On Monday 3rd February, Cowes plays host to the Isle of Wight Writers Jamboree, the first of what will hopefully be an annual get-together of Island writers.
A chance to meet, celebrate and check in with each other.
Understanding the Island’s cultural landscape
As well as a jolly, it will also be an opportunity to hear briefly from various sources who can paint a broad picture of the Island’s cultural landscape including the creative sector’s objectives and goals and what opportunities there may be for writers.
There will also be a chance to feed back comments, observations and suggestions either in-person or by posting in the comments box on the night.
Collaborative event
Organised by Medina Bookshop in collaboration with Creative Island and their talent development programme the IW Creative Network, there will also be representatives from the likes of Naked Figleaf Press, Brevity, The IW Literary Festival and other groups and organisations offering opportunities for Island literary talent.
Several writing competitions will also be launched on the evening including the IW Book Awards and the IW Biosphere Writing Competition.
Armfield: There is such a wealth of literary talent here
Organiser Paul Armfield from Medina Bookshop says,
“Local authors are really important to us, nine out of our ten bestsellers last year were books with an Island connection.
“There is such a wealth of literary talent here, but writing is a fairly solitary activity so we thought it would be really useful to create an opportunity for everyone to get together, check in, update each other, and get inspired.
“We’ve put the word out to those we have contact details for and have over 100 writers signed up already.”
Book now
The event takes place at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes on the 3rd February from 6pm until 10pm.
Tickets are £5 which includes a cone of fish and chips (or vegan equivalent), or free to members of the IW Creative Network (membership is just £30 per year, you can join here)
News shared by Paul on behalf of Medina Bookshop. Ed
