By Courtney Stevens
An annual literary festival is set to return to Leicester between from today(WED,MARCH23) until Saturday and will include events with best-selling authors, award-winning writers, poets and much more at different locations across the city.
The free to attend festival is run by the University of Leicester and events will take place at the university, and in cinemas, theatres, community halls and schools across the city.
The festival will showcase a diverse range of voices on different topics such as diversity, inclusivity and accessibility.
Harry Whitehead, the Director of the Festival, said: “The festival is all about diversity and inclusivity.
“It brings great literature to Leicester and makes it available to a wider audience whilst celebrating local authors.”
The festival has been running since 2008 and attracts more than 5,000 visitors each year.
This year the festival will be part of the university’s centenary celebrations.
Events include talks from best-selling author and Leicester alumni, Adele Parks, and talks from Booker-Prize winner Howard Jacobson and 2021 Costa prize winner Monique Roffey.
Mr Whitehead said: “We have a mix of local and international talent coming to the event.
“We have best-selling novelists, Costa prize winners, and poets coming. We have Colin Thurbon, who has been described as one of the best travel writers in the world, and we have a whole raft of the best known living local authors celebrating the lives of Leicester greats like Sue Townsend and loads more.”
This year the festival will be back in person after being held online last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Whitehead said he was excited to be back, adding: “It feels absolutely fantastic to be back. I think it’s the right thing to do – to get up and running with our lives again and be in the same room as great novelists, poets, thinkers, spoken word artists and musicians, with all the excitement and joy that can offer.”
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