Chairman’s Welcome to the 2012 Words Literary Festival

Despite the huge cutbacks in the arts sector nationally in the last twelve months,we are delighted that the ninth consecutive Words Literary Festival in Leigh and Wigan will go ahead. This achievement is a great tribute to the efforts of Gillian Forrester,our co-ordinator, to the staff at Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust for their continued support and to the Arts Council, England, for its continued faith in us, and to the members of our voluntary Festival Committee, who have maintained the impetus built up over previous years.

Sarah Waters and Jim Cartwright will be this year’s star attractions. The author of Tipping the Velvet, Night Watch, Fingersmith and The Little Stranger, will be in conversation with James Nash at the Atrium on the 13th April and Jim Cartwright, author of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, will be running a masterclass at The Park Inn, Leigh. Our regular venue, the Tudor House Hotel, will host a Poetry Slam and an Improvisation evening,the Willpower Youth Theatre will perform a new show commemorating the lives lost with the sinking of the Titanic, and there will be a ‘Poetry in the Park’ event run by the Secret Writers at the newly restored bandstand in Mesnes Park. Dean Jones will present his show celebrating the life of the First World War poet, Wilfred Owen, and the author, Louisa Young, will talk about her book My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, a story based on
soldiers facially disfigured in the First World War, which has a Wigan link - both these will be at the ALRA Centre. The WW1 theme continues with Colin Pinney’s one-man show about Rudyard Kipling.

Vince Smith will talk about the poet, AE Housman (A Shropshire Lad) at the Museum of Wigan Life, and the Metaphysical Fantasy author, AJ Dalton, will present a workshop at Wigan Cricket Club and conversation at Santos Coffee Shop in Mesnes Street, Wigan. James Canton will be at Leigh Archive to discuss the travel diaries held there and Kenneth Steven, the Scottish poet, will be in Wigan again working with Orrell Holgate School. The Lost Gardens of Etherstone, a newly commissioned outdoor play will be held in Rothwells Wood, at Leigh Sports Village on the 20th April.

These are only some of the events we shall be presenting this year, so please look carefully at the full programme and be sure to book your places early to avoid disappointment. I hope you enjoy the festival.
If you would like to join us on the organising committee, or if you would like to help at any of the events, please telephone me on 01942 824923.For enquiries about events, phone 01942 828227.

Michael Hunt
Chairman - Leigh & Wigan Words Together Festival