The challenges of collecting meaningful data that will help literary festivals plan, evolve and demonstrate their value is the topic of the next GAoLF webinar on Wednesday 30 August at 2pm BST.  It will be presented by Shelley Timms of Culture Counts, a company that enable organisations, practitioners and philanthropists to craft rich evidence-based stories about the value they create. Don’t miss this chance to make your data capture more effective. Register for your place here

Also, don’t forget to give us your vote on some of the changes that will be brought about by the amalgamation of the Global Association of Literary Festivals (GAoLF) and the Word Alliance.  Please take a moment to participate in this poll so that we can get your feedback. This electronic feedback will be anonymous, if you wish to comment directly please email Carmel Rosato.

Festival News:

The Edinburgh International Book Festival returns this year between 12 and 28 of August. Considered to be the world’s largest public celebration of the written word, the festival runs for an intensive  16 days, with a lineup that features 2023 and 2022  winners of the International Booker Prize Georgi Gospodinov and Shehan Karunatilaka and acclaimed and renowned authors such as Irvine Welsh, Iman Mersal, Claudia Rankine, Eleanor Catton, Sebastian Barry, Colson Whitehead, Brandon Taylor, Ian McEwan, Nikesh Shukla, Kevin Jared Hosein, Malorie Blackman, David Diop, Tan Twan Eng, Deborah Levy, Leila Slimani, Bernadine Evaristo, Anne Enright, Ali Smith, Max Porter, Elif Shafak, R F Kuang, Kate Mosse, Kamila Shamsie and 16 of the 20 writers on Granta Mag’s ‘Best of Young British Novelists 2023’.

It was announced today that headliner Greta Thunberg has pulled out after accusing the festival’s sponsor of greenwashing, an accusation denied by the company in question, Bailey Gifford. Read more here

This is the last festival where Nick Barley will be in charge, after delivering 14 editions of the festival as Book Festival Director.  Jenny Niven, a leading cultural producer and director who has worked with a range of influential literary festivals in Scotland and internationally, will be taking his place.

This year’s edition of the Stockholm Writers Festival is taking place between 18-20 of August.  The festival’s programme includes an intensive workshop on getting books published,  and plotting the personal path to publishing and marketing. Authors at the festival are Jeff W. Bens, Linnea Gradin, Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde, Literary Consultant April Eberhardt, Lisa Ferland, Hans-Åke Lilja, Johnny Shaw, along with agents and publishers. Topics include “Memoirs of Fiction” and “Voice and How to Find it”,  and there will be the usual author book signing, conversations and panels.

Mississippi Book Festival is taking place this summer on August 19^th, the lineup includes sessions and events on art/design, children, fiction, lifestyle, nonfiction, Mississippi, poetry, and Y/A. The festival features a packed list of authors from Mississippi and the world including Jocelyn Delk Adams, Shastri Akella, William Alsup, Devery S. Anderson, Evan Howard Ashford, Dr. Carolyn J. Brown, Trent Brown, Thomas Byrne Edsall, and many, many others. The venue of the festival is Mississippi State Capitol Building & grounds and all events are free & open to the public.

Byron Writers Festival will take place in NSW Australia from 11-13 August featuring Grace Tame, Richard Fidler, Heather Rose, Tracey Spicer, Nakkiah Lui, Myf Warhurst, Holly Ringland, Kevin Jared Hosein, Robbie Arnott, Ellen van Neerven, Pip Williams, Joel Birnie, Peggy Frew, Gabriel Krauze, Jeff Goodell, Rhoda Roberts, Mandy Nolan, Kate Morton and many more..

Book News:

The Booker Prize has revealed an ‘original and thrilling’ longlist this week, which includes previously nominated authors Sebastian Barry, Tan Twan Eng and Paul Murray joining a 13-strong field including four debuts. Read more in The Guardian.

The Emmy-nominated actress Marla Gibbs, known for her roles on ‘The Jeffersons’ and ‘227’ among others, has won a deal with Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers dedicated to Black stories, for her memoir coming out in fall 2024. More

The British Library has acquired William Epps’s 1799 book of scorecards from ‘the grand matches’. The ultra-rare cricket book was formerly owned by commentator John Arlott, and thanks to anonymous donor, it has been saved for the nation. Read more here

Actress Drew Barrymore, winner of Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award will be hosting the 74th annual National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation has announced. Oprah Winfrey, a previous winner of an honorary National Book Award, will be a guest speaker.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis who is also a children’s author, is working on a new children’s book “Just One More Sleep,” which is set to come out in January. More

James Patterson, Suzanne Collins and Margaret Atwood are among thousands of writers endorsing an open letter from the Authors Guild urging AI companies to obtain permission before incorporating copyrighted work into their technologies. More

Winner of the leading Australian prize Miles Franklin, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran, is to be published in paperback by Ultimo, an indie publisher who launched in the UK this year. More

Paris booksellers are angry at plans to ‘hide’ their stalls during Olympics. About 60% of bouquinistes along the Seine River will be moved on during the Games next year for security reasons.  Read more here

We’ll be taking a break for the remainder of this month – see you in September!

You can explore more content via the association’s website here and discuss topics in the forum with other member festivals here.