Here at Litfest we’re all excited by a very big announcement!

Over the last few months we’ve been working very hard behind the scenes and we are now delighted to confirm that we have been awarded a grant from Arts Council England to support 4 new projects in 2021. These projects will feature in our 42nd festival (12th-21st March 2021) and beyond, allowing us to continue to develop our organisation and to build on our legacy of over 40 yrs. The projects are: ‘How We Live Now’, ‘How We Live Next’, ‘The Litfest Big Read’ & ‘Writing North West’

We will continue to feature fantastic writers, artists and speakers in addition to developing and commissioning brilliant new content. Litfest 2021 will look a little different, the festival will largely take place online, with the possibility of some in-person events if restrictions allow.

We are immensely grateful to Arts Council England for helping us to continue to grow and develop in the years to come and for continuing to support the Arts at this trying time. We have all faced challenges in 2020. But since the heartbreak of cancelling the majority of our 41st festival Litfest has come a long way with support from our friends, partner organisations, audiences, the literary community, Lancaster City Council & Arts Council England.

Our full programme for 2021 will be announced in the New year. Thank you so much for your continued support, we will do our very best to make Litfest 2021 a special one.

Although Litfest 2020 had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, we have taken some of the events online and invented completely new ones, creating opportunities for everyone to share their creativity!

Out now, ‘Walking Solo’! The first of our summer projects, ‘Walking Solo’ offers two free podcasts by local writers Jenn Ashworth and Polly Atkin, and the three best podcasts (in the opinion of our three judges) submitted over the summer by members of the public. To download the podcasts, read the texts and explore Jenn and Polly’s ‘Tips and Advice’ to create your own podcast click here!

The second project in our summer series is a selection of video activities for children by award-winning Syrian illustrator Nadine Kadaan.  You can find the videos here.

The third project is an international poetry podcast called A New Divan, presented by local poet and broadcaster, Paul Farley. You can find the podcast here.

These three ‘Summer Projects’ are supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

You are also welcome to join our International Fiction Book Club, which meets regularly via Zoom.  More details can be found here.

We have more digital activities planned for the coming months — these will be announced with further details in due course.

Why not sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed about our plans over the coming months?