You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
A new literary festival, the Catford Literary Festival, is coming to south-east London this autumn to celebrate and showcase talent from the local area.
Set up by Abbotshall Healthy Lifestyle Centre and local newspaper the Lewisham Ledger, the organiser’s aim is to put on 10 to 12 events over the first weekend of October 2022 (the 1st and 2nd of the month) before “going on to become an annual staple in the book festival calendar”.
Natasha Clarkson, Abbotshall’s Centre partnership director, said of the new Catford Literary Festival: “We’re really excited to be teaming up with the Lewisham Ledger to bring a new book festival to south-east London and to highlight literature in Catford.
“We really want to showcase the diverse literary talent that the area has to offer and have already been inundated with local authors wanting to take part. We’re now hoping for one or two headliners to come on board and then we can announce the final line-up in July.”
Mark McGinlay, co-editor of the Lewisham Ledger, added: “I previously helped run a literary festival in south-west London and as a Catford resident, I really wanted a similar event to take place locally, so we’re very honoured to help bring this to life.
“The area is proud of its local talent. We’ve recently featured Caleb Azumah Nelson and Candice Carty-Williams who both grew up in the local area, as cover stars. Abbotshall is already well-known in SE6 for providing affordable classes and free events so they are the ideal venue. Although we’re hoping the festival will raise funds for the centre, many of the events will be free to fit in with the ethos of the venue.”
Local authors, publishers or businesses interested in sponsoring the event, a charity fundraiser, are encouraged to contact litfest@abbotshallhlc.com to get involved.