Cheltenham Literature Festival
During the crisp autumnal days of this weekend, I had a wonderful time at Cheltenham Literature Festival. It is one of the highlights of my book-ish calendar and although it has changed quite a lot over the twenty or so years I have been going, the atmosphere is just lovely with so many friendly, helpful people working there and so much to do and see.
If you have time to explore, the town of Cheltenham is well worth exploring. Full of Regency architecture, it has been called 'Britain's most complete Regency Town'. The Pittville Pump Room is a reminder of the town’s fame as a spa town. Overlooking Pittville Park, it is a lovely place to visit and imagine the past! If you don’t have time to make it that far from the Festival site, the Imperial Gardens are lovely spot to walk round or to sit and enjoy the formal gardens. A statue of Holst, the composer, stands in one corner and the house he was born in- the Holst Birthplace Museum- is open to visitors.
Although events are held throughout the town, the Festival site occupies Montpellier Gardens. The first event I attended was held just round the corner in the Queen’s Hotel. Here, an excited audience of super-kids enjoyed a super-session about super-hero, Marv with author, Alex Falase-Koya and illustrator, Paula Bowles. After sharing some of the first story, everyone enjoyed a quiz before learning how to draw Pixel, Marv’s trusty sidekick, and creating new superheros with a wide range of superpowers! You can read my review of Marv’s first two adventures here.
Next, I had the great pleasure of catching up with Lou Fraser and Kate Hindley, whose joyful tale, ‘The Littlest Yak’ won the NSTBA 2021 Picture Book Category. It was so lovely to see them. You can read how to make a salt dough Gertie here, an activity my class really enjoyed!
My final event of the day was Oliver Jeffers, talking with astrophysicist Stephen Smartt about the scale model of the solar system which they created. It was a fascinating event as they discussed this collaboration between art and science and how this then inspired Oliver’s new book, ‘Meanwhile Back on Earth’. The perfect way to end a lovely day!
Sunday dawned bright and beautiful! I was just in time to catch the end of Jennifer Claessen’s talk before going to catch meet up with the lovely Dom Kingston with the equally lovely, Rosie Jones and Jenny Pearson.
I then headed for the ‘Game On’ panel session. Led by Sharna Jackson, Jennifer Bell, Taran Matharu and Matt Plampin (half of Logan Macx). This was a great session, offering plenty to think about for teachers and engaging the keen audience of game-lovers who had plenty of ideas to contribute.
Having bumped into various people and had some lovely conversations, my last event of the day was another panel event- this time about ‘Fantastic Fiction’. Anna James (review for Reading Zone) led the discussion with Annabelle (A F Steadman), Peter Bunzl (review of Magicborn here) and Tolá Okogwu (review for Reading Zone). This was a wonderfully warm event which felt like a chat between friends as they discussed characters, settings and their inspiration. A wonderful way to end a busy weekend.
Already looking forward to next weekend…