A very belated Burnham Book Fest review

It’s a couple of weeks now since the first and very successful Burnham Book Festival, A couple of friends from our writing group and I set up our stall laden with our books in the Princess Theatre in the lovely and interesting little seaside town. I’ve been to the theatre several times, not to see anything dramatic but to see the regular art exhibitions held there and to enjoy a cup of good coffee and maybe a little cake! The theatre was built in 1869 but has been various different things, including the old Market House, the  Town Hall, a Council Chamber and a Fire Station. It’s right opposite the town library, so the area is quite a cultural quarter – and both buildings were used for the Book Fest.

There were loads of interesting events on, as well as people like us hoping to sell our books. We had quite a variety on offer, including the first novel by Hamish MacNeill, a magical adventure story about four brothers and their friend, set very near to Cheddar Gorge and featuring much magic and also goblins! We also had the recently published collection of short stories by Fenja Hill – if you think of the creepy adult stories of Roald Dahl (who also went to school here in Somerset, not far away) and add a touch of sinister modern aspects with a twist, then Fenja’s anthology is that! I had my novels arrayed, and we also had  volumes from poetry, including one published especially for the festival from the poet Macaque.

This new literary festival was sponsored by Damien Boyd, who you will know is one of my all time favourite authors and is also a really lovely bloke. How typical of him to support other writers and an event like this! We set up our stall and beside us was member of another writing group from our area, opposite us was a young woman who we soon became friendly with who writes wonderful and exciting romance/fantasy books (I have temporarily forgotten her name but will mention her as soon as I find it) and Pamela Lane who writes Cli-fi – novels about climate change,  so original, so exciting, so relevant! There were many other writers, and it was wonderful to chat to them and to get to know them! There were various events, including panels which we featured on, and workshops, talks, and walks – with Damien!

We can’t wait until next year when we hope there will be Burnham Book Fest 2, we will be there if we’re lucky, and I hope and am sure it will be even more successful and enjoyable!

Here is the link: https://www.theprincesstheatre.co.uk/events/burnham-book-festival/