The literary festival returns, covering everything from local life to the natural world, current affairs and music plus so much more
Image: Bob Stanley
After a three year hiatus, Books on Tyne is proudly stepping back into the spotlight with the 10th instalment of this beloved Newcastle -based book festival taking place from Saturday 19th-Saturday 26th November. The programme is packed with varied content from local life to the natural world, current affairs and music plus so much more.
Highlights of the programme include Maya Goodfellow discussing her work, Hostile Environment, which explores the dark world of using immigration as a scapegoat for contemporary political struggles; novelist Ashley Hickson-Lovence talks to Sarah Tyson about his brilliant novelisation of the life of Uriah Rennie, the Premier League’s first and only Black referee; Saint Etienne musician Bob Stanley speaks with award-winning historian Brian Ward about his new book about the birth of modern pop, Let’s Do It (all City Library, Saturday 19th). There are poetry and short story readings from the Red Squirrel Press Showcase, which includes a range of local authors (City Library, Monday 21st); and there’s a range of North East-based books to discover when Barry Hindson, Ken Smith, Paul Ferris and Paul Brown discuss their novels (City Library, Tuesday 22nd); there’s a reading from the lyrical and fearless new novel by celebrated author Nancy Campbell, Thunderstone (Lit & Phil, Wednesday 23rd); Newcastle-based poet Sean O’Brien reads from his 11th collection of poems, Embark (Lit & Phil, Thursday 24th); documentary filmmaker Rob Kilburn talks about the weird and wonderful world of social history with his book Tyne & Weird; and in celebration of the release of her new novel Lost And Found, author Elizabeth Garner is joined by folk duo Patterson Dipper for a special event where folk songs and stories venture into unknown lands (both City Library, Saturday 26th).
Books on Tyne takes place at various venues in Newcastle from Saturday 19th-Saturday 26th November.