Margate Bookie 2017

Next week heralds the third Margate Bookie, an annual literary festival in Thanet boasting an extensive line-up of established authors, rising literary stars and breakout local talent.

Margate Bookie / Used With Permission

From Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th August 2017, the Margate Bookie will be filling local venues with writers, readers, books, and talks, creating a hubbub of activity. Over 25 events will be happening including author readings, interactive sessions, and workshops, at venues throughout Margate, Kent, including the iconic Turner Contemporary, Sands Hotel, and Bernie’s Chocolate Bar, many of which will be free-of-charge.

Festival organiser and author Andreas Loizou, who brought the first Margate Bookie to life in a mere forty days, grew up in Cliftonville and Westbrook in Thanet. He says he has been “knocked out” by the Margate Bookie’s success.

“This year the litfest has grown to four days and four venues. There’s such a positive spirit around the event that everybody wants to get involved. Margate’s such a great place for writing. There are fantastic beaches to refresh your mind and lots of creative writing groups to support you. I’d love Margate to be as famous for its writers as it is for its artists.”

Andreas Loizou

Felicity Yap / Used With Permission

Featured authors include spy novelist Nigel West, historian Alison Weir, writer and journalist Iain Aitch, and scientist-turned-writer Felicity Yap, whose debut novel Yesterday has been described as “the thriller of the Summer” by the Observer.

Thanet Writers will be bringing Seaside Stories to the Margate Bookie, offering an opportunity to engage with storytelling and sparking ideas. Along with writing prompts and a community story, there will also be junior prompts for children to encourage storytelling and inspire the imagination. There will also be several local writers available to discuss local writing events, gatherings, opportunities, and thanetwriters.com as a publishing platform.

Amidst a packed festival calendar, the Bookie stands out for being focused on both promoting and supporting writers. Opportunities for local writers are also paramount to the festival’s ethos, and to that end Loizou has worked his contacts book hard to promote the event as something that writers of all types will enjoy.

“We can’t promise a thousand people in the audience. But we get the writers a podcast, a video clip, professional photos and book signings in Turner Contemporary and the Sands Hotel. And fish and chips!”

Andreas Loizou

The Margate Bookie runs from 17th August to 20th August 2017, and alongside a diverse range of visiting writers there is a strong selection of local authors, including Daisy Buchanan, Andrea Bennett, Sophia Tobin, Nick Rankin, Anna Hart, Dosh Archer, Tamara Rattigan, Sam Gayton, Gemma Pettman, Eli Goldstone, Simon Medhurst, Seb Reilly, Tracey Thompson, Rebecca Delphine, Connor Sansby, and Marianne Dissard.

For more information and tickets please visit margatebookie.com