Spread the Word Literature Festival is hosted by the Stephens and George Charitable Trust and is now in its fifth year. The festival is held every year on World Book Day – Thurs 2 Mar – and each year the festival has a different theme, with this year’s theme being Harry Potter. Over 2000 children attend the event from schools across Merthyr Tydfil, ranging from pre-school children to college students. To find out more, please contact Helen Hughes on 01685 375331 / 07940 094638 or by email: [email protected].
Keeping the focus on the kids, Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival is now also in its fifth fabulous year. It begins on Sat 25 Mar and is spread out over two weekends, with events in both English and Welsh. It looks to celebrate the very best in contemporary children’s books, and offers a host of events featuring the very best and most loved children’s authors and illustrators. Please see the Literature Wales website for further details, check out their Twitter account @CdfKidsLitFest, or even give them an old-fashioned ring on 02920 230 130.
If you feel that writing for children is something you’d like to try, then renowned writer Jon Blake will be running a six-week workshop in Bute Park Education Centre from Sun 5 Mar. Jon is the author of over 60 books and his course is suitable for writers of any level and experience. Take a look at Jon’s website www.parkwrite.com for further details.
And, if you fancy having a go at writing in general, for any age group, and no matter your own experience, then Free Write monthly meet-ups may be the thing for you. A drop-in for writers to have a chat and work on something new or in progress, this popular event began in Cardiff about two years ago, and has since expanded to cover Pontypridd. The Cardiff event runs on the last Friday of every month at Chapter Arts Centre, from 10-1pm and is run by Will Ford. The Pontypridd event is held at Muni Arts Centre on a Wednesday in the middle of every month – Wed 15 Mar this time – and is run by me, Mab Jones. Both events are entirely free to attend. Do get in touch with me at [email protected] if you’d like to know more.
@mabjones