Monday, April 23, 2012

Book Festivals and Why I Love Them

Me and Some Amy Green Readers at the West Cork Literary Festival
Every year I’m lucky to be invited to lots of book festivals. This year I’ll be at Listowel Writers’ Week in Kerry in June; Dalkey Book Festival in June; Kilkenny Arts Festival in August; and Mountains to Sea Book Festival in Dun Laoghaire in September (all in Ireland). There may be one or two more on the cards also, including some UK events.
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Why I love festivals so much:
1/ I get to meet YOU – readers! There’s nothing like meeting readers in person, it’s such a thrill.
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2/ I get to hang out with my writer friends like Judi Curtin, Oisin McGann (lovely Irish fantasy writer), Don Conroy (nature writer and novelist from Ireland), Cathy Cassidy and loads of other cool wordsmiths. Plus I love hearing other writers talk about their work, it’s fascinating.
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3/ I always learn something new - fantastic books to read, how other writers organise their writing lives - are they morning writers or evening writers; do they have any lucky writing charms; paper or laptop etc.
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4/ My mind fizzes with new book ideas after book festivals. There’s nothing more inspirational than being surrounded by world class writers. So far my favourite festival talk ever was one given by Patrick Ness about writing with joy – it was spoken from the heart and very moving. If he’s ever at a festival near you, go! You won’t regret it. He is a truly gifted speaker.
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5/ Book people are MY people and it’s lovely to be with my tribe, especially children’s book people, who truly rock!
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Have you ever been to a book festival? Was it fun? Who did you see?
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Yours in writing,
Sarah XXX
PS Check out the original version of this post at the Girls Heart Books blog - www.girlsheartbooks.com