If you've not participated in one of our Twitchats before, simply search for #triskeletuesday and join in. All opinions welcome.
On Tuesday 9 February, the Triskele Twitchat tackled LitFests.
#triskeletuesday #litfests
We posed a few questions: why, how, who and what for?
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| The Human Library at Chorleywood LitFest |
Which are the best 'little' litfests out there?
Twitter came back with a flurry of replies:
Hay-on-Wye
Harrogate
Chorleywood
@L1bCat recommended Not the Oxford Lit Fest
HNSOxford
Crouch End
Wray Castle for children
@brixtonbard flagged up BareLit
Lewisham
@JJMarsh1 mentioned non-UK Züriliest
CrimeFest in Bristol
(where the bar is a crime scene in itself according to @sheilab10 and @ChrisLongmuir)
Should litfests pay their authors?
Or should writers be grateful for the 'exposure'?
And is festival programming broad enough?
The consensus is that readers are ready for anything. The problem is programmers playing safe.
In summary, readers and writers are interested in variety. They attend litfests to find out more about the books and authors they love, and to meet other readers. Writers felt very strongly that if caterers and venue hire is paid for, why not offer remuneration to the main attraction? Sponsorship was mooted as one option. Another element not mentioned overtly but clear from the discussion was how much enjoyment writers get from meeting their readers and other writers.
Conclusion: there's life in the litfest yet.
Next #triskeletuesday twitchat will be on 23 Feb on the subject of #comfortreads
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