Tag Archives: events

NEXT EVENT: A Sense of Place (Saturday 27th April)

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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!

photo of the Festival venue, St Mary's Hawkesbury
Our venue: the historic parish church of St Mary the Virgin, which predates the Domesday Book

This event will be dedicated to the memory of Clare Weiner, who wrote as Mari Howard, a fervent supporter of HULF from its founding in 2015, and a frequent speaker and reader at past events.

Literary Scarecrow Trail in Festival Village

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picture of scarecrow trail flyer - front side

Thanks to the organisers for kindly adding a “save the date” note about HULF 2020!

Thanks to Hawkesbury Upton Scarecrow Trail, you don’t need to wait until the next Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival 2020  for a bit of bookish fun in the village!

When to Walk the Trail

Just come along any time between now and Sunday 3rd November to enjoy a lovely walk spotting 31 scarecrow displays throughout the village, all with “Literature” as their inspiration.

Tea and Cake!

On the final day of the trail, there’ll also be tea and cake in the Village Hall from 10.30am-12noon. (Not much happens in Hawkesbury Upton that doesn’t include tea and cake!)

A Wet and Windy Start

After the trail was officially launched yesterday at the community library in the Village Hall, the scarecrows faced a wet and windy night, but have survived more or less intact. Although Gangsta Granny‘s wig blew away, she has now been reunited with it!

photo of Alice in Wonderland scarecrow

No surprises about HULF Director Debbie Young’s contribution to the trail – a larger-than-life Alice in Wonderland!

The Trail Map

And here’s the flip side of the flyer, showing you the trail to follow. You can pick up a less crumpled version when you visit – or just stroll round the village and let the scarecrows take you by surprise!

map of trail

The map of the trail appears on the flipside of the flyer

For More Information

For more information – and a growing collection of photos – check out the Trail’s Facebook Event page here.

With thanks to Hawkesbury Preschool for organising the event and for promoting HULF 2020 on the map),  to Louise Roberts for founding the tradition a few years ago, and to all the villagers who have worked so hard to put on a good show – just what we need to brighten up the dark autumn days!