Derby Book Festival's summer line-up includes top author and Great British Sewing Bee judge
The starry line-up is a real treat for bibliophiles
One of the region’s leading book festivals has released its calendar of events ahead of its summer edition next month.
Derby Book Festival’s summer outing will be held from Thursday May 30 to Wednesday June 5, 2024.
There will be 46 book-related events in venues across the city including QUAD, Derby Theatre, Artcore and Derby Museums.
Highlights of the festival will include Patrick Grant, judge on The Great British Sewing Bee.
He will be talking about his biography and his passion for sustainable fashion at a special event at Derby Theatre.
Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee will be speaking about her memoir An Uneasy Inheritance, and LBC radio presenter and political commentator James O’Brien will be talking about his book How They Broke Britain.
There will be a BSL interpreted event at QUAD on Monday, June 3 with deaf author Sarah Marsh and one of this year’s Observer debut authors, Elizabeth O’Connor which will also be captioned by Stagetext.
Two annual primary schools’ Meet the Author events at Derby Theatre, will feature Derby Children’s Picture Book Award-winning author Sophy Henn and acclaimed author SF Said. These two events will also be live streamed to schools across the city and county, reaching around 12,000 children.
There is something for everyone as events from different genres will be covered.
Read more: What's On in Derby? Festival highlights are as follows:
Historian Alison Weir on Mary I: Queen of Sorrows and An Audience with Dan Cruickshank
The Countess of Carnarvon on The Earl and the Pharoah: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun, sponsored by Boolers
Arthur Parkinson, gardener and chicken keeper on Planting a Paradise, sponsored by EMBC
Mick Conefrey on George Mallory and the 1924 Everest expedition, sponsored by Geldards
Novelists Abigail Dean on her second novel, Day One, Sunjeev Sahota on The Spoiled Heart, set in the Peak District, and Francis Spufford on his latest novel, Cahokia Jazz
Children and families’ activities including Bookworms: The Kids Takeover at Electric Daisy, Patrick Corrigan, finalist in the Derby Children’s Picture Book Award with Ingenious Edie at Waterstones and the Babbling Vagabonds running workshops at QUAD.
Derby Book Festival 2024 details
Dates: May 30 - June 5, 2024
Cost: Event prices vary. Drop-in and story-telling sessions are free, whereas the Polly Toynbee event costs £12. For more information click here.
Venue: Events will be taking place at various locations across the city including QUAD, Derby Theatre and online.
On the Derby Book Festival website you can use a venue filter to see at a glance what is being held where.
You can book tickets for all events to be hosted by QUAD and Derby Theatre online and from their box office either in-person or by telephone.
Tickets for events at other venues can only be booked online.
For people who are unable to attend in person, 14 festival events will be filmed and recorded and made available after the Festival ends as individual recordings or as a Digital Pass offering access to all 14 events for £30 for six weeks after the Festival ends.
On Sunday, June 2 there will also be writing workshops and an annual book quiz.
University of Derby academics will present four more free CivicLAB events at Artcore to talk about their latest research and publications on a broad range of subjects.
Professor Keith McLay is Chair of Derby Book Festival and Provost (Learning & Teaching) at the University of Derby.
He said: “Derby Book Festival is an important part of our city and region’s cultural year.
“This is the second of three festivals taking place throughout 2024, and once again offers a wide-ranging programme with something to appeal to all ages and interests.
“We are looking forward to welcoming so many talented and engaging authors to the city to share their passions and insights.
“The University is proud to continue its support for the festival which opens up a wealth of opportunities for our communities to come together to explore books and reading.”