Literary Leicester proves popular once again
Over 3000 people attended an event at the University’s Literary Leicester Festival this year, with great feedback from audiences that travelled to the campus and around the city to take part in our annual celebration of the written word.
The University hosted a huge range of events for the Festival this year that engaged with both adults and children in many different genres of literature and spoken word. This year’s events kicked off with a talk from crime writer Patricia Cornwell at De Montfort Hall, in which she spoke about her work and interest in forensic science.
Among the highlights of the Festival this year was a talk by Jacqueline Wilson which, due to unprecedented popularity, was moved to a larger venue, De Montfort Hall, and over 1000 people attended. She spoke about her life and how she came to be a writer, including some of the inspirations for her books and characters. Children in the audience were jumping up and down and screaming with excitement when Jacqueline came on and prompted lots of comments on social media about the talk being ‘engaging and inspiring’.
Other highlights included David Crystal who spoke on how Shakespeare's plays originally sounded to a packed lecture theatre, with audience members describing the talk as ‘fascinating’. David Wood entertained adults and children alike whilst talking about how he adapts Roald Dahl stories for the stage in his talk at the Curve Theatre.
Charlie and Lola writer Lauren Child spoke to over 400 absolutely captivated primary school children. The University also held successful events by our own research projects into Evelyn Waugh and Joe Orton.
Fay Weldon gave the very well-attended closing event. Very interesting and at times hilarious, she spoke about the process of writing and how she begins writing her stories. Professor Mary Eagleton, Chair of the Contemporary Women’s Writing Association, had a captivating discussion with Fay about the changes in the social and literary landscape during the last 50 years and the impact on her writing.