The Town Hall opened its doors tonight (Friday 29 September) to the eighth annual Marlborough LitFest, for a packed party in the Assembly Room to officially launch the Festival ahead of its headline speaker, Will Self.
Friends of the LitFest, as well as audience members lucky enough to have a ticket for the sell-out Golding Speaker attended the party, along with Marlborough Mayor, Councillor Mervyn Hall, sponsors without whom the LitFest would never have been possible and several of the attending authors who would be speaking over the weekend. This year’s sponsors included Brewin Dolphin (as lead sponsor), Hiscox, William Golding Ltd, Marlborough College and St Francis School.
Present also were members of Marlborough College as well as the poet Kayo Chingonyi – who performed at the College the previous evening as a precursor event to LitFest – as well as attending authors Vanessa Lafaye and Daniel Shand.
Chair of LitFest, Jan Williamson gave a speech thanking sponsors, Friends and volunteers for their support of the Festival and echoed Founder Chair, Mavis Cheek, by saying that wine and literature were an ideal mix.
Author, journalist and broadcaster Will Self – this year’s Golding Speaker – spoke to a sell-out Assembly Room, reading from parts of his latest book, Phone, which forms part of a trilogy of novels exploring themes of mankind, society and technology. He conducted a signing afterwards with the help of The White Horse Bookshop who have set up a pop-up bookshop in the Town Hall beneath the full-scale model of Max’s Boat created especially for the primary school children’s Flash Mob the day before.
LitFest continues until Sunday 1 October; check www.marlboroughlitfest.org for a full programme. Several events, as well as Will Self’s talk are already sold out and these are include Vanessa Lafaye, Frank Gardner, the William Golding Legacy Talk and the Creative Writing Workshop. Tickets for other events are available on the door.