Free events on cards for town’s annual Literature festival
LITERATURE is coming to town with nearly 200 free events at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival including the Festival’s legendary Lit Crawl, family events and the return of the striking immersive venue: VOICEBOX.
Featuring an astonishing variety of book-themed events, everyone is welcome to explore the Festival village and events across the town.
VOICEBOX in Montpellier Gardens will put young people at the heart of the conversation. Today’s hottest issues will be explored, from mental wellbeing and self-care to activism, Drag Queen Bingo and a film night hosted by film critic and Guest Curator Clarisse Loughrey. Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley, mental health campaigner Dr Alex George, Tiktok star Francis Bourgeois, bestselling author Florence Given, Guest Curator Inua Ellams, confidence coach Tiwalola Ogunlesi and fashion guru Felicity Heyward appear alongside local talent from The Music Works, University of Gloucestershire and Cheltenham Education Partnership.
Across the town the fun starts on October 7 at 3.30pm when bestselling children’s author Lydia Monks paints a Waterstones shop window with artwork inspired by her book Adoette. On October 8 from 5pm till late, the popular Lit Crawl returns with pop-up events and quirky happenings all over the cafes, pubs, shops and businesses of Cheltenham in association with Cheltenham BID. The late-night literary fix includes spoken word performances, comedy, readings and even floristry, finishing up at VOICEBOX for a riotous finale, followed by a party at The Tavern.
The Wild Wood in the Festival Village in Montpellier Gardens has plenty of free family-friendly activities, including storytelling from around the world in Story Shack, Halloweenthemed spook-tacular drawing sessions, make-and-take craft sessions in The Den and picnic area, meet and greets with favourite costumed book characters, brainteasers and puzzles, tree-tastic discoveries with the Woodland Trust.
The Huddle is the place to hear readings and performances from local writers and musicians, plus lots of events dedicated to the ‘Read the World’ theme. Literary Explorer in Residence, Ann Morgan hosts a range of reading recommendation sessions from across the globe. Language experts will give introductory sessions to Korean, Arabic, Norwegian and more and to complement the Ukraine Day programme co-curated with The International Book Arsenal Festival, Kyiv as part of the British Council’s Uk/ukraine Season of Culture, Huddle audiences can enjoy free introductory sessions to Ukrainian literature and language – and even take part in a translation of a Ukrainian book. Meanwhile, The T. S. Eliot Prize will have its 2022 shortlist announced live from the Huddle stage on October 13 at 3pm.