The first Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival event will take place on Saturday 27t April from 10.30am until pm in the beautiful, historic parish church of St Mary the Virgin – a highly atmospheric setting for this event’s theme, A Sense of Place.

The programme will address the theme from many different angles, with talks by the following authors:

• AA Abbott, psychological thriller author
• Sophia Ashe, author of “Ride Like a Gaucho”, an memoir of Argentina
• Lucienne Boyce, historical novelist and historian
• Tiggy Greenwood, author of a children’s trilogy of novels, starting with The Holder of Annanbourne
• Felice Hardy, travel writer and author of family biography The Tennis Champion Who Fled the Nazis
• Stephen Oram, author of near-future speculative fiction
• Lisa Overton, author & art historian
• Bill Wood, undertaker and author of “An Odd Undertaking”
• Mark Rutterford, performing a story he has written especially for the occasion

Plus there’ll be readings of poetry and prose by the ever-popular Gerard Boyce.

The event will be chaired by HULF Founder and Director Debbie Young, who will combine this fascinating line-up into a coherent whole.

VENUE

Our venue, the beautiful ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin, may be chilly, so please wrap up warm. Seating is on antique wooden church pews – feel free to bring a cushion! Free parking available in the adjacent field. Please leave the hardstanding in front of the church free for those with limited mobility.

REFRESHMENTS

Tea, coffee and cake are included in the ticket price. Savoury food such as soup and sandwiches will be on sale for lunch during the break at 1pm.

BOOK SALES

A £2 book voucher is included with the ticket, valid at the event. All our speakers give their time for free, so please make the most of your voucher to support them by buying their books! A book stall manned by the authors will be open before and after the talks and during the breaks.

BOX OFFICE

Click here to book your tickets in advance via our box office hosted by Eventbrite.

Please note advance booking is essential to ensure we have plenty of cake for all!