Wolverhampton Literature Festival

Tickets are flying out of the door for the headline acts at next week's Wolverhampton Literature Festival (Friday, January 31 to Sunday, February 2).

The annual literature festival returns for its fourth year and is proving popular with nine events already selling out – and many more looking to follow suit.

There are only a few tickets remaining for Cerys Matthews’ Where the Wild Cooks Go, as well as events involving former Express and Star sports writer (1986-2002) David Instone, Sohan Kailey, and a Wolverhampton Society book presentation on Wolverhampton's Great War 1914-1921: Writing the First History of a City at War. There will also be Invisible Voices, a lively panel discussion hosted by multi award-winning artist and producer Dawinder Bansal, featuring Raj Kaur Khaira, founder of the global Pink Ladoo project and author of Stories for South Asian Supergirls.

Over at Central Library, on Saturday 1, there is a jam-packed day beginning with Roving Poet and Hip Hop Artist, Alan (Kurly) McGeachie as he roams the library for impromptu poetry, rap and fun. The day will then continue with authors, Joanne Toye, Gary Cullen and Grahame Kerr, who will be reading and taking part in Q&As.

Also, on Saturday 1, there is a storytelling day over at Bantock House Museum and Gardens, which will see John Edgar, Daisy Black, Cath Edwards and Tim Ralphs perform through the day before concluding with a Chain Reaction, where one teller's tales will set another teller thinking and so the story thread evolves into a rich tapestry of fables. This performance will never be repeated in quite the same way again.

But that is not all. Visitors can also develop their skills further and see how they can be adapted to paper or performed as there are a number of poetry workshops available with writers and performance poets such as Poet Laureate Emma Purshouse and Steve Pottinger, on Sunday 2. They will get you creating and writing poetry that makes use of newspaper stories, magazine articles and old books (no experience necessary). 

Councillor Harman Banger, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: "Each year Wolverhampton Literature Festival is growing and this year’s sees a variety of poetry, literature talk and readings, events for children, plus much more taking place in venues across the city.

"I want to thank all the performers that have agreed to take part in the 2019 programme and hope that everyone has a fantastic time."

There are a number of free events taking place across the city, including The Contribution of Migrant Entrepreneurs to the British Economy, The Greatest Show on Earth – in Wolverhampton, Bohdan's Corner and the Fringe Room presents Heather Wastie, Corin Rhys Jones, Rose Condo, Alex McSherry, Alexander Rhodes, plus much more.     

There is still time to grab your tickets and indulge in the literature delights, see performances, readings, and take part in workshops.