It’s Festival Time!

This September Jesmond Library will be celebrating 10 years as a community library. One of the events planned is a Book Festival on Sunday 17 September 2023 from 10am until 7pm. Six authors will be joining us throughout the day to tell us more about their books and their inspiration.

Tickets are now on sale, priced at only £5 per individual author event or £20 for the whole day. Available from the Library or contact events@jesmondlibrary.org

A bookstall will be provided by Blackwells Books – treat yourself to a signed copy of books by your favourite authors. Drinks will be available; bring your own lunch if you plan to stay with us throughout the day.

Please come and join us for what promises to be a fascinating day.

 

10 am: SALLY URWIN

The Pint Sized Farmer

Sally Urwin reckons she’s the shortest farmer in England. She left a boring corporate job to live and work on an isolated farm in Northumberland.

She’s written two books about her experiences – Diary of a Pint Sized Farmer and What the Flock, and maintains a popular blog.

You can find out more by visiting Sally’s site here.

 

11:30 am: ALEX PHEBY

Building Worlds

Alex Pheby is a professor at Newcastle University.

He is the author of several novels, including the bestselling Mordew, the first book of a fantasy trilogy.

Mordew was a Book of the Year in the Guardian.

You can read more about Alex here.

 

1 pm: ALEX NIVEN

The North Will Rise Again

Alex Niven in his new book imagines a new future for England’s industrial north by looking at its cultural and progressive past.

By telling the story of the North in the last few decades, Alex goes in search of answers to some of the big questions at the forefront of British politics and society today.

You can read more about Alex here.

 

2:30 pm SHAUN BYTHELL

The Second Hand Book Trade

Shaun Bythell has run The Bookshop in Wigtown since 2001.

He has published a series of books on the funny side of his work including Diary of a Bookseller, Remainders of the Day and Seven Types of People You Find in Bookshops.

He will be discussing the second hand book business with Neil Aitchison of Barter Books.

You can visit Shaun’s website for The Bookshop here.

 

4 pm: PRETI TANEJA

Aftermath

Preti Taneja is a writer, screenwriter, and director of the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts.

Her most recent book, Aftermath, is an examination of the London Bridge terrorist attack in 2019.  Preti knew both the perpetrator and one of the victims.

Aftermath won the Gordon Burn Prize.

You can visit Preti’s site here.

 

5:30 pm: MARI HANNAH

Black Fell

Mari Hannah is the multi award-winning author of eight crime books, set in the north east and featuring DCI Kate Daniels.

Her books are consistently among the most borrowed from Jesmond Library. The latest, Black Fell, was published in June.

You can visit Mari’s site here.

 

Jesmond Library Book Festival is supported by Sir James Knott Trust and The Skinners Company Lady Neville Charity