaelic and Irish.
The evening also featured readings from winners of the The BBC Radio Cumbria Short Story competition

Story workshops for children

Workshops with John Rice were held in Sedbergh Primary School and Settlebeck School.

“Basil Bunting and Sedbergh”

Professor Stephen Regan, Director of the Basil Bunting Archive spoke on Bunting’s Life and Work.

“Descant on Rawthey's Madrigal”

A new piece by Andi Chapple based on Bunting's major poem “Briggflatts”, with readings, computer music, field recordings from around Briggflatts and archive recordings of Bunting himself.
Sedbergh Literary Trust gratefully acknowledges financial support from the PRS foundation.

For further details of any aspect of the festival contact Carole Nelson, 015396 20034 or 015396 20125, email: booktown@sedbergh.org.uk

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