In a world full of cultural offerings where the smallest village has its own literary weekend, you might wonder if here, right between the hip and cool Bristol Litfest (by the way when do we get to see this year’s programme, guys?) and the star-studded Bath and Cheltenham extravaganzas, we actually need another.
But let’s face it, the commuter-belt/countryside now known as South Gloucestershire has never been sure of its identity or even, (remember Kingswood, remember Avon?) its boundaries. For a while the library authority made a brave attempt to give literary culture a boost with its Discover Festival and for the last few years Hawkesbury Upton, right on the northern limits has brought a breath of fresh literary air. But it’s easy to feel that our particular neck of the woods in Downend, Emersons Green, Yate, even Chipping Sodbury and Thornbury, are no more than satellite communities, or sometimes, as I view the heavy plant moving in for another building project, a bit of a cultural wasteland!
So I for one was delighted to hear about a new initiative in the shape of the Cotswold Edge Literary Festival providing a week of commercial (yes, money sometimes does need to change hands ) literary events in our immediate locality from June 16th to 23rd. I was also quick to jump in and bag myself a place, though slightly embarrassed to get my mugshot on the front when I’m actually going to share the ‘stage’ in Yate Library with eminent local writers Anne Corlett, Debbie Young and Alice Jolly (If you don’t know them, check them out!)
Here’s the full offering. Tickets available here. Let’s put South Gloucestershire on the literary festival map!
Ali Bacon, Author 